So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

July 1st


- Earliest day on which St Pauls Carnival can fall, while July 7 is the latest; celebrated on the first Saturday in July. (Bristol)
- Canada Day, formerly Dominion Day. (Canada)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Doctors' Day (India)
- Emancipation Day (Netherlands Antilles)
- Emancipation Day or Keti Koti (Suriname)
- Hong Kong SAR Establishment Day (Hong Kong)
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Burundi from Belgium in 1962.
- Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Rwanda from Belgium in 1962.
- International Tartan Day (Australia and New Zealand)
- July Morning tradition (Bulgaria)
- Madeira Day (Madeira)
- Memorial Day (Newfoundland and Labrador)
- Moving Day (Quebec)
- Republic Day (Ghana)
- Republic Day, celebrates the independence of Somalia from Italy and the unification of British Somaliland and Italian Somaliland to form Somali Republic. (Somalia)
- Sir Seretse Khama Day (Botswana)

July 1st


- 2009 - Croatian Prime Minister Ivo Sanader resigns giving no specific reason. Jadranka Kosor is announced as the next Prime Minister, the first woman ever to hold the post.
- 2008 - Rioting erupted in Mongolia in response to allegations of fraud surrounding the 2008 legislative elections.
- 2007 - Smoking in England is banned in all public indoor spaces.
- 2006 - The first operation of Qinghai-Tibet Railway in the People's Republic of China.
- 2004 - Saturn orbit insertion of Cassini-Huygens begins at 01:12 UTC and ends at 02:48 UTC.
- 2003 - Over 500,000 people protested against efforts to pass anti-sedition legislation in Hong Kong.
- 2002 - The International Criminal Court is established to prosecute individuals for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and the crime of aggression.
- 2002 - A Bashkirian Airlines (flight 2937) Tupolev TU-154 and a DHL (German cargo) Boeing 757 collide in mid-air over Ueberlingen, southern Germany, killing 71.
- 2000 - The Oresund Bridge, connecting Sweden and Denmark, opens for traffic.
- 1999 - The Scottish Parliament is officially opened by Queen Elizabeth on the day that legislative powers are officially transferred from the old Scottish Office in London to the new devolved Scottish Executive in Edinburgh.
- 1997 - The People's Republic of China resumes sovereignty over the city-state of Hong Kong, ending 156 years of British colonial rule.
- 1991 - The Warsaw Pact is officially dissolved at a meeting in Prague.
- 1990 - German re-unification: East Germany accepts the Deutsche Mark as its currency, thus uniting the economies of East and West Germany.
- 1987 - The American radio station WFAN in New York City is launched as the world's first all-sports radio station.
- 1984 - The PG-13 rating is introduced by the MPAA.
- 1983 - A North Korean Ilyushin Il-62M jet en route to Conakry Airport in Guinea crashes into the Fouta Djallon mountains in Guinea-Bissau, killing all 23 people on board.
- 1981 - The Wonderland Murders occurred in the early morning hours, allegedly masterminded by businessman and drug dealer Eddie Nash.
- 1980 - O Canada officially becomes the national anthem of Canada.
- 1979 - Sony introduces the Walkman.
- 1978 - The Northern Territory in Australia is granted Self-Government.
- 1976 - Portugal grants autonomy to Madeira.
- 1972 - The first Gay Pride march in England takes place.
- 1970 - President General Yahya Khan abolishes One-Unit of West Pakistan restoring the provinces.
- 1968 - The CIA's Phoenix Program is officially established.
- 1968 - The Nuclear non-proliferation treaty is signed in Washington, D.C., London and Moscow by sixty-two countries.
- 1968 - Formal separation of the United Auto Workers from the AFL-CIO.
- 1967 - The European Community is formally created out of a merger with the Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.
- 1967 - Canada celebrates the 100th anniversary of the British North America Act, 1867, which officially made Canada its own federal dominion.
- 1966 - The first color television transmission in Canada takes place from Toronto.
- 1963 - ZIP Codes are introduced for United States mail.
- 1963 - The British Government admits that former diplomat Kim Philby had worked as a Soviet agent.
- 1962 - Independence of Rwanda.
- 1962 - Independence of Burundi.
- 1960 - Independence of Somalia.
- 1960 - Ghana becomes a Republic and Kwame Nkrumah becomes its first President as Queen Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom ceases to be its Head of state.
- 1959 - The Party of the African Federation holds its constitutive conference.
- 1959 - Specific values for the international yard, avoirdupois pound and derived units (e.g. inch, mile and ounce) are adopted after agreement between the U.S.A., the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth countries.
