the day in the history

July 4th

1765 English poet and hymnwriter William Cowper observed in a letter: 'How naturallydoes affliction make us Christians!'
1831 Baptist clergyman Samuel Francis Smith penned the American patriotic hymn,'America' ('My Country, 'tis of Thee'). Smith was unaware that the tune, ironically, wasalso that of England's national anthem: 'God Save the Queen'!
1840 Birth of American sacred composer James McGranahan. His most enduring melodiesinclude CHRIST RETURNETH, MY REDEEMER, NEUMEISTER ('Christ Receiveth Sinful Men') andSHOWERS OF BLESSING.
1870 Birth of James Moffatt, Scottish New Testament scholar. Moffatt translated theNew (1913) and Old (1924) Testaments into the colloquial English of his day. They were firstpublished together in 1935.
1970 American Presbyterian missionary Francis Schaeffer observed in a letter: 'Ifstandards are raised which are not really scriptural,... it can only lead to sorrow. If wetry to have a spirituality higher than the Bible sets forth, it will always turn out to belower

4th July

1972 Agreement between North and South Korea
On this day, secret talks between North and South Korean officials led to a joint declaration that both sides would seek to develop a dialogue aimed at unification. These events, rather than weakening the South, stimulated renewed defense measures and were probably counterproductive. They also influenced the formation of a harder political order in the South. By the spring of 1973 this effort had dissolved in acrimony, although sporadic discussions on unification were held throughout the 1980s.


1962 Burma Socialist Program Party formed
The Burma Socialist Program Party (BSPP), which formed on this day, has been the only legal political party in Burma since 1964. The BSPP was formed by the military-led Revolutionary Council, following Ne Win's coup.


1946 Formal independence granted to the Philippines
On this day, after the defeat of the Communist-led Hukbalahap (the World War II anti-Japanese force), the Unites States made a formal declaration for independence of the Philippines. The United States demanded the retention of major military bases and business citizenship for Americans trading there.


1871 Tsarist forces take Chinese Ili Valley
On this day, Russian adjunct general Kaufman, the governor general of Russian Turkestan, invaded Chinese territory and took over the Ili Valley with 2,000 forces. The Russians used the capture as a negotiating tool with the Chinese to establish trading interests in their favor.


1868 Battle of Ueno
The last forces of Japan's Tokugawa Shogunate were defeated at the Battle of Ueno on this day in 1868, completing the Meiji Restoration. Tokugawa shoguns, or warrior rulers, had ruled Japan since 1603. The Meiji Restoration successfully restored the emperor as head of government, responsive to a deliberative assembly. The Battle of Ueno was fought in the city Edo, which was renamed Tokyo (meaning "eastern capital") later that year.

Nice juxtaposition Boss!

its all in the name of humour my friend

1954: BBC launches daily TV news

The BBC broadcasts its first daily television news programme.

Photo of the front of BCCI headquarters 1991: International bank closed in fraud scandal
The Bank of England closes down UK branches of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International over allegations of fraud.

Arthur Ashe with the Wimbledon Trophy 1975: Ashe's Wimbledon win makes history
American tennis player Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon singles' championship.

David Alton MP 1981: Police assaulted in Liverpool riots
Up to 30 police are injured during a second night of rioting in Toxteth, Liverpool.

Photo of Oliver North 1989: Irangate colonel avoids prison
Former White House aide Oliver North escapes jail for his part in the Iran-Contra affair.

2000: Record-breaking penguin rescue
Conservationists in South Africa are carrying out the biggest ever airlift of wild birds.

1979: Queen oversees Manx millennium
The Queen presides over the 1000th annual open-air sitting of the Isle of Man's Parliament, Tynwald.

