What’s Happening Today?

Independence Day (South Sudan).  South Sudanese from throughout the country and the world came together on July 9 in the capital city of Juba to celebrate the birth of the new nation, the Republic of South Sudan. This followed the signing of a peace agreement that ended two decades of civil war between the Arab-dominated north and the predominantly African and Christian people of the south, a war that cost more than 2 million lives. We wish the KIU South Sudanese community a happy Independence Day celebrations.

Independence Day (Argentina). Argentina celebrates its independence from Spain. Current-day Argentina comes from the United Provinces of South America. The United Provinces of South America was a union of provinces in the Río de la Plata region of South America, which emerged from the May Revolution in 1810 and the Argentine War of Independence of 1810–1818. It comprised most of the former Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata dependencies and had Buenos Aires as its capital.

What Happened Today?

1. In 1850, U.S. President Zachary Taylor died after eating raw fruit and iced milk. After attending Fourth of July orations for most of the day, Taylor walked along the Potomac River before returning to the White House. Hot and tired, he drank iced water and consumed large quantities of cherries and other fruits. The President suffered severe stomach pains for the next five days. He died from what was later diagnosed as “Stomach Flu”

 2. In 1877, the first Wimbledon Championship was held. The championship was not only the first tennis championship held in England, but was also the first grand slam tournament as well. 22 men competed in the championship and Spencer Gore became the first person to win the Wimbledon tournament. Swiss Roger Federer is the record winner of the championship, with 8 singles titles.

3. In 2002, The African Union was established in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, replacing the Organisation of African Unity (OAU). The organization's first chairman was Thabo Mbeki, President of South Africa.

Birthdays

1. 1947 – O.J Simpson, American Football player and actor, convicted for the murder of his former wife and her friend in 1994.

2. 1951 – Jeje Odong, Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Ugandan cabinet.

Sources: Wikipedia, checkiday.com & the Miller Center

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