Once again, it should be reiterated, that this does not pretend to be a very extensive history of what happened on this day (nor is it the most original - the links can be found down below). If you know something that I am missing, by all means, shoot me an email or leave a comment, and let me know!
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
July 6, 1957: Althea Gibson is first African American to win Wimbledon
On this day in 1957, Althea Gibson claims the women's singles tennis title at Wimbledon and becomes the first African American to win a championship at London's All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club.
Gibson was born on August 25, 1927, in Silver, South Carolina, and raised in the Harlem section of New York City. She began playing tennis as a teenager and went on to win the national black women's championship twice. At a time when tennis was largely segregated, four-time U.S. Nationals winner Alice Marble advocated on Gibson's behalf and the 5'11" player was invited to make her U.S. Open debut in 1950. In 1956, Gibson's tennis career took off and she won the singles title at the French Open--the first African American to do so--as well as the doubles' title there. In July 1957, Gibson won Wimbledon, defeating Darlene Hard, 6-3, 6-2. (In 1975, Arthur Ashe became the first African-American man to win the men's singles title at Wimbledon, when he defeated Jimmy Connors.) In September 1957, she won the U.S. Open, and the Associated Press named her Female Athlete of the Year in 1957 and 1958. During the 1950s, Gibson won 56 singles and doubles titles, including 11 major titles.
After winning Wimbledon and the U.S. Open again in 1958, Gibson retired from amateur tennis. In 1960, she toured with the Harlem Globetrotters basketball team, playing exhibition tennis matches before their games. In 1964, Gibson joined the Ladies Professional Golf Association Tour, the first black woman to do so. The trailblazing athlete played pro golf until 1971, the same year in which she was voted into the National Lawn Tennis Association Hall of Fame.
After serving as New Jersey's commissioner of athletics from 1975 to 1985, Althea Gibson died at age 76 from respiratory failure on September 28, 2003, at a hospital in East Orange, New Jersey.
Here's a more detailed look at events that transpired on this date throughout history:
1044 - The Battle of Ménfő takes place.
1189 - Richard the Lionheart is crowned King of England.
1253 - Mindaugas is crowned King of Lithuania.
1348 - Papal bull of Pope Clement VI protecting Jews during the Black Death.
1415 - Jan Hus is burned at the stake.
1483 - England's King Richard III crowned
1484 - Portuguese sea captain Diogo Cão finds the mouth of the Congo River.
1491 - Opening ceremony of Daitokuji's Shinju at subtemple
1495 - Battle at Fornovo] French king Charles VIII beats St League
1560 - England/Scotland signs Treaty of Edinburgh
1573 - Pacificatie of Boulogne: new peace treaty with huguenots
1573 - Córdoba, Argentina, is founded by Jerónimo Luis de Cabrera.
1590 - English admiral Francis Drake takes Portuguese Forts at Taag
1609 - Majesteitsbrief: Emperor Rudolf II grants Bohemia freedom of religion
1621 - Dutch gov-gen John Pieterszoon Coen takes Banda-islands, 15,000 die
1630 - Swedish troops under Gustaf II Adolf land at Peenemunde
1634 - Johan van Walbeecks ships bypass St-Anna Bay, Curacao
1641 - Battle at La Marfée Sedan: Earl Soisson beats French government army
1652 - Fire on Dutch Dam (Amsterdam's city hall burns)
1669 - LaSalle leaves Montreal to explore Ohio River
1673 - French troops conquer Maastricht as part of the Franco-Dutch War
1685 - Battle at Sedgemoor: King James II beats duke of Monmouth
1687 - Newton publishes "Principia" Pirate Legend William Kidd
1699 - Pirate Capt William Kidd is captured in Boston
1770 - Battle at Cesme: Russian fleet beats Turkish
1775 - Congress issues "Declaration of the Causes & Necessity of Taking up Arms," listing grievances but denying intent to be independent
