July 7 (UPI) — On this date in history:
In 1846, U.S. Navy Commodore J.D. Sloat proclaimed the annexation of California by the United States.
In 1865, four people convicted of conspiring with John Wilkes Booth in the assassination of U.S. President Abraham Lincoln were hanged in Washington.
In 1898, U.S. President William McKinley signed a joint resolution of Congress authorizing the annexation of Hawaii by the United States.
In 1930, construction began on the Giant Boulder Dam, which in 1947 was renamed the Hoover Dam.
On July 7, 1999, a Miami-Dade County jury held the leading tobacco companies liable for various illnesses of Florida smokers. File Photo by Alexis C. Glenn/UPI
In 1946, Mother Frances Xavier Cabrini (1850-1917) became the first American to be canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church.
In 1976, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York enrolled female cadets for the first time in the institution’s then-174-year-old history.
In 2013, Andy Murray became the first British player in 77 years to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Serb Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the championship match. File Photo by Hugo Philpott/UPI
In 1981, Sandra Day O’Connor was chosen by U.S. President Ronald Reagan to become the first woman on the U.S. Supreme Court. She was unanimously approved by the Senate.
File Photo by Roger L. Wollenberg/UPI
An officer gets emotional while standing outside Dallas Police headquarters in Dallas, Texas, on July 8, 2016, one day after four DPD officers and one DART officer were killed and 11 others were wounded after a sniper opened fire during a peaceful Black Lives Matter march. File Photo by Chris McGathey/UPI
In 1999, a Miami-Dade County jury held the leading tobacco companies liable for various illnesses of Florida smokers. The class-action lawsuit, filed in 1994, was the first of its kind to reach trial.
In 2005, terrorists struck the London transit system, setting off explosions in three subway cars and a double-decker bus in coordinated rush-hour attacks. Fifty-two people were killed and more than 700 injured.
An Army cadet stands on the field at the 118th meeting between Army and Navy at Lincoln Financial Field in Philadelphia on December 9, 2017. On July 7, 1976, the U.S. Military Academy at West Point in New York enrolled female cadets for the first time in the institution’s then-174-year-old history. File Photo by Derik Hamilton/UPI
In 2010, a Paris court sentenced former Panamanian ruler Manuel Noriega to seven years in prison for money laundering. He was convicted of funneling about $3 million of Colombian drug money into French bank accounts.
In 2012, U.S. Rep. Barney Frank of Massachusetts married his longtime partner, Jim Ready, in a ceremony officiated by Gov. Deval Patrick. He was the first member of Congress to publicly come out as gay and first to marry a same-sex partner while in office.
File Photo by Kevin Dietsch/UPI
In 2013, Andy Murray became the first British player in 77 years to win the men’s singles title at Wimbledon, defeating Serb Novak Djokovic in straight sets in the championship match.
In 2016, a gunman opened fire at an otherwise peaceful Black Lives Matter rally in Dallas, killing four police officers and one transit officer, and injuring seven others. Police killed the gunmen, who was holed up in a parking garage, using a robot strapped with an explosive.
In 2017, Elon Musk’s Tesla Motors produced its first mass-market vehicle, the Model 3.
In 2022, after months of scandal and calls for his resignation, British Prime Minister Boris Johnson agreed to step down.
In 2024, the Transportation Security Administration screened more than 3 million people, a new record for clearing passengers for air travel in the United States. The TSA most recently broke the record again in June 2025.
File Photo by Tannen Maury/UPI