July 6: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

America officially began to withdraw from the World Health Organization.

South African Paralympic champion Oscar Pistorius was sentenced to 6 years in prison for murder.

The Cosmic Call 2 mission occurred at the Eupatoria Planetary Radar in western Crimea.

The radar sent a METI message to 5 stars. This was the second mission of its kind, following Cosmic Call 1 in 1999. The message is due to land at the different stars between 2036 and 2049, depending on the distance.

The Forrest Gump movie was released in the US.

The movie had a budget of $55 million and made $678.2 million at the Box Office.

The Nigerian Civil War began when Nigerian troops invaded Biafra.

John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time at a church dinner party.

The Soviet Union started mass producing the AK-47 assault rifle.

The AK-47, designed by Russian inventor Mikhail Kalashnikov, was one of the world's first mass-produced assault rifles. Now, 1 in 5 firearms worldwide are AK-47s, and there have been over 75 million made since this day.

The first successful rabies vaccine was successfully tested on a 9-year-old boy in France.

Louis Pasteur had been working on a rabies vaccine in France for many years, and on this day, he administered the first vaccine to a human. Joseph Meister, the 9-year-old boy, was attacked by a "mad" dog on July 4 and received the vaccination 60 hours after the attack. Meister was given a course of 13 injections over three weeks and successfully became immune to rabies.

The US adopted the name “dollars” and started using decimal coinage.

The choice was made by the Continental Congress in New York.

The American Declaration of Independence was publicly released in the Pennsylvania Evening Post.

Pirate Captain Kidd was arrested in Boston, Massachusetts, US.

On this day, Kidd was placed into a stone prison under harsh conditions before being taken to England a year later to be questioned by Parliament. He was found guilty of piracy and hanged on May 23, 1701.

Catholic Saint Sir Thomas More was executed for treason by King Henry VIII.

More refused to attend the coronation of Anne Boleyn as Queen of England. This caused King Henry VIII to accuse More of treason. A jury found him guilty, and he was sentenced to death.

Pope Clement VI issued two papal bulls stating that Jews were not to blame for the Black Death.

Richard I took to the throne as King of England.