- 1958 - The Canadian Broadcasting Corporation links television broadcasting across Canada via microwave.
- 1958 - Flooding of Canada's St. Lawrence Seaway begins.
- 1957 - The International Geophysical Year begins.
- 1949 - The merger of two princely states of India, Cochin and Travancore, into the state of Thiru-Kochi (later re-organized as Kerala) in the Indian Union ends more than 1,000 years of princely rule by the Cochin Royal Family.
- 1948 - Muhammad Ali Jinnah (Quaid-i-Azam) inaugurates Pakistan's central bank, the State Bank of Pakistan.
- 1947 - The Philippine Air Force is established.
- 1943 - Tokyo City merges with Tokyo Prefecture and is dissolved. Since then, no city in Japan has had the name "Tokyo" (present-day Tokyo is not officially a city).
- 1942 - World War II: first Battle of El Alamein.
- 1942 - The Australian Federal Government becomes the sole collector of Income Tax in Australia as the State Income Tax is abolished.
- 1935 - Regina, Saskatchewan police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police ambush strikers participating in On-to-Ottawa-Trek.
- 1935 - Grant Park Music Festival begins its tradition of free summer symphonic music concert series in Chicago's Grant Park, which continues as the United States' only annual free outdoor classical music concert series.
- 1931 - United Airlines begins service (as Boeing Air Transport).
- 1923 - The Canadian Parliament suspends all Chinese immigration.
- 1921 - The Communist Party of China is founded.
- 1916 - World War I: First day on the Somme – On the first day of the Battle of the Somme 19,000 soldiers of the British Army are killed and 40,000 wounded.
- 1915 - Lieutenant Kurt Wintgens achieves the first known aerial victory with a synchronized gun-equipped fighter plane, the Fokker M.5K/MG Eindecker.
- 1908 - SOS is adopted as the international distress signal.
- 1898 - Spanish-American War: the Battle of San Juan Hill is fought in Santiago de Cuba.
- 1892 - The Homestead Strike, a strike by the Amalgamated Association of Iron and Steel Workers against the Carnegie Steel Company, begins.
- 1890 - Canada and Bermuda are linked by telegraph cable.
- 1885 - The United States terminates reciprocity and fishery agreement with Canada.
- 1881 - The world's first international telephone call is made between St. Stephen, New Brunswick, Canada, and Calais, Maine, United States.
- 1881 - General Order 70, the culmination of the Cardwell-Childers reforms of the British Army, comes into effect.
- 1879 - Charles Taze Russell publishes the first edition of the religious magazine The Watchtower.
- 1878 - Canada joins the Universal Postal Union.
- 1873 - Prince Edward Island joins the Canadian Confederation.
- 1870 - The United States Department of Justice formally comes into existence.
- 1867 - The British North America Act of 1867 takes effect as the Constitution of Canada, creating the Canadian Confederation and the federal dominion of Canada; Sir John A. Macdonald is sworn in as the first Prime Minister of Canada.
- 1863 - Keti Koti (Emancipation Day) in Suriname, marking the abolition of slavery by the Netherlands.
- 1863 - American Civil War: the Battle of Gettysburg begins.
- 1862 - The Russian State Library is founded.
- 1862 - American Civil War: the Battle of Malvern Hill takes place. It is the final battle in the Seven Days Campaign, part of the George B. McClellan's Peninsula Campaign.
- 1858 - Joint reading of Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace's papers on evolution to the Linnean Society.
- 1855 - Signing of the Quinault Treaty: the Quinault and the Quileute cede their land to the United States.
- 1837 - A system of the civil registration of births, marriages and deaths is established in England and Wales.
- 1782 - American privateers attack Lunenburg, Nova Scotia.
- 1770 - Lexell's Comet passed closer to the Earth than any other comet in recorded history, approaching to a distance of 0.0146 a.u.
- 1690 - Glorious Revolution: Battle of the Boyne (as reckoned under the Julian calendar).
- 1569 - Union of Lublin: the Kingdom of Poland and the Great Duchy of Lithuania confirm a real union; the united country is called the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth or the Republic of Both Nations.
- 1520 - La Noche Triste: a joint Mexican Indian force led by the Aztec ruler Cuitláhuac defeat Spanish Conquistadores led by Hernán Cortés.
- 1097 - Battle of Dorylaeum: Crusaders led by Prince Bohemond of Taranto defeat a Seljuk army led by Sultan Kilij Arslan I.
- 69 - Tiberius Julius Alexander orders his Roman legions in Alexandria to swear allegiance to Vespasian as Emperor.

