^B{^#!16!25 July^N! Feast day of St Christopher, Saints Thea, Valentina and Paul, St James the Greater, and St Magnericus.
^B{1139^B} Alfonso I of Portugal defeated the Moors at Ourique. ^B{1581^B} A confederation of the northern provinces of the Netherlands proclaimed their independence from Spain. ^B{1909^B} French aviator Louis BlΘriot made the first Channel crossing in an airplane, which he had designed. ^B{1917^B} Magarethe Zelle, the Dutch spy known as Mata Hari, was sentenced to death. ^B{1943^B} Benito Mussolini was forced to resign as Dictator of Italy, bringing an end to the Fascist regime. ^B{1948^B} Bread rationing in Britain ended. ^B{1952^B} The European Coal and Steel Community, established by the treaty of Paris 1951, was ratified. ^B{1978^B} The first test-tube baby in Britain was born - Louise Joy Brown, at Oldham General Hospital, Lancashire.
^B{^I{^#!14!Born ^N}Arthur James Balfour, British statesman, ^B{1848^B}; Walter Brennan, US film actor, ^B{1894^B}; Johnny 'Rabbit' Hodges, US jazz saxophonist, ^B{1907^B}; Annie Ross, British singer, ^B{1930^B}; Colin Renfrew, British archeologist, ^B{1937^B}; Steve Goodman, US songwriter, ^B{1948^B}.
^B{^I{^#!14!Died ^N}Flavius Valerius Constantinus, Roman emperor, ^B{306^B}; Samuel Taylor Coleridge, English poet, ^B{1834^B}; Charles Macintosh, Scottish chemist and inventor, ^B{1843^B}; Henry Mayhew, British social investigator and founder of ^I{Punch^I}, ^B{1887^B}; Engelbert Dolfuss, Austrian statesman, ^B{1934^B}.