July 5th

649 St Martin I begins his reign as Catholic Pope
767 [Constantine] begins his reign as Catholic Pope
1643 1st recorded tornado in US (Essex County, Massachusetts)
1687 Isaac Newton's PRINCIPIA published by Royal Society in England
1791 Jos‚ Mar¡a Narv ez discovers Point Grey, now in Vancouver, BC
1808 Battle of Buenos Aires
1811 Venezuela, 1st South American country to gain independence from Spain
1814 Americans defeat British & Canadians at Chippewa, Ontario
1830 France invades Algeria, begins a 40 year conquest
1834 Provisional government established in Oregon Country
1841 Thomas Cook opens 1st travel agency
1843 Committee of 9 appointed to establish civil govt in Oregon Country
1859 Capt NC Brooks discovers Midway Islands
1861 Engagement at Carthage, Missouri
1865 William Booth founded Salvation Army in London
1891 Hail kills 6 horses in Rapid City, SD
1905 NY Giants 18 game win streak ends as Phillies win in 10th
1914 Boston Braves are 15 games back in NL, & win the World Series
1919 Red Sox Babe Ruth hits 2 HRs in a game for his 1st of 72 times
1929 A Deutsch discovers asteroid #1148 Rarahu
1929 WOWO-AM, Indiana returns to air, 1 day after transmitter burns down
1932 Oliveira Salazar becomes dictator of fascist Portugal
1935 1st Hawaii Calls radio program is broadcast
1935 Chicago Cubs are 10« games back in NL, & go on to win the pennant
1935 Pres Franklin Roosevelt signs the National Labor Relations Act
1936 120ø F (49ø C), Gannvalley, South Dakota (state record)
1937 117ø F (47ø C), Medicine Lake, Montana (state record)
1937 C Jackson discovers asteroids #1428 Mombasa & #1430 Somalia
1937 Joe DiMaggio's 1st grand slammer
1938 Herb Caen's 1st column in SF Chronicle
1940 Diplomatic relations broken between Britain & Vichy govt in France
1944 Harry Crosby takes 1st rocket airplane, MX-324, for maiden flight
1946 Louis Reard's bikini swimsuit design debuts at Paris fashion show
1947 Larry Doby signs with Cleveland Indians-1st black player in AL
1948 Britain's National Health Service Act begins
1948 E L Johnson discovers asteroid #1618 Dawn
1949 NY Giants purchase Monty Irvin & Henry Thompson, their 1st blacks
1950 Law of Return passes, guarantees all Jews right to live in Israel
1951 Junction transistor invention announced, Murray Hill, NJ
1962 Algeria gains independence after 132 years of French rule
1962 Mantle hits 2 homers en route to 4 consecutive homers
1963 1st Beatle tune to hit US charts, Del Shannon "From Me to You" at #87
1966 National Guard mobilizes in Omaha after 3rd night of rioting
1966 NYC transit fare rises from 15 to 20
1966 Saturn I rocket launched at Cape Kennedy
1968 John Lennon sells his psychedelic painted Rolls-Royce
1969 Rod Laver wins his 4th Wimbeldon championship
1969 Rolling Stones play a free concert in London's Hyde Park
1970 Air Canada DC-8 crashes 7 miles from Toronto's airport killing 109
1971 26th amendment certified (reduces voting age to 18)
1973 "Live & Let Die," James Bond film premiers
1973 Isle of Man begins issuing their own postage stamps
1975 Arthur Ashe wins men's single championship at Wimbeldon
1975 Cape Verde Is gain independence after 500 years of Portuguese rule
1977 Pakistan's army, led by Gen Mohammad Zia ul-Haq, seizes power
1978 Soyuz 30 spacecraft touches down in Soviet Kazakhstan
1981 Rajan Mahadevan recites 31,811 digits of ã from memory
1982 Challenger flies to Kennedy Space Center via Ellington AFB, Texas
1983 Baby girl born in Roanoke, Va., to a mother brain dead for 84 days
1983 NJ Devils purchase AHL Maine Mariners as their farm team
1983 Woman gives birth to baby 84 days after brain death (Roanoke, VA)
1984 Supreme Court weakens 70-year-old "exclusionary rule"-evidence seized
with defective court warrants can now be used in criminal trials
1985 117ø F (47ø C), St George, Utah (state rec) (103ø spread, UT 1985)
1985 Nicholas Mark Sanders (England) begins circumnavigation of the
globe, covering 13,035 road miles in 78 days, 3 hr, 30 min
1986 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway sets 10K woman's record (30:13.74)
1986 Nancy Reagan cuts red, white & blue ribbon; reopens Statue of Liberty
1987 Australian Pat Cash wins Wimbledon, upsets #1 seed Ivan Lendl
1989 Barry Bond's HR sets father-son (Bobby) HR record at 408
1989 Mark McGwire's gets 100th HR, 2nd fastest (1400 at bats) (to Kiner)
1989 Rod Stewart hits his head while on stage & knocks himself out
1989 Toronto Blue Jays are 10 games back in AL, & go on to win the AL East
1990 Zina Garrison upsets Steffi Graf in Wimbeldon semi-finals