July 1st


- 1998 - Hollie Steel, English singer
- 1989 - Mitch Hewer, English actor
- 1989 - Hannah Murray, English actress
- 1988 - Evan Ellingson, American actor
- 1986 - Andrew Lee, Australian rules footballer
- 1986 - Agnes Monica, Indonesian singer
- 1983 - Lynsey Bartilson, American actress
- 1983 - Marit Larsen, Norwegian singer-songwriter (M2M)
- 1983 - Leeteuk, Korean singer
- 1982 - Hilarie Burton, American actress
- 1982 - Carmella DeCesare, American glamor model
- 1982 - Justin Huber, Australian baseball player
- 1982 - Joachim Johansson, Swedish tennis player
- 1982 - Adrian Ward, American football player
- 1981 - Carlo del Fava, South African-born Italian rugby player
- 1981 - Amanda Diva, American actress and rapper
- 1981 - Tadhg Kennelly, Irish Australian rules footballer
- 1980 - Patrick Aufiero, American ice hockey player
- 1979 - Forrest Griffin, American mixed martial artist
- 1977 - Liv Tyler, American actress
- 1977 - Tom Frager, French-born singer and surfer
- 1977 - Jarome Iginla, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1977 - Greg Pattillo, American beatboxing flautist
- 1977 - Birgit Schuurman, Dutch singer and actress
- 1976 - Patrick Kluivert, Dutch footballer
- 1976 - Plies, American rapper
- 1976 - Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch footballer
- 1976 - Justin Lo, Hong Kong singer and songwriter
- 1976 - Hannu Tihinen, Finnish footballer
- 1975 - Sufjan Stevens, American singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist
- 1974 - Jefferson Pérez, Ecuadorian race walker
- 1972 - Claire Forlani, English actress
- 1972 - Alex Machacek, Austrian musician
- 1971 - Steven W. Bailey, American actor
- 1971 - Amira Casar, French actress
- 1971 - Missy Elliott, American rapper and singer
- 1971 - Julianne Nicholson, American actress
- 1971 - Jamie Walker, American baseball player
- 1970 - Melissa Peterman, American actress
- 1970 - Henry Simmons, American actor
- 1968 - Tim Abell, American actor
- 1968 - Jordi Mollà, Spanish actor
- 1967 - Pamela Anderson, Canadian model
- 1966 - Enrico Annoni, Italian footballer
- 1965 - Harald Zwart, Norwegian film director
- 1964 - Bernard Laporte, French rugby player and coach
- 1963 - Roddy Bottum, American keyboardist and guitarist (Faith No More, Imperial Teen)
- 1963 - David Wood, American environmental activist
- 1962 - Andre Braugher, American actor
- 1961 - Malcolm Elliott, British cyclist
- 1961 - Carl Lewis, American athlete
- 1961 - Michelle Wright, Canadian country music singer and guitarist
- 1961 - Kalpana Chawla, Indian-born American astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1961 - Diana, Princess of Wales (d. 1997)
- 1960 - Evelyn King, American singer
- 1960 - Kevin Swords, American rugby player
- 1959 - Dale Midkiff, American actor
- 1957 - Hannu Kamppuri, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1957 - Lisa Blount, American actress and producer (d. 2010)
- 1956 - Ulf Larsson, Swedish actor (d. 2009)
- 1956 - Alan Ruck, American actor
- 1955 - Keith Whitley, American country musicsinger (d. 1989)
- 1953 - Lawrence Gonzi, 12th Prime Minister of Malta
- 1953 - Jadranka Kosor, Croatian journalist and politician
- 1952 - Dan Aykroyd, Canadian actor
- 1952 - Steve Shutt, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1952 - Timothy J. Tobias, American soundtrack composer and musician (d. 2006)
- 1951 - Trevor Eve, British actor
- 1951 - Anne Feeney, American protest singer
- 1951 - Terrence Mann, American actor and dancer
- 1951 - Fred Schneider, American singer (The B-52's)
- 1950 - David Duke, American politician, white supremacist and Ku Klux Klan member
- 1949 - John Farnham, English-born Australian singer
- 1948 - John Ford, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Strawbs)
- 1947 - Shirley Hemphill, American actress (d. 1999)
- 1947 - Kazuyoshi Hoshino, Japanese racing driver
- 1945 - Mike Burstyn, Israeli-American actor
- 1945 - Debbie Harry, American singer (Blondie)
- 1943 - Jeff Wayne, American pianist, keyboardist and composer
