Historical Events
- Jul 3 George Washington takes command of Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts
Olive Branch Petition
Jul 5 Second Continental Congress drafts the Olive Branch Petition to King George III
Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking Up Arms
Jul 6 Congress issues a "Declaration of the Causes and Necessity of Taking up Arms", written by Thomas Jefferson and John Dickinson, it lists American grievances but denies any intent to be independent
Event of Interest
Jul 10 Horatio Gates issues order excluding blacks from Continental Army
Maryland Tramples on the Magna Carta
Jul 25 Maryland issues currency depicting George III trampling Magna Carta
United States Post Office
Jul 26 US Continental Congress creates United States Post Office (U.S.P.O.) in Philadelphia under Benjamin Franklin
Cook Returns to England
Jul 30 Captain James Cook with HMS Resolution safely returns to England at the end of his second voyage
Famous Birthdays
- Jul 5 William Crotch, English composer, born in Norwich, Norfolk, England (d. 1847)
- Jul 9 Matthew Lewis, English novelist (The Monk), born in London (d. 1818)
- Jul 17 August Harder, German composer, born in Schönerstädt, Electorate of Saxony (now Germany) (d. 1813)
- Jul 23 Étienne-Louis Malus, French physicist (Polarization of light), born in Paris (d. 1812)
- Jul 24 Eugène François Vidocq, French criminal and police detective, born in Arras, France (d. 1857)
- Jul 25 Anna Symmes Harrison, 9th 1st lady (1841), born in Morristown, New Jersey (d. 1864)
