July 5th: Bikini bathing dress goes on public sale on a display outdoor pool Molitor in Paris, in 1946.

Woman in bikini on an ancient Roman mosaic.

A bikini is a two-piece swimsuit for women with higher breast bra and pants with cut below the navel, exposing all of her thighs.

The ancient Roman Villa Romana de Casale (286–305 AD) in Sicily contains one of the earliest known illustrations of a bikini.

The basic design is simple: two triangles of fabric on the top deck of the breasts of the woman and the two triangles of fabric at the bottom to cover the groin in front and back buttocks. The size of a bikini bottom can vary from complete coverage of the pelvis to a thong or g-string revealing design.

Actress Jane Wyman in beachwear that bares legs and mid-riff, 1935.

The name for bikini design was coined in 1946 by the Parisian engineer Louis Réard, the inventor of the bikini. He named the swimsuit to remember the site Bikini Atoll, where the atomic bomb tests were taking place. Fashion designer Jacques Heim, also in Paris, invented a similar design in the same year. Because of its controversial and revealing design, the bikini was slow to be adopted.

Micheline Bernardini modeling Réard's bikini. It was so small it could fit into a small 2 by 2 inches (51 by 51 mm) box like the one she is holding. July 5, 1946.

The model Micheline Bernardini was chosen to display the bikini Louis Réard, the July 5, 1946 before a crowd of shocked and amazed spectators.

By 1988 the bikini made up nearly 20% of swimsuit sales, though one survey indicates 85% of all bikinis never touch the water.

In many countries it was banned on beaches and public places. The Holy See said the sinful design. While still considered a moral risk, bikini gradually became a part of popular culture when movie stars like Brigitte Bardot, Raquel Welch, Ursula Andress and others began using them on public beaches and in the cinema.

"Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polka Dot Bikini"

July 4th: Anniversary of the Declaration of American Independence, adopted by the Second Continental Congress during the War of Independence in 1776.

Thomas Jefferson, the principal author of the Declaration.

The settlers who inhabited the thirteen British colonies in North America began to feel uncomfortable with the monarchy of King George III and the British Parliament. Indeed, the British Parliament considered that the Stamp Act of 1765 and the Townsend Acts of 1767 were legitimate means to force the settlers to pay maintenance costs in North America. (The Laws Townsend took the name of its creator, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Charles Townsend, the colonists paid for the deficit of the Empire).

The Assembly Room in Philadelphia's Independence Hall, where the Second Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence.

The Tea Tax was an arbitrariness to save the excesses in inventories that the East India Company had stored in its warehouses in London. Bostonians were ransacking the ship loaded with tea that just arrived to be sold with new taxes, and some Bostonians even threw bags of tea into the sea.

This idealized depiction of (left to right) Franklin, Adams, and Jefferson working on the Declaration (Jean Leon Gerome Ferris, 1900) was widely reprinted.

The settlers gathered at the Congress in Philadelphia in 1774 to analyze the abuses of the monarchy. They later met again on July 4, 1776 to declare independence from the British Empire and so were born the United States of America.

On July 4, 1776, the wording of the Declaration of Independence was approved and sent to the printer for publication.

The ideas and phrases of the philosopher John Locke influenced the Preamble of the Declaration, where the concept of natural law, the right to self-determination, is included and of course the republican spirit framed in the concept of freedom.

This image is a version of the 1823 William Stone facsimile — Stone may well have used a wet pressing process (that removed ink from the original document onto a contact sheet for the purpose of making the engraving).

July 3: Today is the anniversary of the coronation of Hugh Capet, king of France in 987. The Capetian Dynasty is one of the largest and oldest royal houses of Europe.

12th century portrayal of Hugh Capet. Robert the Strong also known as Rutpert, also known as Robert IV of Worms.

Actually, "Capet" was a nickname meaning "head of the family" and the real surname was Robertians. The ancestor was Robert "The Strong", Count of Paris in the year 820. There are currently two descendants of the powerful Robertian branch of the "Capet": King Juan Carlos of Bourbon king of Spain, and the Grand Duke Henri of Luxembourg, both through the branch of the Bourbons.

Hugh Capet, King of France and his kingdom around the year one thousand.