- 1942 - Geneviève Bujold, Canadian actress
- 1942 - Andraé Crouch, American singer
- 1942 - Mike Malloy, American talk radio host
- 1941 - Myron Scholes, American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1941 - Twyla Tharp, American choreographer
- 1941 - Rod Gilbert, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1941 - Alfred G. Gilman, American pharmacologist, Nobel laureate
- 1939 - Karen Black, American actress
- 1938 - Craig Anderson, American baseball player
- 1935 - James Cotton, American blues harmonica player
- 1934 - Claude Berri, French actor, director and screenwriter (d. 2009)
- 1934 - Jamie Farr, American actor
- 1934 - Jean Marsh, English actress
- 1934 - Sydney Pollack, American film director (d. 2008)
- 1932 - Ze'ev Schiff, Israeli journalist (d. 2007)
- 1931 - Leslie Caron, French actress
- 1930 - Moustapha Akkad, Syrian-American filmmaker (d. 2005)
- 1930 - Carol Chomsky, American linguist, wife of Noam Chomsky (d. 2008)
- 1930 - Bobby Day, American singer (d. 1990)
- 1929 - Gerald Edelman, American biologist, Nobel laureate
- 1927 - Alan J. Charig, British palaeontologist (d. 1997)
- 1926 - Robert Fogel, American economist, Nobel laureate
- 1926 - Carl Hahn, German automotive executive (Volkswagen Group)
- 1926 - Hans Werner Henze, German composer
- 1925 - Farley Granger, American actor
- 1921 - Seretse Khama, 1st President of Botswana (d. 1980)
- 1920 - Harold Sakata, American actor (d. 1982)
- 1917 - Humphry Osmond, British psychiatrist (d. 2004)
- 1916 - Olivia de Havilland, British-born actress
- 1915 - Willie Dixon, American blues vocalist, songwriter and record producer (d. 1992)
- 1915 - Joseph Ransohoff, American neurosurgeon (d. 2001)
- 1913 - Frank Barrett, American baseball player (d. 1998)
- 1913 - Vasantrao Naik, Indian politician (d. 1979)
- 1912 - David R. Brower, American environmentalist (d. 2000)
- 1912 - Sally Kirkland, American fashion editor (d. 1989)
- 1911 - Sergei Sokolov, Soviet marshal
- 1907 - Bill Stern, American sportscaster (d. 1971)
- 1906 - Jean Dieudonné, French mathematician (d. 1992)
- 1906 - Estée Lauder, American entrepreneur (d. 2004)
- 1903 - Amy Johnson, English pilot (d. 1941)
- 1902 - William Wyler, French-born film director (d. 1981)
- 1899 - Thomas A. Dorsey, American composer (d. 1993)
- 1899 - Charles Laughton, English actor (d. 1962)
- 1899 - Konstantinos Tsatsos, 2nd President of Greece (d. 1987)
- 1883 - Arthur Borton, English soldier (d. 1933)
- 1879 - Léon Jouhaux, French labour leader, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1954)
- 1873 - Alice Guy-Blaché, American film director (d. 1968)
- 1872 - Louis Blériot, French aviator (d. 1936)
- 1869 - William Strunk, Jr., American grammarian (d. 1946)
- 1863 - William Grant Stairs, Canadian explorer (d. 1892)
- 1834 - Jadwiga ?uszczewska, Polish poet (d. 1908)
- 1818 - Ignaz Semmelweis, Hungarian physician (d. 1865)
- 1807 - Thomas Green Clemson, American educator (d. 1888)
- 1804 - George Sand, French writer (d. 1876)
- 1804 - Charles Gordon Greene, American journalist (d. 1886)
- 1788 - Jean-Victor Poncelet, French mathematician (d. 1867)
- 1742 - Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, German physicist (d. 1799)
- 1731 - Adam Duncan, 1st Viscount Duncan Royal Navy Admiral (b.1804)
- 1725 - Jean-Baptiste Donatien de Vimeur, comte de Rochambeau, French nobleman and soldier (d. 1807)
- 1723 - Pedro Rodríguez, Conde de Campomanes, Spanish statesman (d. 1802)
- 1676 - Anthony Collins, English philosopher (d. 1729)
- 1646 - Gottfried Leibniz, German mathematician (d. 1716)
- 1633 - Johann Heinrich Heidegger, Swiss theologian (d. 1698)
- 1586 - Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (d. 1630)
- 1574 - Joseph Hall, English bishop and writer (d. 1656)
- 1534 - King Frederick II of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Schleswig (d. 1588)
- 1506 - King Louis II of Hungary and Bohemia (d. 1526)
- 1481 - King Christian II of Denmark, Sweden and Norway (d. 1559)