50+ Lifestyles

July Dates and Facts – Taxes, War Dates and Wacky Celebrations

By Eloise Graham

Taxes

July 1, 1862 – President Abraham Lincoln signed the first income tax bill, levying a 3 percent income tax on annual incomes of $600 – $10,000 and a 5 percent tax on incomes over $10,000.
This fact made me inquisitive about the history of taxation in America. The first income tax suggested in the United States was during the War of 1812. The idea for the tax was based on the British Tax Act of 1798. The British tax law applied progressive rates to income. The tax proposal was developed in 1814. Because the treaty of Ghent was signed in 1815, ending hostilities and the need for additional revenue, the tax was never imposed in the United States. However, to help pay for the war effort ot the American Civil War, the government imposed its first personal income tax, on August 5, 1861, as part of the Revenue act of 1861. This act was repealed when President Lincoln signed the new tax bill into law in July of 1862.

To learn more about the history of taxation in the United States go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/income_tax_in_the_United_States#history

War History in July

July 6, 1747 – The Revolutionary War Naval Officer John Paul Jones (1747-1792) was born in Kirkbean, Scotland. He is best remembered for responding “I have not yet begun to fight!” to British opponents seeking his surrender during a naval battle.

July 3, 1775 – During the American Revolution, George took command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

July 2, 1776 – The Continental Congress in Philadelphia adopted the following resolution, originally introduced on June 7, by Richard Henry Lee of Virginia: “Resolved, That these United Colonies are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States, that they are absolved from all allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain is, and ought to be, totally dissolved. That it is expedient forthwith to take the most effectual measures for forming foreign Alliances. That a plan of confederation be prepared and transmitted to the respective Colonies for their consideration and approbation.”

July 31, 1776 – During the American Revolution, Francis Salvador became the first Jew to die in the conflict. He had also been the first Jew elected to office in Colonial America, voted a member of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in January 1775.

July 14, 1789 – The fall of the Bastille occurred at the beginning of the French Revolution.

Birthdate – Civil War Admiral David Farragut (1801-1870) was born near Knoxville, Tennessee. He is best remembered for his yelling “Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!” during an attack on his fleet by the Confederates.

July 1, 1863 – Beginning of the Battle of Gettysburg during the American Civil War.

July 4, 1863-Vicksburg, the last Confederate stronghold on the Mississippi River, surrendered to General Grant and the Army of the West after a six week siege. With the Union in control of the Mississippi, the Confederacy was effectively split in two, cut off from its western allies..

July 19, 1863 – During the American Civil War, Union troops made a second attempt to capture Fort Wagner near Charleston, South Carolina. The attack was led by the 54th Massachusetts Colored Infantry, commanded by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, who was killed along with half of the 600 men in the regiment. This battle marked the first use of black Union troops in the war.

July 15, 1918 – During the Battle of the Marne in World War, German General Erich Ludendorff launched Germany’s fifth, and last, offensive to break through the Chateau-Thierry salient. However, the Germans were stopped by American, British and Italian divisions. On July 18, General Foch, Commander-in-Chief of the Allied troops, launched a massive counter-offensive. The Germans began a retreat lasting four months until they requested an armistice in November.

July 8, 1943 – During the Nazi occupation of France, Resistance leader Jean Moulin died following his arrest and subsequent torture by the Gestapo. He had been sent by the Allies into France in 1942 to unite the fledgling Underground movement. In June of 1943, he was arrested in Lyon, tortured for eleven days but betrayed no one. He died aboard a train while being transferred to a concentration camp.

July 10, 1943 – The Allied Invasion of Italy began with an attack on the island of Sicily. The British entry into Syracuse was the first Allied success in Europe. General Dwight D. Eisenhower labeled the invasion “the first page in the liberation of the European Continent.”

July 12, 1943 – During World War II, in the Battle of Kursk, the largest tank battle in history took place outside the small village of Prohorovka, Russia. About nine hundred Russian tanks attacked an equal number of German tanks fighting at close range. When Hitler ordered a cease-fire, 300 German tanks remained strewn over the battlefield.

July 24, 1943 – During World War II in Europe, the Royal Air Force conducted Operation Gomorrah, raiding Hamburg, while tossing bales of aluminum foil strips overboard to cause German radar screens to see a blizzard of false echoes. As a result, only twelve of 791 Allied bombers involved were shot down.

July 28, 1943 – During World War II, a firestorm killed 42,000 civilians in Hamburg, Germany. The firestorm occurred after 2,326 tons of bombs and incendiaries were dropped by the Allies.

July 26, 1945 – The U.S. Cruiser Indianapolis arrived at Tinian Island in the Marianas with an unassembled Atomic bomb, met by scientists ready to complete the assembly.

July 27, 1953 – The Korean War ended with the signing of an armistice by U.S. and North Korean delegates at Panmunjom, Korea. The war had lasted just over three years

July 3, 1976 – The raid on Entebbe airport in Uganda occurred as an Israeli commando unit rescued 103 hostages on a hijacked Air France airliner. The jet had been en route from Tel Aviv to Paris when it was hijacked by pro-Palestinian guerrillas. Three hostages, seven hijackers and twenty Ugandan soldiers were killed during the rescue.

Wacky Celebrations

July 1 – Creative Ice cream Flavors Day, International Joke Day

July 2 – I Forgot Day, International Cherry Pit Spitting Day

July 3 – Compliment Your Mirror Day

July 4 – Sidewalk Egg Frying Day

July 10 – Take a Teddy Bear on a Picnic Day, Don’t Step on a Bee Day

July 12 – Different Colored Eyes Day

July 13 – Embrace Your Geekness Day, Fool’s Paradise Day

July 14 – National Pandemonium Day, National Nude Day

July 15 – Cow Appreciation Day

July 17 – Yellow Pig Day

July 20 – Ugly Truck Day – it’s a “guy” thing

July 21 – National Junk Food Day

July 22 – Ratcatcher’s Day

July 23 – Gorgeous Grandma Day

July 25 – Threading the Needle Day

July 26 – All or Nothing Day

July 27 – Take Your Plants for a Walk Day