On July 7 in …

1456 –- A posthumous retrial results in a verdict acquitting Joan of Arc 25 years after she was burned at the stake on charges of heresy and witchcraft.

1846 -– American troops occupy the towns of Monterey and Yerba Buena during the Mexican-American War, thus beginning the American acquisition of California.

1928 –- Pre-sliced bread is sold for the first time, by the Chillicothe Baking Company of Michigan.

1947 –- It initially is reported that an alien spacecraft has crashed near Roswell, NM, but the government quickly declares it a downed weather balloon. Conspiracy theories and speculation erupt, giving rise to a cottage industry in Roswell books, documentaries, and broad public debate about extraterrestrial life and government coverups that thrives to this day.

1981 –- President Ronald Reagan appoints Sandra Day O’Connor the first female member of the Supreme Court of the United States.

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