Historical Events
Salvation Army Founded
Jul 2 One-time Methodist Reform Church minister William Booth and his wife Catherine Booth found the East London Christian Mission, now known as the Salvation Army
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland
Jul 4 First edition of "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll is published
- Jul 5 Great Britain creates world's 1st speed limit law
- Jul 5 US Secret Service begins operating under the Treasury Department
Execution of Lincoln's Assassins
Jul 7 Mary Surratt, Lewis Powell, David Herold and George Atzerodt are executed for their role in the conspiracy to assassinate US President Abraham Lincoln
- Jul 13 Horace Greeley, founder and editor of the "New-York Tribune" reputedly advises his readers to "Go west, young man"
Barnum Museum Fire
Jul 13 P. T. Barnum's museum in New York burns down, giantess Anna Haining Swan just escapes
- Jul 14 English mountaineer Edward Whymper leads first expedition to climb the Matterhorn (four die on the descent)
- Jul 14 The Chickasaw Nation is the last of the Five Tribes to surrender to the Union following the Confederate defeat
Event of Interest
Jul 21 In market square of Springfield, Missouri, Wild Bill Hickok shoots and kills Davis Tutt in what is regarded as the first true western showdown
- Jul 22 Underarm slow right arm bowler V E Walker takes 10-104 in an innings for Middlesex v Lancashire in a county cricket match at Old Trafford, Manchester
- Jul 26 Patrick Francis Healy is 1st African American awarded PhD (from University of Leuven, Belgium)
- Jul 26 The capital of New Zealand moves from Auckland to Wellington
- Jul 27 Welsh settlers arrive at Chubut in Argentina.
- Jul 30 Pope Pius IX visits Suriname
- Jul 31 The first narrow gauge mainline railway in the world opens at Grandchester, Australia
Famous Birthdays
- Jul 2 Lily Braun, German feminist and socialist writer (Im Schatten Titanen), born in Halberstadt, Saxony, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1916)
- Jul 6 Emile Jaques-Dalcroze, Swiss musician, composer, and pedagogue (Dalcroze Eurythmics), born in Vienna, Austria (d. 1950)
- Jul 10 Bobby Lowe, American baseball second baseman (first player to hit 4 HRs in one MLB game, 1894 Boston Beaneaters), born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (d. 1951)
- Jul 10 Johannes "Pa" van der Steur, Dutch missionary to the East Indies, philanthropist and humanitarian (established Oranje Nassau Orphanage), born in Haarlem, Netherlands (d. 1945)
- Jul 14 Annie Jones, American bearded lady (appeared in P. T. Barnum circus), born in Marion, Virginia (d. 1902)
- Jul 15 Alfred Charles William Harmsworth, British influential journalist and newspaper publisher (started The Daily Mail, Daily Mirror), born in Chapelizod, Ireland (d. 1922)
- Jul 15 Wilhelm Wirtinger, Austrian mathematician (d. 1945)
- Jul 16 George A. Birmingham, Irish clergyman and novelist, born in Belfast (d. 1950)
- Jul 18 Laurence Housman, English author and playwright (Victoria Regina), born in Bromsgrove, Worcestershire, England (d. 1959)
- Jul 19 Charles Horace Mayo, American surgeon and co-founder (Mayo Clinic), born in Rochester, Minnesota (d. 1939)
- Jul 21 Robert Kahn, German composer, born in Mannheim, Baden, German Confederation (d. 1951)
- Jul 23 Friedrich Aereboe, German landlord and agricultural economist, born in Horn, Hamburg (d. 1942)
- Jul 23 Max Heindel, Danish-American Christian occultist, astrologer and mystic, born in Aarhus, Denmark (d. 1919)
- Jul 25 Jac[obus] P. Thijsse, Dutch biologist and educator (Contact with Plants), born in Maastricht, Netherlands (d. 1945)
- Jul 26 Philipp Scheidemann, German politcian (SPD) and Mayor of Kassel, born in Kassel, Germany (d. 1939)
- Jul 29 Nicola Spinelli, Italian opera composer, born in Turin, Kingdom of Italy (d. 1909)
Famous Deaths
- Jul 7 David Herold, American pharmacist's assistant who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, executed by hanging at 23
- Jul 7 George Atzerodt, American conspirator who failed to attempt an assassination of Vice President Andrew Johnson on the night Abraham Lincoln was murdered, executed by hanging at 30
- Jul 7 Lewis Powell, American Confederate soldier who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln and who attempted to kill Secretary of State William H. Seward, executed by hanging at 21
- Jul 7 Mary Surratt, American boarding house owner who was part of the conspiracy to assassinate Abraham Lincoln, executed by hanging at 42 or 45. She becomes the first woman executed by the US government.
- Jul 15 Reinier C. Bakhuizen van de Brink, Dutch historian, dies at 55
- Jul 24 Johan Filip von Schantz, Finnish violinist, conductor, and composer (Kullervo), dies of typhus at 30
- Jul 25 James Barry [Margaret Ann Bulkley], British military surgeon and the 1st woman in Great Britain to become a qualified medical doctor, dies at 66 or 67
- Jul 30 George Wright, US Union brigadier general, dies at 61
