TODAY IN HISTORY

1863: The pivotal, three-day Civil War Battle of Gettysburg, resulting in a Union victory, began in Pennsylvania.

1867: Canada became a self-governing dominion of Great Britain as the British North America Act took effect.

1903: The first Tour de France began. (It ended on

July 19; the winner was Maurice Garin.)

1944: Delegates from 44 countries began meeting at Bretton Woods, N.H., where they agreed to establish the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

1963: The U.S. Post Office inaugurated its five-digit

ZIP codes.

1966: The Medicare federal insurance program

went into effect.

1973: The Drug Enforcement Administration was

established.

1991: President George H.W. Bush nominated federal appeals court judge Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, beginning an ultimately successful confirmation process marked by allegations of sexual harassment.

1997: Hong Kong reverted to Chinese rule after 156

years as a British colony.

2004: Actor Marlon Brando died in Los Angeles at

age 80.

2009: Actor Karl Malden, 97, died in Brentwood,

Calif.

2015: After more than a half-century of hostility, the United States and Cuba declared they would reopen embassies in each other’s capitals, marking a historic full restoration of diplomatic relations between the Cold War foes.

2019: Coco Gauff, 15, the youngest player to qualify at Wimbledon in the professional era, defeated 39-year-old Venus Williams in the first round, 6-4, 6-4. Los Angeles Angels pitcher Tyler Skaggs, 27, was found dead in his room at the Texas hotel where the team was staying; the medical examiner found that Skaggs had a toxic mix of alcohol and the painkillers fentanyl and oxycodone in his body.

2021: The Supreme Court’s conservative majority cut back on a landmark voting rights law, in a decision likely to help Republican states fight challenges to voting restrictions that were put in place since the 2020 elections.