History by the Week
Hugh Capet
July 1, 1863–Union and Confederate forces collided at Gettysburg, Pennsylvania. The Battle of Gettysburg lasted three days before General Lee retreated to Virginia.
July 2, 1937–Amelia Earhart and navigator Frederick Noonan disappeared while attempting to fly around the world. My friend, Eric Wilson, has a new e-book on Amelia Earhart’s disappearance, “Amelia’s Last Secret.”
July 3, 987–Hugh Capet was crowned King of France and established Paris as his power center. This was the beginning of the Capetian dynasty and some believe the beginning of modern France.
July 4, 1826 and 1831–Three presidents died on July 4. Thomas Jefferson and John Adams both died on July 4, 1826, only hours apart on the 50th anniversary of independence. James Monroe died on July 4, 1831.
July 5, 1921–Jury selection began for the trial of White Sox players accused of throwing the 1919 World Series. The infamous “Black Sox” were eventually found not guilty. But the baseball commissioner still decided to ban eight players, including Shoeless Joe Jackson, from the game for life.
July 6, 1535–Sir Thomas More was executed for refusing to take the oath of the supremacy of the Crown. He also refused to recognize the annulment of Henry VIII’s marriage to Catherine of Aragon. His conflict with Henry was the subject of the 1966 Best Picture, “A Man For All Seasons” (which, by coincidence, I saw last weekend).
July 7, 1852–Dr. Watson, Sherlock Holmes’ sidekick, was said to have been born on July 7, 1852. Coincidentally, Watson’s creator, author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, died on July 7, 1930.
By Doug Peterson
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