1776 - Dec of Ind announced on front page of "PA Evening Gazette"
1777 - British Gen Burgoyne captures Fort Ticonderoga from Americans
1782 - British-French sea battle at Negapatam (South-Indies)
1785 - Congress unanimously resolves US currency named "dollar" & adopts decimal coinage
1787 - French government proclaims end to stamp/land tax 1787 - Orange troops occupy Area at Duurstede 1798 - US law makes aliens "liable to be apprehended, restrained, ... & removed as alien enemies" 1801 - Battle at Algeciras: French fleet beats British 1840 - Christian Hebbel's "Judith," premieres in Berlin 1848 - Mexican-American War ended with the Treaty of Guadaloupe Hidalgo 1853 - National Black convention meets (Rochester NY) 1853 - William Wells Brown publishes "Clotel," 1st novel by black American 1854 - 1st Republican state convention (Ripon Wisc) 1858 - Lyman Blake patents shoe manufacturing machine 1862 - Skirmish at Devall's Bluff Arkansas (106 casualties) 1863 - Battle of Williamsport, MD [-Jul 07] 1863 - Northern Territory passes from New South Wales to South Australia 1864 - Battle of Chattahoochee River, GA [->JUL 10] US730 CS600 1869 - Black candidate for lt governor of Va, Dr J H Harris, defeated 1882 - 14 Russian Jews of Bilu, arrive in Jaffa Palestine Bacteriologist Louis Pasteur 1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tests an anti-rabies vaccine 1886 - Horlick's of Wisconsin offers 1st malted milk to public 1887 - 4th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Lottie Dod beats Blanche Hillyard (62 60) 1892 - Dr Jose Rizal forms League Filipina 1892 - Striking steel workers in Homestead, Pa fire on scabs, killing 7 1892 - Dadabhai Naoroji elected as first Indian Member of Parliament in Britain. 1893 - The small town of Pomeroy, Iowa, is nearly destroyed by a tornado that kills 71 people and injures 200. 1894 - Cleveland sends 2,000 troops to Chicago to suppress Pullman strike 1903 - George Wyman arrives in NYC by motorcycle 51 days out of SF 1905 - Alfred Deakin becomes Prime Minister of Australia for the second time. 1908 - Robert Peary's expedition sails from NYC for north pole 1912 - Donald Lippincott runs world record 100m (10.6) 1917 - T E Lawrence captures Port of Agaba from Turkey 1919 - British R-34 lands in NY, 1st airship to cross Atlantic (108 hr) 1919 - William Veeck, sportswriter, replaces Fred Mitchell as Cubs president 1920 - Yankees score 14 in 5th inning & beat Washington Senators, 17-0 1922 - Dutch auto/airplane manufacturer Trompenburg declares bankruptcy 1923 - 36th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Suzanne Lenglen beats K McKane (62 62) 1923 - Union of Soviet Socialist Republics form 1924 - 1st photo sent experimentally across Atlantic by radio, US-England 1928 - 1st all-talking motion picture shown in NY (Lights of NY) 1928 - Worlds largest record hailstone 1.5 lbs (7 inchs in diameter)) at the time falls in Potter Nebraska 1929 - St Louis has 2, 10 run innings & beats Phillies 28-6 1931 - 35th US Golf Open: Billy Burke shoots a 292 at Inverness Club Ohio 1932 - 1st class postage back up to 3 cents from 2 cents 1932 - Cubs shortstop Bill Jurges is shot twice in Chicago hotel room by a spurned girlfriend, Violet Popovich Valli 1933 - 1st All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 4-2 at Comiskey Park, Chicago 1935 - 48th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Helen Moody beats H Jacobs (63 36 75) 1935 - Rotterdam architect A van de Steurs Museum Boymans opens 1936 - 114°F (46°C), Moorhead, Minnesota (state record) 1936 - 121°F (49°C), Steele, North Dakota (state record) 1936 - A major breach of the Manchester, Bolton and Bury Canal in England sends millions of gallons of water cascading 200 feet into the River Irwell. 