Today In History - July 5

Today In History - July 5

Today in History in 1687 Isaac Newton’s work was published that outlines his laws of motion and universal gravitation; in 1919 Babe Ruth hits two homeruns in a game for his first of 72 times; and in 1927 Joe DiMaggio hit his first grand slammer.

Our on this day in history archives contain over 200,000 events, birthdays and deaths from 6,000 years of history. Here is a roundup of a few of them:

Historical Events

• 1687 - Isaac Newton's great work PRINCIPIA published by Royal Society in England. Outlines his laws of motion and universal gravitation.
• 1811 - Venezuela, 1st South American country to gain independence from Spain
• 1813 - War of 1812: Three weeks of British raids on Fort Schlosser, Black Rock and Plattsburgh, New York begin.
• 1852 - Frederick Douglass, fugitive slave, delivers his 'What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July?' speech to the Ladies' Anti-Slavery Society in Rochester in which he condemns the celebration as a hypocritical sham in a land where slavery still exists
• 1865 - US Secret Service begins operating under the Treasury Department
• 1919 - Red Sox Babe Ruth hits 2 HRs in a game for his 1st of 72 times
• 1937 - Joe DiMaggio's 1st grand slammer
• 1985 - Nicholas Mark Sanders (England) begins circumnavigation of globe, covering 13,035 road miles in 78 days, 3 hr., 30 min
• 2009 - 116th Wimbledon Women’s Tennis: Serena Williams beats Venus Williams (7-6 6-2)
• 2012 - The Shard, the tallest building in Europe, is opened in London, at 309.6 metres (1,016 ft)

Famous Birthdays

• 1801 - David Farragut, Campbell's Station, Tennessee, US Admiral ("Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!")
• 1810 - Phineas Taylor Barnum, Bethel Conn, circus promoter (Barnum & Bailey)
• 1902 - Henry Cabot Lodge, (Sen-R)/ambassador (VP candidate 1960)
• 1911 - Georges Pompidou, Paris, President/Prime Minister of France (1962-74), (d. 1974)
• 1948 - Julie Nixon Eisenhower, Wash DC, daughter of Richard Nixon

Famous Weddings

• 1870 - Prime Minister of Canada John Thompson (24) weds Annie E. Affleck (25) in Portland, Maine
• 1911 - "Anne of Green Gables" author Lucy Maud Montgomery (36) weds Ewen MacDonald in Prince Edward Island, Canada
• 1920 - Foreign Minister of the German Reich Joachim von Ribbentrop (27) weds Anna Elisabeth Henkell
• 1943 - Actress Betty Grable (26) weds big band leader Harry James (27)
• 1980 - Actress Raquel Welch (39) weds producer André Weinfeld
• 2002 - "Smallville" actor Tom Welling (25) weds model Jamie White in Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts
• 2003 - TV personality Debbie Matenopoulos (28) weds Lions Gate Entertainment president Jay Faires at St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Los Angeles, California
• 2003 - "Dawson's Creek" actor James Van Der Beek (26) weds actress Heather Ann McComb (26) at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, California
• 2003 - Actress Elizabeth Banks (29) weds sportswriter and producer Max Handelman (30) at the Greystone Mansion in Beverly Hills
• 2008 - "The Bachelor" TV personality Andrew Firestone (32) weds Serbian model and actress Ivana Bozilovic (30) at St Mark's in the Valley Episcopal Church in Los Olivos, California
• 2014 - Writer and comedian John Mulaney (32) weds make-up artist Annamarie Tendler at the Onteora Mountain House in Boiceville, New York

Famous Divorces

• 1957 - Singer/actor Frank Sinatra and movie star Ava Gardner divorce after 6 years of marriage
• 2007 - Burlesque dancer Dita Von Teese (34) divorces rocker Marilyn Manson (38) due to irreconcilable differences after a year of marriage

Famous Deaths

• 1826 - Stamford Raffles, British statesman and founder of Singapore dies at 44 of apoplexy
• 1929 - Henry Lincoln Johnson, Member of 369th regiment (aka Harlem Hell Fighters), first American to receive the Croix de guerre (b. 1897)
• 1979 - Elizabeth Ryan, tennis ace (won 19 Wimbledon titles), dies at 87
• 2002 - Ted Williams, baseball hall of famer and last player to bat over.400 in a single season (Boston Red Sox) dies at 84
• 2005 - James Stockdale, U.S. Navy vice admiral (b. 1923)
• 2005 - Shirley Goodman, American singer (b. 1936)
• 2014 - Rosemary Murphy, German-born American actress, dies from esophageal cancer at 89