Browse Historical Events by Day: What Happened on July 1st?

The Battle of the Boyne takes place in Ireland, resulting in a victory for Protestant King William III over Catholic King James II and securing Protestant rule in Ireland.

President Abraham Lincoln signed the first income tax bill, establishing a 3% income tax on annual incomes of $600-$10,000 and a 5% tax on incomes over $10,000.

The Battle of Gettysburg takes place in Pennsylvania. The loss ended Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict. More

Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the National Day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, when the three separate colonies of the United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into a single dominion within the British Empire called Canada.

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 Somali republic was formed on July 1, 1960, as a unification of the Trust Territory of Italian Somaliland, and British Somaliland. The independence day of Somalia is a national holiday observed annually in Somalia and the diaspora worldwide.

Rwanda gains independence from Belgium. Independence Day in Rwanda is a somewhat muted affair. Kwibohora, (July 4) is celebrated as Rwanda Liberation Day. On this day in 1994 the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) secured the capital of Kigali and ended the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

Burundi gains its freedom from Belgium.

The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.

Britain returns Hong Kong to China, ending over 150 years of British rule. More