1938 - 6th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 4-1 at Crosley Field, Cincinnati 1939 - German Nazi's close last Jewish enterprises 1941 - NY Yankees unveil a monument to Lou Gehrig in centerfield 1942 - 10th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 3-1 at Polo Grounds, New York Jewish Victim & Diarist of the Holocaust Anne Frank 1942 - Anne Frank's family goes into hiding in After House, Amsterdam 1942 - Von Hoth' IV Pantser army fights with Voronezj 1943 - 2nd day of battle at Kursk: 25,000 German killed 1943 - US destroyer William D Porter [Willie Dee] launched 1944 - 170 die in a fire at Ringling Bros Circus in Hartford Conn 1944 - French General De Gaulle arrives in Washington, DC 1944 - US General Patton lands in France 1945 - Nicaragua becomes 1st nation to formally accept UN Charter 1945 - Harry Truman signs executive order establishing Medal of Freedom 1945 - Wash Senator Rick Ferrell catches a record 1,722 games 1946 - "St Louis Woman" closes at Martin Beck Theater NYC after 113 perfs 1946 - 53rd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Pauline Betz beats Louise Brough (62 64) 1946 - 60th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Yvon Petra beats G Brown (62 64 79 57 64) 1947 - The AK-47 goes into production in the Soviet Union. 1949 - Cin Red Walker Cooper gets 10 RBIs US General George S Patton 1949 - Freak heat wave sent central coast of Portugal to 158°F for 2 minutes 1950 - German DR recognizes Oder-Neisse borders with Poland 1951 - 65th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Dick Savitt beats Ken McGregor (64 64 64)
1952 - Last tram ride in London 1954 - KMOS TV channel 6 in Sedalia-Warrensburg, MO (PBS) begins broadcasting 1954 - Tunisian government of M'zali, resigns 1956 - 70th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Lew Hoad beats Ken Rosewall (62 46 75 64) 1956 - 85th British Golf Open: Peter Thomson shoots a 286 at Hoylake England 1956 - Ford Frick inaugurates Cy Young Award, to honor to outstanding pitcher 1956 - Indians' Jim Busby hits a grand slam in two consecutive at bats 1957 - 64th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Althea Gibson beats Darlene Hard (63 62) 1957 - Harry S Truman Library forms in Independence, Missouri 1958 - Adolfo Lopez Mateos elected pres of Mexico 1958 - Alaska becomes 49th state 1959 - 5th LPGA Championship won by Betsy Rawls 1959 - Saar becomes part of German Federal Republic 1959 - WENH TV channel 11 in Durham, NH (PBS) begins broadcasting 1960 - Dr Barbara Moore completes a 3,207 mile walk from LA to NYC 1961 - Portuguese ship explode near Mozambique, kills 300 1962 - 76th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Rod Laver beats Martin Mulligan (62 62 61) 1962 - Emir Said al-Djazairi takes van Algerian throne in Syria 1962 - Mantle hits his 3rd & 4th consecutive homer 1962 - Nuclear test shot Sedan; part of Operation Plowshare. 1963 - 70th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: M Smith beats Billie J King (63 64) 1963 - 77th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: C McKinley beats Fred Stolle (97 61 64) 1963 - South African worker's union leader Billy Nair arrested 1964 - Beatles' film "Hard Day's Night" premieres in London 1964 - Malawi (formerly Nyasaland) declares independence from UK 1965 - Rock group "Jefferson Airplane" forms 1966 - Malawi becomes a republic, Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda becomes pres 1967 - Biafran War erupts as Nigerian forces invade 1968 - 75th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Billie Jean King beats J Tegart (97 75) 1968 - Sacharov publishes "Manifest of 10,000 words" 1969 - Filming begins on "Ned Kelly" starring Mick Jagger 1969 - Frente Obrero y Liberacion (FOL) forms in Curacao 1970 - California passes 1st "no fault" divorce law 1970 - Italian Rumor government resigns 1971 - Dr Hastings Kamuzu Banda sworn in as President for Life of Malawi 1971 - White House Plumbers unit formed to plug news leaks 1974 - 88th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Jimmy Connors beats K Rosewall (61 61 64) 1975 - Argentine government falls 1975 - Comoros declare independence from France (most of them) 1975 - Dmitri Shostakovitch completes Sonate for alto opus 147 1975 - Susie McAllister wins LPGA Wheeling Ladies Golf Classic 1976 - Soyuz 21 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 5 space station 1977 - France performs nuclear test at Muruora Island 1978 - Israeli jet fighters swooped over mostly Moslem West Beirut 1978 - The Taunton sleeping car fire occurred in Taunton, Somerset killing twelve people. 