17 July - Start of The Spanish Civil War in 1936

The Spanish Civil War (Spanish: Guerra Civil Española) was a civil war in Spain fought from 1936 to 1939. Republicans loyal to the left-leaning Second Spanish Republic, in alliance with anarchists, of the communist and syndicalist variety, fought against a revolt by the Nationalists, an alliance of Falangists, monarchists, conservatives and Catholics, led by a military group among whom General Francisco Franco soon achieved a preponderant role. Due to the international political climate at the time, the war had many facets and was variously viewed as class struggle, a war of religion, a struggle between dictatorship and republican democracy, between revolution and counterrevolution, and between fascism and communism.[10] It has been frequently called the "dress rehearsal" for World War II.[11] The Nationalists won the war, which ended in early 1939, and ruled Spain until Franco's death in November 1975.

Date : 17 July 1936 – 1 April 1939 (2 years, 8 months, 2 weeks and 1 day)
Location  : Spain
Result : Nationalist victory

17 July - Madras would be known as Chennai from 1996

On July 17th 1996, M. Karunanidhi, the then Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu announced in the state assembly that the state capital of Madras would from then on be known as Chennai.

The name Madras was originally given to an area comprising of the present state of Tamil Nadu and neighbouring areas of North Kerala, Lakshadweep Islands, Coastal Andhra Pradesh, Odisha (then Orissa) and a few districts of Karnataka. This area was officially known as Presidency of Fort St. George and was an administrative subdivision of British India. It was, however, popularly known as the Madras Presidency.

16 July - Roald Engelbregt Gravning Amundsen born in 1872

Roald Amundsen, became the first to successfully reach the South Pole.

Roald Amundsen, born on 16 July 1872, was a Norwegian explorer of polar regions. He was a key figure of the period known as the Heroic Age of Antarctic Exploration.

Amundsen began his career as a polar explorer as first mate on Adrien de Gerlache's Belgian Antarctic Expedition of 1897–1899. From 1903 to 1906, he led the first expedition to successfully traverse the Northwest Passage on the sloop Gjøa. In 1909, Amundsen began planning for a South Pole expedition. He left Norway in June 1910 on the ship Fram and reached Antarctica in January 1911. His party established a camp at the Bay of Whales and a series of supply depots on the Barrier (now known as the Ross Ice Shelf) before setting out for the pole in October. The party of five, led by Amundsen, became the first to successfully reach the South Pole on 14 December 1911.

16 July - The Lifeline Express started in 1991

The Lifeline Express, or Jeevan Rekha Express, is a hospital train that runs in India that started running on 16 July 1991. It was a collaboration between the Impact India Foundation (IIF), Indian Railways (IR) and the Health Ministry. The train is funded by IIF, international charitable sources, Indian corporations and individuals. The train has made a health impact both in India, as well as around the world where it has inspired similar initiatives.

15 July - Kumaraswami Kamaraj birth anniversary

Kumaraswami Kamaraj (15 July 1903 – 2 October 1975), was the founder and the president of the Indian National Congress (Organisation), widely acknowledged as the "Kingmaker" in Indian politics during the 1960s. He also served as the president of the Indian National Congress for two terms i.e. four years between 1964–1967 and was responsible for the elevation of Lal Bahadur Shastri to the position of Prime Minister of India after Nehru's death and Indira Gandhi after Shastri's death. Kamaraj was the 3rd Chief Minister of Madras State (Tamil Nadu) during 1954–1963 and a Member of Parliament, Lok Sabha during 1952–1954[3] and 1969–1975. He was known for his simplicity and integrity. He played a major role in developing the infrastructure of the Madras state and worked to improve the quality of life of the needy and the disadvantaged.

He was involved in the Indian independence movement.As the president of the INC, he was instrumental in navigating the party after the death of Jawaharlal Nehru. As the chief minister of Madras, he was responsible for bringing free education to the disadvantaged and introduced the free Midday Meal Scheme while he himself did not complete schooling. He was awarded with India's highest civilian honour, the Bharat Ratna, posthumously in 1976.

15 July - Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy born in 1783

Sir Jamsetjee Jejeebhoy, 1st Baronet Jejeebhoy of Bombay, (15 July 1783 – 14 April 1859), also spelt Jeejeebhoy or Jeejebhoy, was a Parsi-Indian merchant and philanthropist. He made a huge fortune in cotton and the opium trade with China.He was considered Bombay's most worthy son.

