What Happened in July?

Louis Pasteur, a French chemist, pharmacist, and pioneer in microbiology, successfully tests his rabies vaccine on a 9 year-old boy who had been bitten by a rabid dog fourteen times. This first vaccination was a success and the boy never developed rabies , becoming the first ever human being to be vaccinated. Louis Pasteur kept quiet about his success as the experiment had been conducted in relative secrecy. However in September 1885, Louis Pasteur administered his second treatment and was successful again, and publicly shared the story, leading to the opening  of a special rabies vaccination clinic. In 1887 the Institut Pasteur opened its doors. More

The first issue of the Wall Street Journal is published by Charles H. Dow, of Dow Jones & Company, (founded in 1882). The newspaper's accuracy in reporting and the breadth and detail of its coverage, quickly  gave it respect and success becoming an important source of business journalism. View historical Milestones

Six prominent and politically powerful Wyoming cattlemen lynched and hanged Jim Averell and Ella Watson, the woman they called Cattle Kate. They had both been wrongly accused of cattle rustling. The lynching rocked the nation as the shocking story traveled quickly across the country. The men who killed Watson and Averell never went to trial. The grand jury was made of 16 people, seven of whom were cattlemen and could not find two key witnesses. Expand +

Idaho is admitted into the Union becoming the 43rd State.

Wyoming is admitted into the Union becoming the 44th State. More

President Grover Cleveland undergoes a secret operation on a friend’s yacht to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth. The entire left side of his jaw was removed along with a small portion of his soft palate. Two weeks later, he was fitted with a rubber prosthesis which he wore until his death in 1908. The secrecy was mostly maintained for 24 years until one of the doctors wrote an article describing what had transpired. More

The Hawaiian Islands are annexed by the United States through the Newlands Joint Resolution signed by President William McKinley. The annexation of Hawaii by the United States followed a series of events beginning with growing American economic and political influence Expand +

Guam was ceded to the United States by Spain.

During the Spanish-American War, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico, which was then a Spanish colony. In 1917, Puerto Rico became an unincorporated Territory of the U.S. and Puerto Ricans became American citizens. Partial self-government was granted in 1947 allowing citizens to elect their own governor. In 1951, Puerto Ricans wrote their own constitution and elected a non-voting commissioner to represent them in Washington. More

Italian King Umberto I, is assassinated in Monza by Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci. He was succeeded by his son, Victor Emmanuel III. During his time as king since 1878 Italy expanded his control o Eritrea and Somalia. However, he was unable to defeat the Abyssinians. In 1882, King Umberto I approved the Triple Alliance, which formed a military pact between Italy, Germany, and Austria-Hungary. He faced opposition from anarchists and other groups due to his conservative policies and his support for the military's actions including the Bava Beccaris massacre in Milan. More

American mechanical engineer Willis Carrier, completes the design drawings for the first modern air conditioner while working for the Buffalo Forge Company. Carrier's system involved passing air through coils filled with cold water to cool the air and remove excess moisture, a significant advancement over previous methods. It was the first system to control both temperature and humidity, making it a groundbreaking innovation. Realizing the potential that humidity control and air conditioning could have, Carrier and six engineers eventually left to form Carrier Engineering Corporation. More

Ernest Pfennig, a Chicago dentist, orders the first Original Model A Ford car. The car is delivered a week later on July 23, 1903. A total of 1,750 cars were made from 1903 through 1904 and sold at an average price of $850. More

The Niagara Movement, a group of 59 well know African American businessmen begin their three day meeting on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. W. E. B. Du Bois was named general secretary and the group split into various committees. They renounced Booker T. Washington's accommodation policies set forth in his famed "Atlanta Compromise" speech ten years earlier. The Niagara Movement's manifesto is, in the words of Du Bois, "We want full manhood suffrage and we want it now.... We are men! We want to be treated as men. And we shall win." The movement became a forerunner of the NAACP. More

The secret Taft-Katsura Agreement is signed in which the United States acknowledged Japanese rule over Korea and condoned the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902. At the same time, Japan recognized U.S. control of the Philippines. More

The Bureau of Investigation, forerunner of the FBI, is established. More

French Aviator Louis Blériot, makes the first successful flight across the English Channel in a heavier-than-air airplane on July 25, 1909.

William C. Durant, CEO  of the relatively new General Motors Corporation purchases Cadillac from the Lelands for $4.5 million in General Motors stock, and keeps the Lelands in their management position and still responsible for production. Durant positioned Cadillac as GM's luxury brand and Cadillac flourished. More

American archeologist Hiram Bingham reaches the ruins of Machu Picchu in Peru. Although widely credited with being the first westerner to reach the site, other reports indicate other Europeans had seen it before Bingham, but he was the one who revealed it to the world at large. Local Peruvians, including the expedition's guide, Melchor Arteaga knew of the site. Nine years before Bingham's expedition, Agustin Lizárraga, a local farmer searching for new land for agriculture with some family members came upon Machu Pichu and carved an inscription on a wall in the Temple of the Three Windows that said: "Agustín Lizárraga, July 14th 1902". More

Austria-Hungary declares war on Serbia following the assassination of Franz Ferdinand, Archduke and Crown Prince of Austria in Sarajevo, marking the beginning of World War I. More

Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo closes the New York Stock Exchange to stop the European liquidation of American securities caused by the outbreak of WWI. After several days of selloffs, about $3 billion (equivalent to $90 billion in 2023) of foreign portfolio investments had been sold. All of the world’s financial markets also closed. The Sock market remained closed for four months opening again on December 12, 1914. Bond trading had restarted on November 28, 1914. The liquidation of European-held securities transformed the United States from a debtor nation to a creditor nation for the first time in its history. More