july 5th

1439 At the Council of Florence, the Decree of Union ('Laententur Coeli') was signed,creating an official theological union between the Eastern (Orthodox) and Western (Catholic)churches. Unfortunately, the Eastern Church at large never accepted the document and a fullworking unity between these two major
1768 English founder of Methodism John Wesley wrote in a letter: 'We are reasonablecreatures, and undoubtedly reason is the candle of the Lord. By enlightening our reason tosee the meaning of the Scriptures, the Holy Spirit makes our way plain before us.'
1903 Death of English theologian William Burt Pope, 81. His 'Compendium of ChristianTheology' (1875-76) set forth the most powerful systematic arguments of his day for theholiness doctrine in Methodism.
1962 Death of Helmut Richard Niebuhr, 67. Christian Ethics professor at Yale for 30years, Niebuhr is better remembered for his popular and oft-reprinted 1951 classic, 'Christand Culture' -- a work that explores available options of relating one's personal faith tothe world's highest and noblest principles.
1963 In an instruction given by the Holy Office, disposal of the dead by cremation wasofficially granted sanction by the Catholic Church. (Belief in the resurrection of the deadhad previously made cremation repugnant to many Christians.)

july 5th

1977 Zia-ul-Haq seizes power in Pakistan
On this day, Pakistani General Zia-ul-Haq seized power after ousting Prime Minister Z.A. Bhutto in a military coup. General Zia trumped up various charges against Bhutto, including accusing him of murdering his political opponents. Despite international appeals, Bhutto was hanged on April 4, 1979. General Zia declared martial law and installed himself as president. Despite promises to hold elections within 90 days of assuming power, elections were not held and Zia remained in power until his death in a 1988 plane crash.


1950 U.S. forces clash with North Korean forces in Korean War
On this day, U.S. ground troops clashed with North Korean forces for the first time, north of Osan. The American forces retreated with heavy casualties.

1988: High death toll feared in oil rig blaze

An out-of-control fire on a North Sea oil rig is feared to have claimed the lives of most of those on board.

Photograph of the fire-damaged Penzance to Paddington sleeper 1978: Eleven die in sleeper train inferno
Seventeen injured in a blaze on the Penzance to Paddington sleeper train.

Photograph of lorry convoy French motorway 1992: Riot police confront French truckers
The French Government mobilises the army and police to remove the lorries blocking the nation's major roads.

Euan Blair pictured in 1998 2000: Prime Minister's son arrested for drunkenness
The Prime Minister Tony Blair's eldest son, Euan, is arrested for being drunk and incapable.