1979 - 86th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: M Navratilova beats Chris Evert (64 64) 1979 - IRA-bomb explodes in British consulate in Antwerp 1980 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Mayflower Golf Classic 1980 - France performs nuclear test 1980 - Steve Carlton (14-4) pitches most strikeouts by a lefty (2,836) 1983 - 54th All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 13-3 at Comiskey Park, Chicago 1983 - Supreme Court rules retirement plans can't pay women less 1983 - Fred Lynn of Angels hits All Star game 1st grand slam (AL wins 13-3) 1986 - 100th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Boris Becker beats Ivan Lendl (64 63 75) 1986 - Amy Alcott wins LPGA Mazda Hall of Fame Golf Championship 1986 - Bob Horner becomes 11th player to hit 4 home runs in a game 1986 - Ex-minister Arturo Tolentino failed coup in Philippines 1986 - Premier Nakasones Liberal Democr Party wins Japan's election 1987 - 1st of 3 massacres by Sikh extremists takes place in India 1987 - Pakistan score their 1st innings win over England, at Leeds 1987 - USSR performs nuclear test 1988 - Carlos Salinas de Gortari elected president of Mexico 1988 - North Sea oil platform Piper Alpha explodes, 166 die 1988 - Wrestler Jake Roberts convicted of battery 1989 - Despite retiring May 29, Mike Schmidt elected to start All Star game 1989 - US marshals & FCC seize pirate radio station WHOT in Brooklyn 1990 - "Jetson's the Movie" with Tiffany, premieres 1990 - After pitching a no-hitter lose, NY Yankee Andy Hawkins pitches a complete 12 inn game & loses 2-0 Tennis Player Steffi Graf 1991 - 98th Wimbledon Womens Tennis: Steffi Graf beats G Sabatini (64 36 86) 1992 - Fay Vincent realigns NL, putting Cubs, Cards & Rockies in West & Cards, Braves & Marlins in East 1993 - Graham Thorpe scores 114 on Test Cricket debut, England v Australia 1993 - John F Kennedy Jr, gives notice of quitting as ADA in Manhattan 1994 - Irina Privalova runs 100m European Record (10.77) 1994 - Lerou Burrell runs world record 100m (9.85) 1994 - Shreveport Pirates 1st CFL game (vs Ottawa) 1995 - Lottie Dod, 15, beats Blanch Bingley at Wimbledon 1996 - 103rd Wimbledon Womens Tennis: S Graf beats Aranxta S Vicaro (63, 75)
1996 - Yankee John Weteland sets record of 20th cons saves en route to 24
1997 - "Dream-Johnny Mercer Musical," closes at Royale NYC after 109 perfs
1997 - 111th Wimbledon Mens Tennis: Pete Sampras beats C Pioline (64 62 64)
1997 - Jamie Farr Kroger Classic
1997 - Kelly Robbins wins LPGA Jamie Farr Kroger Classic
1997 - Montreal Expos retire Andre Dawson's uniform #10
1997 - Wimbledon Gigi Fernandez & Natasha Zvereva beat N Arendt & M Bollegraf
1998 - Hong Kong's Kai Tak Airport is closed and the new Hong Kong International Airport at Chek Lap Kok becomes operational.
1999 - U.S. Army private Barry Winchell dies from baseball-bat injuries inflicted in his sleep the previous day by fellow soldiers for his relationship with transgendered showgirl and former Navy combat medic, Calpernia Addams.
2003 - The 70-meter Eupatoria Planetary Radar sends a METI message Cosmic Call 2 to 5 stars: Hip 4872, HD 245409, 55 Cancri, HD 10307 and 47 Ursae Majoris that will arrive to these stars in 2036, 2040, 2044, 2044 and 2049 respectively.
2006 - The Nathula Pass between India and China, sealed during the Sino-Indian War, re-opens for trade after 44 years.
2009 - Jadranka Kosor became first female Prime minister of Croatia.
