July 25 is

Red Shoe Day *

Culinarians Day *

Hire a Veteran Day *

Hot Fudge Sundae Day

Merry-Go-Round Day

Thread the Needle Day

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MORE! Hawys Gadarn, Thomas Eakins and Iman, click

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World Festivals and National Holidays

Costa Rica – Guanacaste Annexation

Cuba – Revolution Anniversary

Pakistan – Election Day

Puerto Rico – Constitution Day

Germany – Bayreuth:
Wagner Festspiele (1^st day)

Spain – Galicia:
Dìa Nacional de Galicia

Tibet – Qinghai:
Yushu Horse Racing Festival

Tunisia – Republic Day

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On This Day in HISTORY

315 – The Arch of Constantine is completed near Rome’s Coliseum to commemorate Constantine I’s victory over Maxentius at Milvian Bridge

1137 – Eleanor of Aquitaine marries Prince Louis, later King Louis VII of France

1291 – Hawys Gadarn born, “the Hardy” Lady of Powys; Welsh noblewoman whose father had the forethought to insure she was a subject of the crown of England in his will. When her father died in 1293, her brother was the heir, but when he too died in 1309, he designated Hawys as his heir, but she was still 17, so her four uncles became her guardians. They disputed her claim on the grounds that women could not inherit under Welsh law, and sought take the land for themselves, and force Hawys into a nunnery. She went to the Parliament of Shrewsbury to petition King Edward II of England in person, as an English subject loyal to the Crown. He asked her to nominate a champion of her rights, and she named John Charleton, who was one of Edward’s knights. Charleton led a company of English knights escorting her back to Powis Castle. The knights ably defended the lady’s claim, capturing three of her uncles. Hawys and John Charleton were married shortly thereafter, and she became known for her support of monasteries, including the building of the Franciscan monastery in Shrewsbury

Powis Castle

1554 – (“Bloody”) Mary I of England marries Philip II of Spain

1593 – “Le bon roi Henri” converts from Protestantism to Roman Catholicism in order to be crowned as King Henry IV of France at Chartres Cathedral. Legend has it that he remarked, “Paris vaut bien une messe” (Paris is well worth a mass)

1603 – James VI of Scotland is crowned King of England, becoming James I there

1750 – Henry Knox born, American bookstore owner becomes a Revolutionary war general; establishes artillery training centers; first U.S. Secretary of War (1789-1794)

1806 – Maria Weston Chapman born, American abolitionist, essayist and poet; editor of the anti-slavery journal Non-Resistant, and The Liberty Bell, an annual gift book featuring works donated by notable writers and used as a fundraiser for the cause; served on the executive committee of the American Anti-Slavery Society (1839-1865)

1824 – Costa Rica annexes Guanacaste from Nicaragua

1837 – First successful demonstration of commercial electrical telegraph

1840 – Flora Adams Darling born, American author, historian, organizer, instrumental in the founding of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR)

1844 – Thomas Eakins born, American realist painter, sculptor and photographer; one of the most important American artists

Self Portrait, by Thomas Eakins – circa 1902

1850 – Gold discovered in the Rogue River in Oregon

1853 – Joaquin Murrieta, Californio bandito, is killed

1853 – David Belasco born, influential American theatrical producer, also playwright

1866 – U.S. Congress authorizes 5 star rank of General of the Army for Ulysses S. Grant

1868 – Wyoming becomes a U.S. territory

1870 –Maxfield Parrish born, American painter and highly successful illustrator

Morning, by Maxfield Parrish, 1922

1871 – Margaret Floy Washburn born, American psychologist, known for work in animal behavior and motor theory; first woman granted a PhD in psychology in the U.S., second woman to serve as American Psychological Association President

1873 – Anne Tracy Morgan born, American philanthropist and author, spearheaded and supplied funds for relief efforts to aid France during and after WWI and WWII; first American woman appointed a commander of Ordre national de la Légion d’honneur(French Legion of Honor)

1883 – Alfredo Casella born, Italian composer, pianist and conductor

1884 – Davidson Black born, Canadian paleoanthropologist; Chair of the Geological Survey of China; his finds expanded the knowledge of human evolution

1893 – The Corinth Canal in Greece is used for the first time

1896 – Josephine Tey born, Scottish author of mystery novels; wrote historical plays under the name Gordon  Daviot; noted for The Daughter of Time, and other books in her Alan Grant detective series, and her play (as ‘Gordon Daviot’) Richard of Bordeaux

1901 – Ruth Krauss born, American author, known for children’s book such as The Carrot Seed and poems for adults

1901 – Mohammed Helmy born, Egyptian physician who saved several Jews from the Nazis in Berlin during the Holocaust; he was the first Arab to be recognized by Yad Vashem as Righteous Among the Nations

1902 – Eric Hoffer born, American longshoreman, philosopher and notable author of The True Believer; awarded Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1983

