July 5
In the East End of London, revivalist preacher William Booth and his wife, Catherine, establish the Christian Mission, later known as the Salvation Army. Determined to wage war against the evils of poverty and religious indifference with military efficiency, Booth modeled his Methodist sect after the British army, labeling uniformed ministers as officers and new members as recruits. – 1865.
July 6
In Annapolis, Md., the United States Naval Academy admits women for the first time in its history with the induction of 81 female midshipmen. In May 1980, Elizabeth Anne Rowe became the first woman member of the class to graduate. Four years later, Kristine Holderied became the first female midshipman to graduate at the top of her class. – 1976.
July 7
Mary Harris “Mother” Jones begins “The March of the Mill Children”, when, accompanied part of the way by children. She walked from Philadelphia to president Theodore Roosevelt’s home on Long Island, N.Y. to protest the plight of child laborers. One of her demands: Reduce the children’s work week to 55 hours. – 1903.
On the morning of July 7, 2005, bombs are detonated in three crowded London subways and one bus during the peak of the city’s rush hour. The synchronized suicide bombings kills 56, including the bombers, and injures another 700. – 2005.
July 8
In Philadelphia, the Liberty Bell rings out from the tower of the Pennsylvania State House, now known as Independence Hall, summoning citizens to the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence, by Colonel John Nixon. – 1776.
July 9
Two trains collide outside of Nashville, Tenn. and kill 101 and injure more than 100. Despite the high death toll, the story was mainly ignored by the national press most likely because the vast majority of the casualties were African Americans. – 1918.
July 10
In Dayton, Tenn., the so-called Monkey Trial begins with John Thomas Scopes, a young high school science teacher, accused of teaching evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law. Within a few days hordes of spectators and reporters had descended on Dayton and preachers set up tents along the city’s main street. – 1925.
July 11
On this day in 1916, in a ceremony at the White House, president Woodrow Wilson signs the Federal Aid Road Act. The law established a national policy of federal aid for highways. – 1916.
Sources: History.com, Toil and Trouble, by Thomas R. Brooks; American Labor Struggles, by Samuel Yellen; IWW calendar, Solidarity Forever; Historical Encyclopedia of American Labor, edited by Robert E. Weir and James P. Hanlan; Southwest Labor History Archives/George Meany Center; Geov Parrish’s Radical History; workday Minnesota; Andy Richards and Adam Wright, AFL-CIO Washington DC Metro Council.