For a decade, Hugh Capet openly competed with the king. But above all, his opponent was Charles of Lorraine, who was accused of all possible evils of wanting to usurp the crown in 978, having allied with Otto II, and was then accused of adultery with the Queen Emma of Italy, his brother's wife.

Hugh Capet, King of France Wall Art & Canvas Prints by Anonymous.

Hugh Capet and his descendants used the red banner of Saint-Denis, as protector of the realm. Charlemagne used a blue banner, and the Bourbon used a white one. Hence, that is the origin of the French tricolor flag.

Coronation of Hugh Capet, King of France. (Bibliothèque nationale de France, Français 2615 His divine right to rule was confirmed by coronation ceremonies ...

Historians who are based in historiography (review, verification and comparison of primary and secondary sources of information) do not agree on the day of the coronation of Hugh, or the time or the place.

Capetian Dynasty Divine Right to Rule

Therefore, we find much speculative and fictional information about how Hugh Capet seized the throne of France, without Probate line on it. The big concern Capet King was attempting to perpetuate his dynasty at all costs.

July 2: The Treaty of Tordesillas was ratified by Spain in 1494.

Lines dividing the non-Christian world between Castile (modern Spain) and Portugal: the 1494 Tordesillas meridian (purple) and the 1529 Zaragoza antimeridian (green)

On July 2, 1494, Spain ratified the Treaty of Tordesillas, which was signed on June 7 before, by Spain and Portugal, to divide the New World, with the intervention of Pope Alexander VI, as conciliator and head of the Church.

A world map depicting the meridian, 1502. The map is particularly notable for portraying a fragmentary record of the  Brazilian coast, discovered in 1500 by the Portuguese explorer Pedro Alvarez-Cabral, and for depicting the African coast of the Atlantic and Indian Oceans with a remarkable accuracy and detail, by Alberto Cantino.

The signatories were representatives of the Catholic Church, monarchs Ferdinand of Aragon and Isabella of Castile, by Spain; and João II of Portugal. The planet was divided into two hemispheres by an imaginary line 370 leagues west of the Cape Verde Islands, off the coast of Senegal, Africa.

West and the recently reached Americas, Tordesillas line depicted - Cantino planisphere detail

(The League was a measure of length referring to the distance a walker could walk in an hour, and that in the twentieth century became five kilometers, ie, 370 * 5 = 1850 kilometers to the west of the Cape Verde Islands).

The rhumb-line construction scheme and geographic lines in the Cantino planisphere or world map. Adapted from Gaspar (2012)

The land to the west of this meridian belonged to the Spanish crown, and the eastern to the Portuguese. As the eastern outgoing territory of South America was within the Portuguese area, this country begun the colonization of Brazil in 1500.

Catholic priests believed they had a divine right to guide, not just to their Christian sheep but also the infidels and savages, by the grace of God.

This map shows the division between Spain and Portugal lands in the newly discovered Americas, in Africa, and in the East. The Papal dividing line was set up by Pope Alexander VI in 1493 at the request of Spain’s rulers to protect their claims from the Portuguese. The following year Spain and Portugal agreed in the Treaty of Tordesillas to move the dividing line about 800 miles west. This treaty would give South America a bilingual European heritage. Today Portuguese is the language of Brazil, while Spanish is spoken in most of the rest of the continent.

July 1: Today is the anniversary of the formal establishment of the European Community in 1967, after the merger of the European Common Market, the European Coal and Steel Community, and the European Atomic Energy Commission.

Paul Henri Charles Spaak (25 January 1899 – 31 July 1972) was a Belgian socialist politician and statesman, who served as Prime Minister of Belgium (1938–1939, 1946 and 1947–1949), as the first President of the United Nations General Assembly (1946–1947), as the first President of the Common Assembly of the European Coal and Steel Community (1952–1954), as the first President of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe, then called the Consultative Assembly (1949–50), and as the second Secretary General of NATO (1957–1961). He received the Charlemagne Prize in 1957 and the 1978–1979 academic year at the College of Europe was named in his honor.

In 1956, Paul Henri Spaak led the Intergovernmental Conference on the Common Market and Euratom at the Château de Val Duchesse, where the Treaty of Rome was prepared to be negotiated in 1957. The conference resulted in the signing of the Treaty Rome on March 25, 1957, establishing a European Economic Community -CEE-.

