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The events of July 7 · Read the full edition → · More from July 7 →
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Reagan nominates O'Connor; no woman has ever sat on the Supreme Court in 192 years

The Arizona appeals court judge is tapped to fill the seat of retiring Justice Potter Stewart, a pledge Reagan made on the campaign trail last year.

By the summer of 1981, no woman had ever sat on the U.S. Supreme Court in its 192-year history. On July 7, Ronald Reagan announced he was nominating Sandra Day O'Connor, an Arizona appeals court judge, to fill the seat of retiring Justice Potter Stewart, fulfilling a promise he'd made on the 1980 campaign trail. The Senate confirmed her that September by a vote of 99 to 0. Within a year she had received over 60,000 letters from the public, more than any other justice in history…

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More from July 7
1846

Sloat raises the flag over Monterey; Mexico's California falls without a shot

Sailors and marines from three warships walk ashore unopposed, ending both Mexican rule and the weeks-old California Republic declared at Sonoma.
1898

McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution; Hawaii is annexed, and its $4 million debt with it

The House voted 209 to 91 and the Senate 42 to 21, with a Pacific war making the islands' coaling station and anchorage look essential to Washington.
1958

Eisenhower signs Alaska into the union; the territory has waited forty years for this moment

The House voted 210-166, the Senate 64-20; Alaska is cleared to become the 49th state, though formal admission is not yet complete.
19411776 Club
The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, sailed from Charleston via Argentia, begins disembarkation on an island the U.S. has no treaty obligation to defend.
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More from Cold War America
1948

Clay orders supply flights into Tempelhof; the question now is whether the air can feed two million

Stalin sealed every land route into West Berlin days ago, betting the Allies would negotiate their way out rather than try to sustain a city from the sky.
1950

Truman orders air and sea forces to Korea; the UN backs a unified command under American leadership

Seoul fell yesterday, and the Security Council voted hours ago, but the question in Washington was never whether to act, only how fast.
1950

American fighters meet North Korean Yaks above Suwon; three shot down, none lost

F-82s and F-80Cs scrambled to cover civilian evacuation flights out of Seoul, two days after North Korean forces crossed the 38th parallel.
1950

Gaetjens heads it in; the US beats England, 1–0, in Belo Horizonte

Borghi shuts out the sport's reigning aristocracy; the American squad includes a hearse driver, a schoolteacher, and men who trained together exactly once.
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