july 6th

1483 England's King Richard III crowned
1535 Sir Thomas More executed in England for treason
1687 Newton publishes "Principia"
1699 Capt William Kidd arrested in Boston
1776 Dec of Ind announced on front page of the "PA Evening Gazette"
1777 British Gen Burgoyne captures Fort Ticonderoga from Americans
1785 Congress resolves US currency named "dollar" & adopts decimal coinage
1798 US law makes aliens "liable to be apprehended, restrained,... &
removed as alien enemies"
1853 National Black convention meets (Rochester NY)
1853 William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel," 1st novel by black American
1854 1st Republican state convention, Ripon, Wisc
1863 Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia
1869 Black candidate for lt governor of Va, Dr J H Harris, defeated
1885 1st inoculation (for rabies) of a human being, by Louis Pasteur
1886 Horlick's of Wisconsin offers 1st malted milk to public
1892 Striking steelworkers in Homestead, Pa fire on scabs, killing 7
1894 Cleveland sends 2,000 troops to Chicago to suppress Pullman strike
1903 George Wyman arrives in NYC by motorcycle 51 days out of SF
1908 Robert Peary's expedition sails from NYC for the north pole
1912 5th Olympic games in Stockholm opens
1919 British R-34 lands in NY, 1st airship to cross Atlantic (108 hr)
1920 Yanks score team record 14 runs in 1 inning vs Senators
1923 Union of Soviet Socialist Republics formed
1924 1st photo sent experimentally across Atlantic by radio, US-England
1928 1st all-talking motion picture shown, in NY (Lights of NY)
1928 Worlds largest hailstone 1« lbs (17') falls in Potter Nebraska
1929 St Louis has 2, 10 run innings & beats Phillies 28-6
1932 1st class postage back up to 3 from 2
1933 1st All-Star baseball game, AL wins 5-2 (Chicago's Comiskey Park)
1935 Helen Wills Moody wins her 7th Wimbeldon championship
1936 114ø F (46ø C), Moorhead, Minnesota (state record)
1936 121ø F (49ø C), Steele, North Dakota (state record)
1938 NL beats AL 4-1 in 6th All Star Game (Crosley Field, Cincinnati)
1941 NY Yankees unviel a monument to Lou Gehrig in centerfield
1942 AL beats NL 3-1 in 10th All Star Game (NY Giants host)
1944 170 die in a fire at Ringling Bros Circus in Hartford Conn
1945 Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to formally accept UN Charter
1945 Pres Truman signs executive order establishing Medal of Freedom
1945 Wash Senator Rick Ferrell catches a record 1,722 games
1953 J Churms discovers asteroid #1701 Okavango
1957 Althea Gibson became 1st black tennis player to win Wimbledon
1957 Harry S Truman Library established in Independence, Missouri
1958 Alaska becomes the 49th state
1959 Saar becomes part of German Federal Republic
1960 Dr Barbara Moore completes a 3,207 mile walk from LA to NYC
1962 Mantle hits his 3rd & 4th consecutive homer
1964 Beatles' film "Hard Day's Night" premiers in London
1964 Malawi (then Nyasaland) gains independence from Britain (Natl Day)
1965 Rock group "Jefferson Airplane" forms
1966 Malawi becomes a republic
1967 Biafran War erupts as Nigerian forces invade
1971 White House Plumbers unit formed to plug news leaks
1975 Comoros declare independence from France (most of them)
1976 Soyuz 21 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 5 space station
1978 Israeli jet fighters swooped over mostly Moslem West Beirut
1983 Fred Lynn of Angels hits All-Star game 1st grand slam (AL wins 13-3)
1983 Supreme Court rules retirement plans can't pay women less
1987 1st of 3 massacres by Sikh extremists takes place in India
1988 Carlos Salinas de Gortari elected president of Mexico
1989 After 9 years, WHOT (Bkln pirate radio station) is busted by the FCC
1989 US marshals & FCC sieze pirate radio station WHOT in Brooklyn
1990 "Jetson's the Movie" with Tiffany, premiers
1990 After pitching a no-hitter lose, NY Yankee Andy Hawkins pitches a
complete 12 inn game & loses 2-0
1991 Steffi Graf beats Gabriela Sabatini for Wimbeldon championship

july 6th

1415 Martyrdom of Jan Hus, Czech reformer, who was condemned for heresy and burned atthe stake because of his outspoken appeals for church reform and for political and religiousrights for the common people.
1535 English Catholic theologian Thomas More was beheaded for refusing to recognizeHenry VIII as supreme head of the Church of England, which had just broken with the RomanCatholic Church.
1757 Birth of William McKendree, colonial American church leader. In 1808 he wasordained the first American-born bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church.
1846 Birth of John H. Sammis, American Presbyterian clergyman and author of the hymn,'Trust and Obey.'
1941 English Bible expositor Arthur W. Pink observed in a letter: 'It is those who walkthe closest with God who are most conscious of their sins.'