2012 - Gunmen kill 18 people in Turbat, Pakistan
1483 - King Richard III of England was crowned. 1699 - Captain William Kidd, the pirate, was captured in Boston, MA, and deported back to England. 1777 - British forces captured Fort Ticonderoga during the American Revolution. 1854 - In Jackson, MI, the Republican Party held its first convention. 1858 - Lyman Blake patented the shoe manufacturing machine. 1885 - Louis Pasteur successfully tested his anti-rabies vaccine. The child used in the test later became the director of the Pasteur Institute. 1905 - Fingerprints were exchanged for the first time between officials in Europe and the U.S. The person in question was John Walker. 1917 - During World War I, Arab forces led by T.E. Lawrence captured the port of Aqaba from the Turks. 1919 - A British dirigible landed in New York at Roosevelt Field. It completed the first crossing of the Atlantic Ocean by an airship. 1923 - The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics was established. 1928 - "The Lights of New York" was previewed in New York's Strand Theatre. It was the first all-talking movie. 1932 - The postage rate for first class mail in the U.S. went from 2-cents to 3-cents. 1933 - The first All-Star baseball game was held in Chicago. The American League beat the National League 4-2. 1942 - Diarist Anne Frank and her family took refuge from the Nazis in Amsterdam. 1945 - U.S. President Truman signed an order creating the Medal of Freedom. 1945 - Nicaragua became the first nation to formally accept the United Nations Charter. 1947 - "Candid Microphone" began airing on ABC radio. 1948 - Frieda Hennok became the first woman to serve as the commissioner of the Federal Communications Commission. 1957 - Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon women’s singles tennis title. She was the first black athlete to win the event. 1966 - Malawi became a republic within the Commonwealth with Dr. Hastings Banda as its first president. 1967 - The Biafran War erupted. The war lasted two-and-a-half years. About 600,000 people died. 1981 - Former President of Argentina Isabel Peron was freed after five years of house arrest by a federal court. 1981 - The Dupont Company announced an agreement to purchase Conoco, Inc. (Continental Oil Co.) for $7 billion. At the time it was the largest merger in corporate history. 1983 - The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that retirement plans could not pay women smaller monthly payments solely because of their gender. 1983 - Fred Lynn (California Angels) hit the first grand slam in an All-Star game. The American League defeated the National League 13-3. 1985 - Martina Navratilova won her 4th consecutive Wimbledon singles title. 1985 - The submarine Nautilus arrived in Groton, Connecticut. The vessel had been towed from Mare Island Naval Shipyard. 1988 - Several popular beaches were closed in New York City due to medical waste and other debris began washing up on the seashores. 1989 - The U.S. Army destroyed its last Pershing 1-A missiles at an ammunition plant in Karnack, TX. The dismantling was under the terms of the 1987 Intermediate-range Nuclear Forces Treaty. 1996 - Steffi Graf won her seventh Wimbledon title. 1997 - The Mars Pathfinder released Sojourner, a robot rover on the surface of Mars. The spacecraft landed on the red planet on July 4th. 1997 - In Cambodia, Second Prime Minister Hun Sen ousted First Prime Minister Norodom Ranariddh and claimed to have the capital under his control. 1998 - Protestants rioted in many parts of Northern Ireland after British authorities blocked an Orange Order march in Portadown. 2000 - A jury awarded former NHL player Tony Twist $24 million for the unauthorized use of his name in the comic book Spawn and the HBO cartoon series. Co-defendant HBO settled with Twist out of court for an undisclosed amount.
1535 Sir Thomas More was beheaded after refusing to join Henry VIII's Church of England. 1885 Louis Pasteur successfully treated a patient with a rabies vaccine. 1942 Anne Frank and her family sought refuge from the Nazis in Amsterdam. 1944 A fire caused by inept fire-eaters in the main tent of the Ringling Brothers Circus in Hartford, Conn., killed over 160 people. 1957 Althea Gibson won the Wimbledon women's singles tennis title. She was the first black person to win the event. 1997 The Mars rover Sojourner rolled onto the Martian surface. 1998 Roy Rogers, the King of the Cowboys, died.
The following links are to web sites that were used to complete this blog entry:
http://www.historyorb.com/today/events.php
http://on-this-day.com/onthisday/thedays/alldays/jul06.htm
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history
http://www.infoplease.com/dayinhistory
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