Rosetta Stone: This month in 1799 a french soldier discovered the Rosetta Stone. This historic July event occurred during a campaign in Egypt when a Napoleonic soldier found a black stone outside Rosetta. The stone was a slab, about 2.5’ wide and almost 4’ long with inscriptions on it including Egyptian demotic, Greek, and Egyptian hieroglyphics. After his invasion of Egypt, Napoleon had ordered a group of scholars to seize cultural artifacts in the name of France. Ultimately however, the British took ownership of the stone after the French were defeated in 1801. The stone remains a feature in the British Museum to this day.

Neil Armstrong: The iconic phrase, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” was heard by a television audience of 530 million in July 1969 as Neil Armstrong took his first step on the moon. He was believed to have announced, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.” yet Armstrong is stated he was misquoted and that he, in fact, said, “That’s one small step for a man…” which would make more sense throwing the “a” in there.

The Bikini: When you’re laying around in your bikini this month enjoying a fly free summer, thank Micheline Bernardini and Louis Réard. A Frenchman, Réard designed the first ever bikini while Bernardini modeled it. The bikini got its name from the atomic test of the Bikini Atoll by the US earlier that week. In a race with the Soviet Union to produce nuclear weapons, the US ordered the government to clear the Bikini Atoll island in the Pacific. Read used only 30 inches of fabric to make the bikini. As one could imagine for 1946, this was a major shock to many members of the media present at the unveiling.