july 6th

1987 Iran-Contra hearings begin in the United States
U.S. Lt. Col. Oliver North began his long-awaited public testimony at the Iran-Contra hearing on this day, telling Congress that he had ``never carried out a single act, not one'' without authorization. The Iran-Contra Affair involved high-ranking members in President Reagan's administration who arranged the secret sale of arms to Iran in direct violation of existing U.S. laws. Profits from the $30 million in arms sales were channeled to the Nicaraguan right-wing "contra" guerrillas to supply arms for use against the leftist Sandinista government. Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, a military aide to the National Security Council, was the chief negotiator of these deals between the U.S., Iran and Nicaragua.

1998: Chief's death sparks turmoil in Nigeria


At least 19 people are killed in riots in Nigeria's biggest city, Lagos, following the death of the opposition leader.



2001: Two stabbed in Bradford race riots
Two people are stabbed and many more injured in running battles between white and Asian gangs in Bradford.



1976: British grandmother missing in Uganda
Ugandan authorities deny knowledge of the whereabouts of missing British-Israeli citizen Dora Bloch.



1952: London's trams trundle into history
After nearly a century of service the tram has made its final appearance in London

July 7th

1668 Isaac Newton receives MA from Trinity College, Cambridge
1754 Kings College in NYC opens (renamed Columbia College)
1768 Firm of Johann Buddenbrook founded, in Thomas Mann's novel
1838 Central American federation is dissolved
1846 US annexs California
1862 Land Grant Act endows state colleges with federal land
1863 1st military draft by US (exemptions cost $100)
1865 4 Lincoln assassination conspirators, including Mary Surratt, hanged
1867 C H F Peters discovers asteroid #92 Undina
1891 Travelers cheque patented
1898 Pres McKinley signs resolution of annexation of Hawaiian Is
1898 US annexes Hawaii
1904 A Charlois discovers asteroid #537 Pauly
1905 127ø F (53ø C), Parker Ariz (state record)
1908 Great White Fleet leaves SF Bay
1911 Dorothea Lambert Chambers beats Dora Boothby 6-0, 6-0 in a record
25 minutes for Wimbeldon championship
1919 Phillies tie major league record of 8 steals in 9 inn game
1923 Cleve Indians beat Boston Red Sox 27-3 with 13 runs in 6th inning
1923 University of Delaware invents the "junior year abroad" (at Sorbonne)
1924 E Hertzsprung discovers asteroid #1702 Kalahari
1924 Robert LeGendre of the US, sets then long jump record at 25' 5«"
1928 Edward Hamm of the US, sets then long jump record at 25' 11"
1930 Construction begins on Boulder (Hoover) Dam
1934 Elizabeth Ryan wins her 12th Wimbeldon doubles championship
1936 NL beats AL for their 1st All Star victory, 4-3 (Boston Braves Field)
1937 AL beats NL 8-3 in 5th All Star Game (Griffith Stad, Washington)
1937 Japanese & Chinese troops clash, which will become WW II
1941 US forces land in Iceland to forestall Nazi invasion
1946 Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini canonized as 1st American saint
1948 6 female reservists become 1st women sworn into regular US Navy
1948 Cleveland Indians sign Leroy "Satchel" Paige
1949 "Dragnet" premiers on NBC radio; also a TV series in 1951 & 1967
1954 T.A.N.U. party founded in Tanzania
1956 7 Army trucks loaded with dynamite explode in the middle of
Cali, Columbia killing 1,100-1,200, destroyimg 2,000 buildings
1958 Pres Eisenhower signs Alaska statehood bill
1959 NL beats AL 5-4 in 26th All Star Game (Pittsbugh Forbes Field)
1960 USSR shoots down a US aircraft over Barents sea
1962 Bill Hartack becomes 8th jockey to win 3,000 horse races
1964 NL beats AL 7-4 at 35th All Star Game (Shea Stadium, NY)
1965 Otis Redding records "Respect"
1967 Beatles' "All You Need is Love" is released
1968 Rock group "The Yardbirds" disband
1969 Canada's House of Commons approves equality of French-English lang
1972 Billie Jean King beats Evonne Goolagong to win Wimbeldon
1973 1st all-US women's Wimbeldon, Billie Jean King beats Chris Evert
1973 78 drown as flash flood sweeps a bus into a river (India)
1973 All women board of directors takes control of ABA's Kentucky Colonels
1973 Balt Orioles pull their 4th triple play (5-4-3 vs Oakland)
1973 Glenda Reiser (Canada) sets record women's mile (4:34.9)
1973 Shoelace Park in the Bronx named
1974 West Germany beats Neth 2-1 for soccer's 10th World Cup in Munich
1975 TV soap opera "Ryan's Hope" premieres
1976 Viking 2 goes into orbit around Mars
1978 Martina Navratilova captures Wimbledon defeating Chris Evert
1978 Solomon Is gains independence from Britain (National Day)
1980 1st solar-powered aircraft crosses English Channel
1980 Az Judge Sandra Day O'Connor 1st female nominated to Supreme Court
1980 Jim King completes riding Miracle Strip Roller coaster 368 hours
1981 1st solar-powered aircraft, Solar Challenger, crosses English Channel
1981 Ben Plucknett of US throws discus 72.34 m, but throw is disqualified
1981 Solar Challenger powered only by solar energy crosses English Channel
1982 David Moorcroft of UK sets record for 5000 m, 13:00.41
1982 Steve Scott of US runs the mile in a record 3:47.69
1983 11 year old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, leaves for USSR
1984 5 die in a train crash in Williston Vt
1985 Boris Becker at 17 beats Kevin Curren for Wimbeldon title
1986 IBM-PC DOS Version 3.2 (updated) released
1986 Supreme Court struck down Gramm-Rudman deficit-reduction law
1987 Kiwanis Clubs end men-only tradition, vote to admit women
1987 Lt Col Oliver North began public testimony at Iran-Contra hearing
1987 Yanks trailing by 7 score 7 in 7th on 7/7 & 5 in 8th-Beat Twins 12-7
1988 Soviet Union launches Phobos 1 to probe Martian moon (unsuccessful)
1990 Greg Lemond wins his 3rd Tour de France (90:43:20 avg 23.3 mph)
1990 Martina Navratilova beats Zina Garrison for rec 9th Wimbeldon title
1991 Michael Stich beats Boris Becker for Wimbeldon championship

