07 July - Alaska Statehood Act

The Alaska Statehood Act, formally known as the Act to Provide for the Admission of the State of Alaska into the Union, was signed into law on 07 July 1958, by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The act enabled Alaska to become the 49th state of the United States on 03 January 1959. Here are some key points about the Alaska Statehood Act:

1. Historical Context: The push for Alaska's statehood began long before the act was signed. Alaska was purchased from Russia in 1867, and it became a U.S. territory. For many years, residents and leaders in Alaska campaigned for statehood to gain full representation in Congress and more control over local affairs.

2. Legislative Process: The Alaska Statehood Act was passed by Congress after a lengthy and contentious debate. Some concerns included the cost of supporting a sparsely populated state and the potential for Alaska's strategic location during the Cold War.

3. Provisions: The act laid out the procedures for Alaska's admission, including the creation of a state constitution, the election of state officials, and the delineation of state boundaries. It also addressed issues related to land and resource management, which were critical for Alaska's economy.

4. Impact on Alaska: Statehood brought significant changes to Alaska, including increased federal funding, improved infrastructure, and greater political representation. It also spurred economic development, particularly in the areas of oil, mining, and fishing.

5. Cultural and Social Effects: The transition to statehood had profound effects on Alaska's Indigenous populations. The act included provisions for Native land claims, which eventually led to the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (ANCSA) in 1971, resolving many land disputes and providing compensation to Native Alaskans.

The Alaska Statehood Act was a pivotal moment in U.S. history, reflecting the expansion and evolution of the nation while addressing the unique challenges and opportunities presented by Alaska.

Kupala Night

Kupala Night, (Russian, Belarusian,Ukrainian,Polish), also called Ivanа-Kupala, is a traditional eastern Slavic holiday which is celebrated in Ukraine, Poland, Belarus and Russia during the night from 6 to 7 July (on the Gregorian calendar). (This corresponds to 23–24 June on these countries’ traditional Julian calendar.) Calendar-wise, it is opposite to the winter holiday Koliada. The celebration relates to the summer solstice when nights are the shortest and includes a number of Slavic rituals.

06 July - Dalai Lama born in 1935

The 14th Dalai Lama(religious name: Tenzin Gyatso, shortened from Jetsun Jamphel Ngawang Lobsang Yeshe Tenzin Gyatso; born Lhamo Dhondup, 6 July 1935) is the current Dalai Lama. Dalai Lamas are important monks of the Gelug school, the newest school of Tibetan Buddhism,[3] which was formally headed by the Ganden Tripas. From the time of the 5th Dalai Lama to 1959, the central government of Tibet, the Ganden Phodrang, invested the position of Dalai Lama with temporal duties.

The 14th Dalai Lama was born in Taktser, Tibet.He was selected as the tulku of the 13th Dalai Lama in 1937 and formally recognized as the 14th Dalai Lama in a public declaration near the town of Bumchen in 1939.On 26 January 1940, the Regent Reting Rinpoche requested the Central Government to exempt Tenzin Gyatso from the lot-drawing process of the Golden Urn to become the 14th Dalai Lama.The request was approved by the Central Government. His enthronement ceremony as the Dalai Lama was held in Lhasa on 22 February 1940 and he eventually assumed full temporal (political) duties on 17 November 1950, at the age of 15, after the People's Republic of China's occupation of Tibet.The Gelug school's government administered an area roughly corresponding to the Tibet Autonomous Region, just as the nascent PRC wished to assert control over it.

During the 1959 Tibetan uprising, the Dalai Lama fled to India, where he currently lives as a refugee. He has traveled the world and has spoken about the welfare of Tibetans, environment, economics, women's rights, nonviolence, interfaith dialogue, physics, astronomy, Buddhism and science, cognitive neuroscience, reproductive health and sexuality, along with various topics of Mahayana and Vajrayana Buddhist teachings. A recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1989 and the US Congressional Gold Medal in 2006, Time magazine named him one of the "Children of Mahatma Gandhi" and Gandhi's spiritual heir to nonviolence

07 July - Solomon Islands independence in 1978

Solomon Islands is a sovereign state consisting of six major islands and over 900 smaller islands in Oceania lying to the east of Papua New Guinea and northwest of Vanuatu and covering a land area of 28,400 square kilometres (11,000 sq mi).The country has a population of 652,858 and its capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal. The country takes its name from the Solomon Islands archipelago, which is a collection of Melanesian islands that also includes the North Solomon Islands (a part of Papua New Guinea), but excludes outlying islands, such as Rennell and Bellona, and the Santa Cruz Islands.