Did you know there was a locality called, `Yatha Ahu Vairyo, Mohalla’ near the Crawford Market in Bombay where Sir Jamsetjee Jeejeebhoy was born.


Jamshetj Jejeebhoy became the first Indian to get Knighthood at the age of 74 years conferred by Queen Victoria.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jamsetjee_Jejeebhoy

14 July - The Football War in 1969

The Football War (colloquial: Soccer War or the Hundred Hours' War also known as 100 Hour War) was a brief war fought between El Salvador and Honduras in 1969. Existing tensions between the two countries coincided with rioting during a 1970 FIFA World Cup qualifier.The war began on 14 July 1969, when the Salvadoran military launched an attack against Honduras. The Organization of American States (OAS) negotiated a cease-fire on the night of 18 July (hence "100 Hour War"), which took full effect on 20 July. Salvadoran troops were withdrawn in early August.

Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Football_War

1930 FIFA World Cup

The 1930 FIFA World Cup was the inaugural FIFA World Cup, the world championship for men's national association football teams. It took place in Uruguay from 13 to 30 July 1930. FIFA, football's international governing body, selected Uruguay as host nation, as the country would be celebrating the centenary of its first constitution and the Uruguay national football team had successfully retained their football title at the 1928 Summer Olympics. All matches were played in the Uruguayan capital, Montevideo, the majority at the Estadio Centenario, which was built for the tournament.

Thirteen teams (seven from South America, four from Europe and two from North America) entered the tournament. Only a few European teams chose to participate because of the difficulty of travelling to South America. The teams were divided into four groups, with the winner of each group progressing to the semi-finals. The first two World Cup matches took place simultaneously and were won by France and the United States, who defeated Mexico 4–1 and Belgium 3–0, respectively. Lucien Laurent of France scored the first goal in World Cup history, while that day United States goalkeeper Jimmy Douglas posted the first "clean sheet" in the tournament.


Argentina, Uruguay, the United States and Yugoslavia each won their respective groups to qualify for the semi-finals. In the final, hosts and pre-tournament favourites Uruguay defeated Argentina 4–2 in front of a crowd of 68,346 people to become the first nation to win the World Cup.

Information Post : Third voyage of James Cook

James Cook (7 November 1728– 14 February 1779) was a British explorer, navigator, cartographer, and captain in the British Royal Navy. He made detailed maps of Newfoundland prior to making three voyages to the Pacific Ocean, during which he achieved the first recorded European contact with the eastern coastline of Australia and the Hawaiian Islands, and the first recorded circumnavigation of New Zealand.

James Cook's third and final voyage (12 July 1776 – 4 October 1780) took the route from Plymouth via Cape Town and Tenerife to New Zealand and the Hawaiian Islands, and along the North American coast to the Bering Strait.

Its ostensible purpose was to return Omai, a young man from Raiatea, to his homeland, but the Admiralty used this as a cover for their plan to send Cook on a voyage to discover the Northwest Passage. HMS Resolution, to be commanded by Cook,were prepared for the voyage which started from Plymouth in 1776.

11 July - Fiat Automobiles founded in 1899

 

Fiat Automobiles S.p.A. originally FIAT, Italian: Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino, lit. 'Italian Automobiles Factory, Turin') is an Italian automobile manufacturer, a subsidiary of FCA Italy S.p.A., which is part of Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (previously Fiat S.p.A.). Fiat Automobiles was formed in January 2007 when Fiat reorganized its automobile business,and traces its history back to 1899 when the first Fiat automobile, the Fiat 4 HP, was produced.

On 11 July 1899, Giovanni Agnelli was part of the group of founding members of FIAT, Fabbrica Italiana di Automobili Torino. The first Fiat plant opened in 1900 with 35 staff making 24 cars. Known from the beginning for the talent and creativity of its engineering staff, by 1903 Fiat made a small profit and produced 135 cars; this grew to 1,149 cars by 1906. The company then went public selling shares via the Milan stock exchange.

Fiat Automobiles is the largest automobile manufacturer in Italy. During its more than century-long history, it remained the largest automobile manufacturer in Europe and the third in the world after General Motors and Ford for over 20 years, until the car industry crisis in the late 1980s.In 2013, Fiat S.p.A. was the second largest European automaker by volumes produced and the seventh in the world, while currently FCA is the world's eighth-largest auto maker.