What Happened in July?

German military leaders attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler and take control of the government. Their plot fails. More

An attempt to kill Hitler led by Claus von Stauffenberg fails. Stauffenberg planted a bomb in a briefcase at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters. Hitler survived with only minor injuries, this was a significant attempt to overthrow the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler was the target of at least 42 known assassination attempts while he was in power. Many of the other assassination attempts included  poisoning, bombs, shootings, and even plans to use snipers or tanks. More

 The first atomic bomb “ nicknamed “Gadget,” is successfully tested at the Trinity Site in Alamogordo, New Mexico as part of the Manhattan Project. Gadget detonation was between 15 and 20 kilotons of force, slightly more than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Atomic Age had begun. More

The Potsdam Conference begins on July 17, 1945 as Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and U.S. President Harry Truman start a multi day meeting in Potsdam, Germany, to negotiate terms for the end of World War II.  Expand +

Winston Churchill resigns as Prime Minister after a decisive general election win by the Labor Party. He continued as the leader of the Conservative Party and was re-elected Prime minister in 1951 and served until 1951 due to poor health forced him to resign in 1955, making way for his Foreign Secretary and Deputy Prime Minister, Anthony Eden. More

The U.S. Navy heavy cruiser USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks within minutes. Only 316 of the 1,196 men on board survived. The Indianapolis had just completed its major mission; the delivery of a key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped a week later at Hiroshima to the Tinian Island in the South Pacific. More

The modern bikini is introduced to the public by French designer Louis Réard at the Piscine Molitor, a popular public pool in Paris, modeled by a 19 year old French showgirl named Micheline Bernardini. Reportedly The design was named "bikini" after the Bikini Atoll, where nuclear tests were being conducted at the time, reflecting the "small and devastating" nature of the swimsuit. Two-piece swimsuits had existed previously, though they typically covered the bikini was a two-piece swimsuit that revealed the wearer's navel, which was considered scandalous at the time.

Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (Maria Francesca Cabrini) also known as Mother Cabrini, is canonized as a saint by Pope Pius XII becoming the first U.S. citizen to be canonized as a Saint by the Roman Catholic Church. Mother Cabrini was a prominent religious sister in the Roman Catholic Church and the founder of the Missionary Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (MSC), a religious institute that today provides education, health care, and other services to the poor in 15 nations. Expand +

The July 1947 issue of Foreign Affairs magazine publishes and article written by George F. Kennan and published under the pseudonym "X", titled "The Sources of Soviet Conduct". The article introduced the term "containment" to widespread use and advocated the strategic use of that concept against the Soviet Union.  Expand +

President Harry Truman signs the second Presidential Succession Act. The original act of 1792 had placed the Senate president pro tempore and Speaker of the House in the line of succession, but in 1886 Congress had removed them. The 1947 Executive order reinserted those officials but placed the Speaker ahead of the president pro tempore. In 1965, Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana and Representative Emanuel Celler of New York introduced joint resolutions in the Senate and House of Representatives aimed at clarifying and defining in the Constitution, the rules on Presidential succession and inability. Congress approved the 25th Amendment on 1965. The states completed ratification by February 10, 1967, and President Lyndon Johnson certified the amendment on February 23, 1967.

General Dwight D. Eisenhower presents the first ever permanent Army commission assigned to a woman to Florence Aby Blanchfield to become a Lieutenant Coronel in the US Army. The presentation took place two days after the passage of the Army-Navy Nurse Act, which allowed Nurses to gain permanent commissioned-officer status. Blanchfield was United States Army Colonel and superintendent of the Army Nursing Corps. She was awarded the Distinguished Service Medal in 1945, and the Florence Nightingale Medal by the International Red Cross in 1951
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President Harry Truman signs The National Security Act of 1947 . The Act mandated a major reorganization of the foreign policy and military establishments of the U.S. Government and created many of the institutions that Presidents found useful when formulating and implementing foreign policy, including the National Security Council (NSC).

President Harry S. Truman signs a proclamation that reinstituted the military draft in the United States. This action, taken during a period of increasing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union.  Expand +

President Harry S. Truman signs executive order 9981 banning segregation in the Armed Forces. More

The First test flight of the De Havilland DH 106 Comet, takes place. Developed and manufactured by De Havilland in the United Kingdom, went on to become the world's first commercial passenger jet aircraft to reach production and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952. Within a year, three Comets were lost after suffering catastrophic mishaps mid-flight. As a result, the Comet was extensively redesigned, with structural reinforcements and other changes. More

President Harry S. Truman appoints Douglas MacArthur as commander of the U.S. air and naval forces to South Korea in support of a U.N. resolution calling for an end to hostilities to aid the democratic nation in repulsing the invasion from North Korea which was supported by China and the Soviet Union. The fighting eventually ended with an armistice on July  27, 1953, formally dividing the country at the 38th parallel into North and South Korea. The Korean War was among the most destructive conflicts of the modern era, with approximately 3 million war fatalities including over 36,000 Americans. More

Paris, the capital city of France, celebrates turning 2,000 years old. While the exact date of Paris's founding is debated, it's believed to be around 250 B.C. by a Gallic tribe called the Parisii settled on an island in the Seine River, which runs through Paris. Expand +

The Egyptian army led by by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a revolution toppling King Farouk in a coup d'état by the Free Officers Movement and, changing Egypt from a monarchy to a republic. The Revolution ushered in a wave of revolutionary politics in the Arab World, and contributed to the escalation of decolonization and the development of Third World solidarity during the Cold War. More

Puerto Rico officially becomes a U.S. Commonwealth, a significant transition following its status as a U.S. territory. This change allowed Puerto Rico to establish its own constitution and elect its own governor, legislature, and judiciary. government, while still remaining under the ultimate authority of the U.S. federal government, particularly in areas like foreign policy and defense. Luis Muñoz Marín, was Puerto Rico's first elected governor. 

Fidel Castro's revolutionary "26th of July Movement." is established. It eventually overthrows dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1959. Although he once declared that Cuba would never again be ruled by a dictator, Castro's government became a Communist dictatorship.