In 1568, the Spanish navigator Álvaro de Mendaña was the first European to visit them, naming them the Islas Salomón.Britain defined its area of interest in the Solomon Islands archipelago in June 1893, when Captain Gibson R.N., of HMS Curacoa, declared the southern Solomon Islands a British protectorate.During World War II, the Solomon Islands campaign (1942–1945) saw fierce fighting between the United States, Commonwealth forces and the Empire of Japan, such as in the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The official name of the then British administration was changed from the British Solomon Islands Protectorate to the Solomon Islands in 1975, and self-government was achieved the following year. Independence was obtained, and the name changed to just "Solomon Islands" (without the definite article), in 1978. At independence, Solomon Islands became a constitutional monarchy. The Queen of Solomon Islands is Elizabeth II, represented by the Governor-General.

06 July - Malawi Independence Day

The History of Malawi covers the area of present-day Malawi. The region was once part of the Maravi Empire. In colonial times, the territory was ruled by the British, under whose control it was known first as British Central Africa and later Nyasaland. It became part of the Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland. The country achieved full independence, as Malawi, in 1964. After independence, Malawi was ruled as a one-party state under Hastings Banda until 1994.

In 1961, Banda's Malawi Congress Party (MCP) gained a majority in the Legislative Council elections and Banda became Prime Minister in 1963. The Federation was dissolved in 1963, and on 6 July 1964, Nyasaland became independent from British rule and renamed itself Malawi, and that is commemorated as the nation's Independence Day, a public holiday. Under a new constitution, Malawi became a republic with Banda as its first president.

Radio, television and postal services in Malawi are regulated by the Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA)

06 July - Diogo Cão found Congo River in 1484

Diogo Cão also known as Diego Cam,was a Portuguese explorer and one of the most notable navigators of the Age of Discovery. He made two voyages sailing along the west coast of Africa in the 1480s, exploring the Congo River and the coasts of the present-day Angola and Namibia.

Cão was the first European known to sight and enter the Congo River and to explore the West African coast between Cape St. Catherine in Gabon and Cape Cross, almost from the equator to Walvis Bay in Namibia.

06 July 1484 Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.

05 July - Venezuelan Declaration of Independence

The Venezuelan Declaration of Independence is a statement adopted by a congress of Venezuelan provinces on July 5, 1811, through which Venezuelans made the decision to separate from the Spanish Crown in order to establish a new nation based on the premises of equality of individuals, abolition of censorship and dedication to freedom of expression. These principles were enshrined as a constitutional principal for the new nation and were radically opposed to the political, cultural, and social practices that had existed during three hundred years of colonization.

Seven of the ten provinces belonging to the Captaincy General of Venezuela declared their independence and explained their reasons for this action, among them, that it was baneful that a small European nation ruled the great expanses of the New World, that Spanish America recovered its right to self-government after the abdications of Charles IV and Ferdinand VII at Bayonne, and that the political instability in Spain dictated that Venezuelans rule themselves, despite the brotherhood they shared with Spaniards. The seven provinces were Caracas Province, Cumaná Province, Barinas Province, Margarita Province, Barcelona Province, Mérida Province and Trujillo Province.

The three remaining provinces (Maracaibo Province, Coro Province and Guayana Province) which did not take part in the Venezuelan congress opted to stay under Spanish rule.

05 July - Operation Barbarossa in 1941

World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river on 05 July

Operation Barbarossa (German: Unternehmen Barbarossa) was the code name for the Axis invasion of the Soviet Union, which started on Sunday, 22 June 1941, during World War II. The operation put into action Nazi Germany's ideological goal of conquering the western Soviet Union so as to repopulate it with Germans. The German Generalplan Ost aimed to use some of the conquered as slave labour for the Axis war effort, to acquire the oil reserves of the Caucasus and the agricultural resources of Soviet territories, and eventually through extermination, enslavement, Germanization and mass deportation to Siberia, remove the Slavic peoples and create Lebensraum for Germany.

World War II: Operation Barbarossa: German troops reach the Dnieper river on 05 July

04 July - International Day of Cooperatives History

International Day of Cooperatives aims to spread awareness of the importance of working cooperatively towards equality. The observance has been celebrated on the first Saturday of July since 1923, and since 1995 the United Nations together with the International Cooperative Alliance decide an annual theme. According to the United Nations, cooperative jobs are more equally dispersed between rural and urban areas and tend to be more sustainable.

03 July - Bal Gangadhar Tilak charge of sedition in 1908

On July 3rd 1908, Bal Gangadhar Tilak was arrested and tried on the charge of sedition. Muhammad Ali Jinnah, then an up-and-coming lawyer, defended him. The nine-member jury found him guilty – its two Indian members opposed the verdict – and Tilak was sent to prison for six years (he spent most of it in a prison in Mandalay, Burma). Bal Gangadhar Tilak, born Keshav Gangadhar Tilak and popularly known as Lokmanya Tilak, was a popular Indian nationalist and Independence activist who was one of the first popular leaders of the freedom movement.