July 1st

Croatia became the 28th member of the European Union.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is established. It is the first international judicial body that has the power to try individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. It was created by the Rome Statute, an international treaty that was signed in the Italian city of Rome in 1998.

Vermont's civil unions law went into effect.

United Kingdom returns Hong Kong and the New Territories to the People's Republic of China.

Yasir Arafat returned to Palestinian land after 27 years in exile.

The Warsaw Pact, a defense treaty between 8 communist countries, is formally disbanded in Prague. The pact was founded in 1955, during the height of the Cold War, as a way to counterbalance the power of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) in Western Europe.

The Walkman makes its appearance in stores for the first time. The portable audio cassette player was made by Sony and went on sale in Japan.

The United States, Britain, the Soviet Union, and 58 other nations signed the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty.

The U.S. Post Office inaugurated its five-digit ZIP (Zone Improvement Plan) codes.

Burundi and Rwanda achieved independence.

Income tax withholding began in the United States.

The Communist Party of China is founded and Chen Duxiu elected its leader.

First day of the Battle of the Somme: the British Army suffers its worst day, losing 19,240 men (WWI).

SOS is adopted as the International Distress Signal. The 2nd International Radiotelegraphic Convention, which was signed in December 1906, made the Morse code distress signal (· · · – – – · · ·), the standard international maritime distress signal. Even though it was replaced by the Global Maritime Distress and Safety System in 1999, SOS is universally seen as a distress call and is often mistakenly thought to be an abbreviation of Save Our Souls or Save Our Ship.

The Tour de France Bicycle Race is flagged off for the first time. The now annual multi-leg bike race lasted for 20 days with a course that stretched about 1,500 miles. The race was first created by the sports daily, L'Auto , as a way to boost its circulation. The first Tour de France was win by Italian-French racer, Maurice Garin.

Theodore Roosevelt and his Rough Riders fought the battle of San Juan Hill in the Spanish-American War.

The Dominion of Canada is formed, comprising the provinces of New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario & Quebec, with John A. Macdonald serving as the first Prime Minister.

The Battle of Gettysburg, which marked the turning point in the Civil War, began.

The joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society.

Matsuo Basho, zen poet, leaves for 150 days journey on Honshu Japan.