july 7th

1586 Birth of Thomas Hooker, colonial American pastor and an originator of the earliestsystem of federal government in America.
1851 Birth of Charles A. Tindley, African-American Methodist preacher and songwriter.His most enduring gospel hymns include 'Stand By Me,' 'Nothing Between,' 'Leave It There'and 'By and By.'
1946 Italian-American educator, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) became thefirst American citizen to be made a saint in the Catholic Church. She arrived in the U.S.in 1889, and was naturalized in 1909.
1952 Six churches met to form the Southern Baptist Association of Colorado, the firstorganization of this denomination in the state.
1959 English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'I "believed" theoretically inthe divine forgiveness for years before it really came home to me. It is a wonderful thingwhen it does.'

July 7

1754 - Kings College opened in New York City. The institution of higher learning admitted eight students and one faculty member, Dr. Samuel Johnson, who also served as school president. These were humble beginnings for a school which would become one of the largest in the United States. Kings was renamed Columbia College in 1784 and, later, became Columbia University. Many prestigious awards come from this university, including the Columbia Award for Journalism and the Pulitzer Prize for Journalism (named after Joseph Pulitzer, a former Columbia professor).
1862 - The first railroad post office was tested on the Hannibal and St. Joseph Railroad in Missouri.

1885 - G. Moore Peters of Xenia, OH patented the cartridge-loading machine.

1920 - A device known as the radio compass was used for the first time on a U.S. Navy airplane near Norfolk, Virginia.

1937 - Lou Gehrig hit a two-run home run to lead the American League over the National League 8-3 in the All-Star Game at Griffith Stadium in Washington, DC. Pitcher Dizzy Dean of St. Louis suffered a career-shortening broken toe on his left foot during the game. Ouch!

