What Happened in July?

American and British forces began the invasion of Sicily by air and sea on July 10, 1943

Battle of Kursk: Russia's counteroffensive stops the German advance and results in a Soviet victory. The Battle of Kursk is the single largest battle in the history of warfare. It's generally estimated that the Soviet Union suffered around 800,000 casualties, with the German forces suffering around 200,000. These casualties include killed, wounded, and missing in action. More

Approximately 700 United States planes of the USAAF flew over Rome and dropped 9,000 bombs on the city. This raid was intended to only damage the freight yard and the steel factory in the San Lorenzo district of Rome, but it also struck apartments and the Papal Basilica, killing 1500 people. More

U.S. forces, led by General George S. Patton capture Palermo after advancing rapidly through Sicily during the Invasion of Sicily Campaign (Operation Husky). It was a large-scale Allied amphibious operation involving British and American forces in World War II, The capture of Palermo ultimately led to the liberation of Sicily and the collapse of Mussolini's fascist regime in Italy.

Operation Gomorrah begins. 791 British bombers took off under cover of darkness toward Hamburg, Germany. The air fleet was composed of British Lancaster, Stirling, Wellington, and Halifax bombers flying in six waves. Each wave had between 100 to 120 aircraft hoping to concentrate as much destruction as possible. The operation lasted for eight days, until August 1, 1943,. The operation included both nighttime raids by the Royal Air Force (RAF) and daytime raids by the United States Army Air Force (USAAF) resulting in 46,000 civilian deaths, one of the worst civilian disasters of World War II.  More

Mussolini is deposed. The Fascist Grand Council ousted Mussolini from office and placed him under arrest two weeks after the Allied attack on Sicily. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy then ordered Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.

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 1955 when declining health forced him to resign, 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 on July 27, 1949. Developed and manufactured by De Havilland in the United Kingdom.  Expand +