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On July 16, 1863, the draft riots enter their fourth day in New York City in response to the Enrollment Act. Although avoiding military service became much more difficult, wealthier citizens could still pay a $300 fee to stay home.- On July 14, 1881, Sheriff Pat Garrett kills Henry McCarty, known as Billy the Kid. Garrett had been tracking the Kid for three months after the gunslinger escaped from prison only days before his scheduled execution. At the trial, the judge had sentenced Billy the Kid to hang until “you are dead, dead, dead.” Billy reportedly responded, “And you can go to hell, hell, hell.”
- On July 15, 1903, the newly formed Ford Motor Company takes its first order, an $850 two-cylinder Model A automobile with a backseat. The car, produced at Ford’s plant in Detroit, was delivered a week later.
- On July 13, 1930, France defeats Mexico 4-1 and the U.S. blanks Belgium 3-0 in the first-ever World Cup football matches, played in Montevideo, Uruguay. The World Cup has since become the world’s most-watched sporting event.
- On July 18, 1940, Franklin Roosevelt, who first took office in 1933 as America’s 32nd president, is nominated for an unprecedented third term. He would eventually be elected to a record four terms.
- On July 17, 1955, Disneyland opens on former orange groves in Anaheim, California. Due to counterfeit invitations, thousands showed up and the opening did not go well. Food and drink ran out, and the steamboat nearly capsized from too many passengers.
- On July 12, 1979, disco music died at Chicago’s Comiskey Park when a “Disco Demolition” night is held. Organizers grossly underestimated the number of fans who would want to blow up their disco records: a sellout crowd inside the stadium and 40,000 outside who stormed the field and lit bonfires on the diamond.
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