THIS DAY IN HISTORY ― JULY 7

July 7 is the 188th day of the year (189th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 177 days remaining until the end of the year. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Saturday (58 in 400 years each) than on Sunday or Monday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Wednesday or Friday (56). 

NATIONAL MACARONI DAY 

1124 – Tyre falls to Christians forces in the Venetian Crusade. It was an important victory at the start of a period when the Kingdom of Jerusalem would expand to its greatest extent under King Baldwin II. The Venetians gained valuable trading concessions in Tyre. Through raids on Byzantineterritory both on the way to the Holy Land and on the return journey, the Venetians forced the Byzantines to confirm, as well as extend their trading privileges with the empire.

1456 – A retrial verdict acquits Joan of Arc of heresy 25 years after her death.  The inquisitor's final summary of the case in June 1456 described Joan as a martyr and implicated the late Pierre Cauchon with heresy for having convicted an innocent woman in pursuit of a secular vendetta.

1798 – As a result of the XYZ Affair, the U.S. Congress rescinds the Treaty of Alliance with France sparking the "Quasi-War". The name derives from the substitution of the letters X, Y and Z for the names of French diplomats Hottinguer (X), Bellamy (Y), and Hauteval (Z) in documents released by the Adams administration. Federalists who controlled the government took advantage of the national anger to build up the nation's military. They also attacked the Jeffersonian Republicans for their pro-French stance, and Elbridge Gerry (a nonpartisan at the time) for what they saw as his role in the commission's failure.

1863 – The United States begins its first military draft; exemptions cost $300.

1865 – Four conspirators in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln are hanged. ― From dailymail.com

1898 – U.S. President William McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution annexing Hawaii as a territory of the United States. On July 12, 1898, the Joint Resolution passed and the Hawaiian Islands was annexed by the United States. This allowed duty-free trade between the islands and the mainland, and made the existing American military presence permanent.

1911 – The United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Russia sign the North Pacific Fur Seal Convention of 1911 banning open-water seal hunting, the first international treaty to address wildlife preservation issues. 

1928 – Sliced bread is sold for the first time (on the inventor's 48th birthday) by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Chillicothe, Missouri.

1930 – Industrialist Henry J. Kaiser begins construction of Boulder Dam (now known as Hoover Dam) in the Back Canyon of the Colorado River. It was constructed between 1931 and 1936 during the Great Depression and was dedicated on September 30, 1935, by President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Its construction was the result of a massive effort involving thousands of workers, and cost over one hundred lives. The dam was named after President Herbert Hoover who actually started the project.

1944 – World War II: Largest Japanese Banzai charge of the Pacific War at the Battle of Saipan.

1946 – Mother Frances X. Cabrini becomes the first naturalized American to be canonized.

1952 – The ocean liner SS United States passes Bishop Rock on her maiden voyage, breaking the transatlantic speed record to become the fastest passenger ship in the world.

1953 – Revolutionary Ernesto "Che" Guevara sets out on a trip through Bolivia, Peru, Ecuador, Panama, Costa Rica, Nicaragua, Honduras, and El Salvador. 

1958 – U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs the Alaska Statehood Act into law.

1959 – Venus occults the star Regulus. This rare event is used to determine the diameter of Venus and the structure of the Venusian atmosphere. Regulus (α Leo, α Leonis, Alpha Leonis) is the brightest star in the constellation Leo and one of the brightest stars in the night sky, lying approximately 79 light years from Earth. Regulus is amultiple star system composed of four stars that are organized into two pairs.

1981 – U.S. President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O'Connor to become the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States. 

2003 – NASA Opportunity rover, MER-B or Mars Exploration Rover–B, was launched into space aboard a Delta II rocket. During the last two decades, NASA will conduct several missions to address whether life ever existed on Mars. The search begins with determining whether the Martian environment was ever suitable for life. Life, as humans understand it, requires water, hence the history of water on Mars is critical to finding out if the Martian environment was ever conducive to life. Although the Mars Exploration Rovers do not have the ability to detect life directly, they offer important information on the habitability of the environment in the planet's history

2005 – A series of four explosions occurs on London's transport system killing 56 people including four suicide bombers and injuring over 700 others. 

Today's Births

1860 – Gustav Mahler, Austrian composer and conductor (d. 1911)

1899 – George Cukor, American director and producer (d. 1983)

1906 – Leroy Robert"Satchel" Paige, American baseball player and coach (d. 1982)

From Wikipedia and Google (images), ex as noted.