1905 – Elias Canetti born, Bulgarian novelist and playwright; 1981 Nobel Prize

1906 – Johnny Hodges born, American jazz saxophonist; soloist for Duke Ellington

1918 – Jane Frank born, American painter and sculptor, also known for work in mixed media and textile art

Ploughed Fields, Maryland – by Jane Frank 

1920 – Rosalind Franklin born, British scientist, made contributions to the understanding of the molecular structure of DNA which was foundational for the work of Watson and Crick

1923 – Maria Gripe, Swedish author children’s and young adult books, recipient of the Hans Christian Andersen Medal

1930 – Alice Parizeau born in Poland to Jewish parents who died in the Holocaust; French Canadian author, journalist, essayist and criminologist, associated with the sovereignty movement in Quebec

1938 – Richard Aaker Trythall born, American composer and pianist; member of  Gruppo di Improvvisazione Nuova Consonanza (1964-1980)

1943 – Italian dictator Benito Mussolini overthrown in a coup; King Victor Emmanuel orders Marshall Pietro Badoglio to form a military government to continue conduct of the war

1944 – Sally Beauman born, English journalist and novelist; worked for New York magazine, and was an editor at Queen magazine and The Sunday Telegraph magazine; also worked as an investigative journalist for several leading British publications; author of eight best-selling novels, including The Visitors

1946 – U.S. detonates its first underwater atomic bomb test at Bikini Atoll

1952 – Puerto Rico becomes self-governing commonwealth of U.S.

1954 – Sheena McDonald born, Scottish journalist and broadcaster; producer and presenter for BBC Radio Scotland (1978-1981), then worked for STV (a Scottish television channel – 1981-1986), then worked on several different programmes until she was struck by a police van responding to an emergency, and seriously injured in 1999, and was out of broadcasting for almost five years; currently presents a news programme for the cable channel Teachers’ TV

1955 – Iman born as Zara Abdulmajid, Somali fashion model, founder of an ethnic cosmetics company, and philanthropist; Super model active from 1976 to 1990, she went on to start her own cosmetics firm in 1994, specializing in difficult-to-find foundation shades for women, and expanding into the home shopping fashion market in 2007. She is actively involved with several children’s charities, including Keep a Child Alive, Children’s Defense Fund, and Save the Children’s East African programs. She played a key part in the Enough Project’s campaign against blood diamonds, including terminating her contract with the De Beers diamond conglomerate over ethics conflicts

1964 –Annie Applebaum born, American-Polish journalist and author; 2004 Pulitzer Prize (General Nonfiction) for Gulag: A History; 2012 National Book Award Nonfiction finalist for Iron Curtain: The Crushing of Eastern Europe 1944-1956

1966 – Diana Johnson born, British Labour politician; Member of Parliament for Kingston Upon Hull North since 2005, Hull’s first woman MP; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Schools (2009-2010); Member of the London Assembly for the Labour Party (2003-2004); in 2014, she proposed a Bill that would require sex and relationships education, including discussions around issues such as consent, to be made a compulsory part of the National Curriculum

1966 – The Supremes release “You Can’t Hurry Love”

1967 – Ruth Peetoom born, Dutch Christian Democractic Appeal (CDA) politician, CDA Party Chair since 2011

1969 – Annastacia Palaszczuk born, Australian Labor politician; Premier of Queensland since 2015; Labor member of the Legislative Assembly of Queensland since 2006; as Leader of the Opposition of Queensland (2012-2015), the first woman Premier of a state from an Opposition party; first Australian premier to have a majority of women ministers (8 out of 14); served as Minister for Disabilities (2009-2011), and for Multicultural Affairs (2009-2012)

1974 – Lauren Faust born, American animator, director, producer and screenwriter; known for creating the animated series My Little Pony: Friendship Is Magic

1975 – “A Chorus Line” debuts on Broadway, and runs for 6,137 performances

1978 – Louise Joy Brown, first in-vitro fertilization test-tube baby, is born in England

1984 – Soviet cosmonaut Svetlana Savitskaya becomes the first woman to walk in space

1994 – Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin and Jordan’s King Hussein sign a declaration at the U.S. White House ending their countries’ 46-year state of war

2007 – Pratibha Patil is sworn in as India’s first female president (Indira Gandhi was the first woman to become India’s Prime Minister)

2008 – California becomes the first state to ban trans fats from restaurant food

2010 – WikiLeaks leaks over 90,000 internal reports on the War in Afghanistan

2011 – (year uncertain) Culinarians Day * is a day to celebrate people who cook, whether they are professional chefs or cooking for their family

2013 – Red Shoe Day * is established in memory of Australian Lyme disease patient, Theda Myint, who died on this date, to remember not only Theda, but all those lost to Lyme and other ‘invisible’ illnesses, including ME/CFS and Fibromyalgia, worldwide

2017 – The first official Hire a Veteran Day * is launched by Hire Our Heroes (HOH), a non-profit founded by veterans for veterans

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