Historical Events
Smithsonian Institute
Jul 1 US President Andrew Jackson announces to Congress bequest by James Smithson of 100,000 gold sovereigns to found Smithsonian Institution in Washington
- Jul 4 Wisconsin Territory forms
Event of Interest
Jul 8 Charles Darwin reaches Saint Helena in HMS Beagle and takes up lodgings near the tomb of Napoleon
- Jul 13 US patent #1 (after 9,957 unnumbered patents), for locomotive wheels
- Jul 19 HMS Beagle with Charles Darwin arrives in Ascension Island
- Jul 21 1st Canadian RR opens, between Laprairie and St John, Quebec
- Jul 27 The ship the "Duke of York" arrives with the first colonists at Nepean Bay, Kangaroo Island, South Australia
- Jul 29 Inauguration of the Arc de Triomphe in Paris
- Jul 30 First English language newspaper published in Hawaii
Famous Birthdays
- Jul 2 Henry Eugene Davies, American writer, public official, lawyer, and Major General (Union Army), born in New York City (d. 1894)
- Jul 8 Joseph Chamberlain, British statesman (Secretary of State for the Colonies), born in Camberwell, England (d. 1914)
- Jul 9 Camille de Renesse, Belgian nobleman and entrepreneur, born in Brussels, Belgium (d. 1904)
- Jul 11 Antônio Carlos Gomes, Brazilian opera composer, first from outside of Europe with successful career in Italy, born in Campinas, São Paulo, Empire of Brazil (d. 1896)
- Jul 20 Thomas Allbutt, English physiologist (Diseases of the Heart), born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire (d. 1925)
- Jul 24 Jan Bloch, Polish military theorist and peace activist, born in Radom, Poland (d. 1902)
Famous Weddings
Isambard Kingdom Brunel
Jul 5 English engineer Isambard Kingdom Brunel marries Mary Elizabeth Horsley
Famous Deaths
- Jul 26 José Melchor Gomis, Spanish Romantic composer, dies of tuberculosis at 45 [some source date death as 4 August]
