What Happened in July? Historical Events & Milestones • Page 6

1687 CE, July 5

Isaac Newton's Philosophiæ Naturalis Principia Mathematica (The Principia) is first published on July 5, 1687, by the Royal Society in England. This foundational work in science outlined his famous three laws of motion and the law of universal gravitation, establishing classical mechanics and revolutionizing physics and astronomy.

1690 CE, July 1

The Battle of the Boyne takes place in Ireland, resulting in a victory for Protestant King William III over Catholic King James II and securing Protestant rule in Ireland.

1695 CE, July 17

The Bank of Scotland is established by an Act of the Scottish Parliament on July 17, 1695, making it Scotland's first and oldest bank. It was created to support Scottish businesses with capital and credit when the country faced economic challenges.

1699 CE, July 6

English pirate William Kidd is captured on July 6, 1699 in Boston. He was shipped to England in February 1700 to face trial, resulting in his hanging on May 23, 1701.

1699 CE, July 6

Captain Kidd, the privateer-turned-pirate, is arrested in Boston on July 6, 1699 and sent to England to stand trial. He was found guilty of murder and five counts of piracy and hanged on May 23, 1701.

1709 CE, July 8

The Great Northern War, Battle of Poltava fought on July 8, 1709, (June 27, Old calendar) resulted in a major defeat of the Swedish army under Charles XII, by Russian forces led by Peter the Great.

1713 CE, July 13

Spain and Britain signed one of the treaties of Utrecht, this one giving Gibraltar and Minorca to Britain on July 13, 1713. The Treaty of Utrecht refers to a series of peace treaties signed in Utrecht, Netherlands, between 1713 and 1715, that concluded the War of the Spanish Succession.

1715 CE, July 31

The Urca de Lima and 9 other treasure ships on their way back to Spain from Havana were all lost in a hurricane off the Atlantic coast. More than 700 seamen, including the Spanish commander, drowned. More than $15 million worth of treasure sank to the bottom of the ocean. Spain managed to recover about $4 million of the treasure. The rest remained on the ocean floor for more than 250 years. More

1733 CE, July 15

The Spanish ship San Jose y las Animas sinks off the coast of Florida, becoming a subject of treasure hunting.The wreck was located by treasure hunters in 1968, lying in about twenty-eight feet of water. The ship was carrying a substantial amount of treasure, estimated to be worth millions of pesos.

1743 CE, July 26

The Battle of Dettingen takes place during the War of the Austrian Succession, marking the last time a reigning British monarch, King George II, personally leads his troops in battle.

1754 CE, July 17

Columbia University in New York City holds its first classes at Kings College on July 17, 1754 given by its first president, William Samuel Johnson, for eight students in the English charity school adjoining Trinity Church.

1762 CE, July 9

Peter III emperor of Russia, is deposed five months after ascending to the throne by a coup d'état led by his wife Catherine who declared herself Empress of Russia, marking the beginning of her 34-year reign where she became known as Catherine the Great. She was later formally crowned in September 1762 in Moscow. The coup took place while Peter was away from the capital and was supported by the Russian military and a faction of nobles. Peter was forced to abdicate and was later assassinated. Catherine, born Sophie von Anhalt-Zerbst, married Peter III (then Karl Ulrich) in 1745. Catherine the Great became the longest-reigning female ruler in Russian history. During her reign, Russia become one of the great powers of Europe, with significant territorial expansion and modernization advancements. More

1769 CE, July 16

Fr. Junípero Serra founds the Mission San Diego de Alcalá. The first of the California Missions. Fr. Junipero Sierra founded eight more of the 21 California missions: Carmel, San Antonio, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco (Mission Dolores). San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, and San Buenaventura, Serra’s missions helped strengthen Spain’s control of Alta California.

Fr. Junípero Serra (1713–1784) - KUDOS 365 BIOGRAPHY SERIES

Fr. Junípero Serra was a Spanish Franciscan missionary, scholar, and founder of the early California mission system. Born Miquel Josep Serra on Mallorca in 1713, he entered the Franciscan order as a young man and took the religious name Junípero. Before becoming a missionary, he was educated in theology and philosophy and served as a teacher, a background that shaped his disciplined religious outlook and his later work in the Spanish empire’s northern frontier.

Serra left Spain for New Spain in 1749. After arriving at Veracruz, he traveled inland to Mexico City and later served in mission work in central Mexico. In 1767, after the expulsion of the Jesuits from Spanish territories, Franciscans were assigned to take over former Jesuit missions in Baja California. Serra became responsible for that missionary work before joining the Spanish movement into Alta California. California Missions Foundation summarizes Serra’s missionary career as beginning in Mexico and extending northward into California, where he founded 9 of the 21 California missions.

In 1769, Serra accompanied the expedition led by Gaspar de Portolá into Alta California. That same year, he founded Mission San Diego de Alcalá, the first of the California missions. He later helped establish missions including San Carlos Borromeo, San Antonio de Padua, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco, San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, and San Buenaventura. The National Park Service identifies Serra as the Franciscan Father Superior who established the California mission system.

Serra’s admirers emphasize his religious commitment, endurance, and administrative role in building mission communities under difficult conditions. He traveled despite chronic physical pain, especially a leg condition that remained with him for much of his missionary life. His headquarters became Mission San Carlos Borromeo at Carmel, which also became his burial place after his death in 1784. California State Parks identifies Mission San Carlos Borromeo as Serra’s headquarters and burial site.

His legacy, however, is deeply contested. The California mission system was not only a religious enterprise; it also served Spanish imperial expansion. Missions altered Indigenous life through conversion, labor discipline, relocation, punishment, disease, and disruption of Native cultures and communities. For many Catholic institutions, Serra is remembered as a saintly missionary whose work spread Christianity. For many Indigenous Californians and later critics, he represents a mission system tied to colonial control and severe harm.

Pope Francis canonized Serra in 2015, making him a Catholic saint. That recognition renewed public debate over how California should remember him. Supporters saw the canonization as recognition of missionary sacrifice and religious devotion. Critics argued that honoring Serra without fully confronting the suffering of Indigenous peoples distorted the history of the missions.

Fr. Junípero Serra remains one of the most significant and controversial figures in early California history. His life stands at the intersection of faith, empire, colonization, and memory. Understanding him requires attention both to his missionary purpose and to the Indigenous communities whose lives were transformed, constrained, and often damaged by the system he helped build.

1770 CE, July 12

James Hargreaves, an English weaver in Blackburn, Lancaster received a patent, on July 12, 1770, for his "Spinning Jenny," a hand-powered, multiple-spindle machine that revolutionized cotton spinning offering a significant advancement over traditional spinning wheels that could only spin one thread at a time.

1775 CE, July 3

George Washington formally takes command of the fledgling Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts on July 3, 1775 and begins taking the crucial steps to unify the colonial militias into a national force during the American Revolution.

1775 CE, July 26

The U.S. postal system is established by the Continental Congress and Benjamin Franklin is appointed first Postmaster General at the beginning of the American Revolution. Congress formally established the office of the United States postmaster general by act of government on September 22, 1789. More

1776 CE, July 4

The United States declares independence from Great Britain.

1777 CE, July 31

The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army. His Masonic membership opened many doors in Philadelphia. Lafayette's advocates included Benjamin Franklin who had recently arrived back from his assignment as American envoy to France. Congress was urged to accommodate the young Frenchman who had offered to serve without pay.

1787 CE, July 13

The Ordinance of 1787, a landmark act by the single camera Congress of the Confederation is passed on July 13, 1787. It established the Northwest Territory (The lands north and west of the Ohio River) and created a blueprint for westward expansion.