What Happened in July?

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. During his time as king since 1878 Italy expanded his control of Eritrea and Somalia. However, he was unable to defeat the Abyssinians.  Expand +

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.  Expand +

The excursion boat S.S. Eastland, known as the "Speed Queen of the Great Lakes rolles over into the Chicago river at the wharf's edge. More than 2,500 passengers and crew members were on board that day – and 844 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families. More

The WWI Battle of the Somme offensive starts after a week long artillery bombardment. Planned as a joint operation between British and French forces to break the deadlock on the Western Front. But due to the German attack on the French at Verdun, Britain and its Empire took the lead on the Somme. The battle continue until November 13, 1916. It was a costly and largely unsuccessful Allied offensive on the Western front. The horrific bloodshed on the first day of the battle became a metaphor for the loss and apparent futility of the First World War. By the end of the first day of the battle more than 20,000 British soldiers were killed in action and 40,000 wounded marking the heaviest day’s loss that a British army had ever suffered. Four months later the Allies had advanced just five miles.

British King, George V, declares that he and all his descendants would be going by Windsor. Both in a “House of Windsor” capacity and as an official last name. Before George V picked Windsor, the royals were going by the “House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.” Expand +

The Battle of Passchendaele begins. It was a major WWI campaign lasting four months in the Ypres Salient in Belgium; a brutal and costly offensive with the goal of capturing Passchendaele Ridge and advancing towards the Belgian coast. It was primarily launched by the British including  Canadian and Australian troops and the French army, against the German army. The battle was fought under horrific conditions, including heavy rain, mud, and shell-churned terrain, which significantly hampered troop movements and contributed to the estimated 300,000 to 500,000 casualties on both sides.

The Second Battle of the Marne starts during the First World War.  It was the last major German offensive on the Western Front lasting a year and ending on August 6, 1919.