1943 - For the first time, Flashgun Casey was heard on radio. Not much later, the name of the program was altered to Casey, Crime Reporter, and became much more popular.

1950 - Jack Walsh had a lot of weight on his shoulders. Walsh from Trenton, NJ set a world weightlifting record of 4,235 pounds! (Like lifting two medium-sized cars). He beat the record that was set in 1905 when a weightlifter hoisted 4,140 pounds on his back. Weighty issues, indeed.

1962 - Orchestra leader David Rose reached the top spot on the popular music charts. The Stripper stayed at the pinnacle of musicdom for one week. Rose's previous musical success on the charts was in 1944 with Holiday for Strings.

1962 - Race jockey Bill Hartack won race number 3,000. He was riding Big Steve at Arlington Park in Chicago, IL.

1985 - Boris Becker won the Wimbledon tennis title by defeating Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4. Becker became the youngest, the first German and the first unseeded player to win the title in the 108-year history of Wimbledon. Becker was only 17 years old at the time -- not even old enough to drive a car in his own country!

1986 - The USA enjoyed great success at the Goodwill Games (in Moscow) as Jackie Joyner-Kersee broke the heptathlon world record with 7,148 points. She was the first woman to crack the 7,000-point barrier. Jackie extended the record that same year to 7,158 points in the U.S. Olympic Sports Festival where she won all seven events of the heptathlon.

1994 - Viacom Inc. was having a very good year. The movie, publishing and sports company bought Paramount Communications Inc. this day for $10 billion. The company that became Viacom was spun off from CBS in the 1970s because of government rules (later repealed), that prevented networks from owning their own programming. Since then, Viacom has grown to become a major player in media and cable, forming the pay channel Showtime in 1978 and acquiring MTV in 1986. On Aug 29, 1994 Viacom plunked down another $8 billion for Blockbuster Entertainment Corp.

1999 - It was the first lawsuit brought by a group of individual smokers to get all the way to the trial stage. And a jury in Miami held cigarette makers liable for marketing a dangerous product that causes deadly diseases (emphysema, lung cancer and other illnesses). The jury held the tobacco industry liable for damages worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

1999 - "Rome is a magic track for me," exclaimed the new holder of the world outdoor mile record. Hicham El Guerrouj from Morocco was in track competition at the Golden Gala Track Meet at the Olympic Stadium in Rome, Italy. His time of 3:43.13 was 1.26 seconds faster than the previous record of 3:44.39 set by Noureddine Morceli of Algeria in 1993. Second place Noah Ngeny of Kenya also beat Morceli's record as he ran neck and neck with El Guerrouj, finishing at 3:43.40. El Guerrouj shattered the world record for 1,500 meters just one year earlier at the same stadium, running the race in a record 3 minutes and 26 seconds. That record was also previously held by Morceli. El Guerrouj says he hopes to run even faster in the future, lowering the 1500 meter record to 3:24 and the mile to 3:42 or even 3:41. Soon he'll be running at the speed of light!

2000 - Scary Movie opened. Directed by funnyman Keenen Ivory Wayans, Scary Movie is a horror-film spoof (Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer, The Blair Witch Project, The Sixth Sense, The Matrix). If you can get past the strong crude sexual humor, language, drug use and violence, the flick is great fun for the entire family. Most U.S. audiences did manage to get past those drawbacks and spent $42.35 million on the film its opening weekend.

july 7th

1937 Japanese & Chinese troops clash at Marco Polo Bridge
A Chinese patrol clashed with Japanese troops on the Marco Polo Bridge near Beijing on this day, sparking the beginning of World War II in Asia. Using the incident as a pretext for hostilities, the Japanese army in Manchuria (Northeast provinces of China) moved troops into the area, precipitating another Sino-Japanese war (even though it was never really declared as such). Japanese forces quickly over-ran northern China and by the end of 1937 the Japanese navy had completed a blockade of almost the entire Chinese coast. They eventually took over the Nationalist government capital of Nanjing. The threat posed by Japan temporarily united the Guomindang (GMD) and the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in an uneasy political truce.