^{“Prise de la Bastille,” anonymous, between 1789 and 1791 (collection of the Musée de la Révolution Française)}

Today in History

• French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille (1789)
• The Sedition Act becomes US law, making it a federal crime to make false or malicious statements about the government (1798)
• The Matterhorn is climbed for the first time (1865)
• The Chicago Fire burns down 47 acres of the city (1874)
• A Wright Brothers exhibition pilot lands an airplane on the South Lawn of the White House (1911)
• All political parties except for the Nazi Party are banned in Germany (1933)
• The George Washington Carver National Monument, the first honoring an African-American, is dedicated (1943)
• The Iraqi monarchy is overthrown (1958)
• Jane Goodall arrives at the Gombe Stream Reserve, Tanzania, to begin her studies of chimpanzees (1964)
• Mariner 4 takes the first close-up photographs of another planet, Mars (1965)
• The Football War breaks out between Honduras and El Salvador (1969)
• The US eliminates the $500, $1000, $5000, and $10000 bills (1969)
• Canada abolishes capital punishment (1976)
• The NASA New Horizons probe performs the first flyby of Pluto (2015)

Birthdays

• Gustav Klimt, painter (1862)
• Gertrude Bell, British archeologist and spy, one of the creators of modern Iraq (1868)
• Dave Fleischer, animator, co-founder of Fleischer Studios (1894)
• Irving Stone, author (1903)
• William Hanna, animator, co-founder of Hanna-Barbara (1910)
• Woody Guthrie, folk singer and activist (1912)
• Gerald Ford, 38th US President (1913)
• Ingmar Bergman, filmmaker (1918)
• Dale Robertson, actor (1923)
• Harry Dean Stanton, actor (1926)
• John Chancellor, television journalist and anchor (1927)
• Polly Bergen, actress and singer (1930)
• Rosey Grier, football player (1932)
• Jerry Rubin, anti-war activist and counterculture figure (1938)
• Christopher Priest, author (1943)
• Franklin Graham, evangelist, son of Billy Graham (1952)
• Jane Lynch, actress (1960)
• Brian Selznick, author and illustrator (1966)

Deaths

•  Billy the Kid, outlaw (1881)
• Adlai Stevenson II, US presidential candidate and UN ambassador (1965)
• Carl Spaatz, US general (1974)
• Richard McDonald, co-founded McDonald’s (1998)
• Meredith MacRae, actress (2000)

Holidays and Celebrations

• Bastille Day (France)
• Black Country Day (UK)
• Birthday of the Crown Princess (Sweden)
• Hondurans’ Day (Honduras)
• International Nude Day (New Zealand)
• National Macaroni and Cheese Day (US)
• Ratha Vartra
• Republic Day (Iraq)
• Shark Awareness Day

July 14 is the 195th day of the year (196th in leap years). There are 170 days remaining until the end of the year.