The then French President Charles De Gaulle 

The European Economic Community -CEE- was more important than other initiatives and thus expanded its activities. The first achievement was trading common prices for agricultural products in 1962, among members. That negotiation was consolidated under the name of Common Agricultural Policy. In addition, they managed to eliminate most tariffs on agricultural products to trade between countries of the European Community in 1968.

Map of first European Community 1952: The European Coal and Steel Community came into existence in July 1952. The Treaty of Rome creating a broader “common market” was signed five years later. 

The then French President Charles De Gaulle opposed for fear of supranationality, and applied the "empty chair policy" whereby withdrew French representatives of European institutions until the French veto was established. Finally, he reached an agreement with the Luxembourg compromise of January 29, 1966 by which a gentleman's agreement that allows members to use the veto in areas of national interest was established.

The first enlargement took place in 1973, bringing in Denmark, Ireland and the United Kingdom. Norway voted not to join.

The Merger Treaty came into operation on July 1, 1967. The Treaty merged the institutions of the European Coal and Steel -CECA- and -Euratom- Atomic Energy Commission within the European Economic Community, which already shared a Parliamentary Assembly and Courts. Collectively, they are known as the European Communities. Communities still had independent personalities although they have been increasingly integrated.

The forerunner to the European Union was formed by six countries in 1952 and now has 28 members with a combined population of more than 500 million people.

Future treaties will give new powers to the community beyond simple economic issues when member countries reach a higher level of integration. The ideal objective pursued by unionists, is to achieve political integration with a peaceful and united Europe.

The three pillars which constituted the European Union

June 30: The Spanish conquistadors led by Hernan Cortes struggling to get out of Tenochtitlan in 1520.

Hernan Cortes

“The Night of Sorrows” of June 30, 1530, was a major event during the Spanish conquest of Mexico where Hernan Cortes and his army had to find how to flee the city of Tenochtitlan, Aztecs’ capital, after killing King Moctezuma II, who Cortes had already as a prisoner.

Cortes. The Conqueror

The name "La Noche Triste" (The Night of Sorrows) emerged from the pain of having lost all the treasures that were stolen from the Aztecs in the form of looting and aggravated theft. That is, the Aztecs stole all of the gold and silver Cortes had stolen from them.

A map of Tenochtitlan and its causeways leading out of the capital.

Moctezuma died, Cortes and Alvarado knew they were in a very precarious position. The rebellion of the Aztecs was swift and the Spaniards had to fly while shooting bullets to the air outside the island of Tenochtitlan.

Battle of The Sad Night

The Aztecs had damaged four of the eight dams and bridges to leave the island. The excessive greed of the conquerors to take charge more gold and silver they could carry weakened their flight away. Aztec army canoes arrived from all sides and many Spaniards drowned and others were killed in fierce fighting.

Tenochtitlán Map From The Memory Of Hernan Cortés. Museo del Templo Mayor.

Hernán Cortés returned for Pedro de Alvarado and found him severely injured. Even Cortes was injured, lost artillery and most horses. The saddest night for the Spanish conquest was over bathed in blood.

June 29: Cao Pi died in 226 and his son Cao Rui happened to become the ruler of the Wei Kingdom, one of the three kingdoms that competed for supremacy in China.

A painting of Cao Pi and two ministers flanking him, by the Tang Dynasty artist Yan Liben.

Wei was one of the three states fighting for supremacy over China during the period known as the "Three Kingdoms" between the years 220 and 280. The other two states were Shu, towards west; and Wu, eastward.

Map of Chinese provinces in the prelude of Three Kingdom period (In the late Han dynasty period, 189 CE).

Wei's capital was established in Luoyang in the central plains of China. Luoyang is one of the cradles of Chinese civilization and one of the four great ancient capitals of China, the other three being Beijing, Nanjing and Chang'an.

The Three Kingdoms in 262, on the eve of the conquest of Shu.

Cao Cao, the father of Cao Pi, was who established the foundation of the kingdom Wei, at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty; but it was his son, Cao Pi, who consolidated the kingdom.

After reigning seven years, Cao Pi became ill and summoned to his bedside to Sima Yi, Chen Qun Cao Zhen and Cao Xiu, whom he called for support for his successor Cao Rui.

 Cao Pi died with 40 years left a major mark on history as a poet despite his notorious military failures.

Cao Rui