July 5th Major News Events

1948 UK NHS Begins

1948 : Britain's National Health Service Act (NHS) takes effect, providing government funded medical and dental care and headed by the Health Minister Aneurin Bevan. The National Health Service was part of the "cradle to grave" welfare-state reforms. The NHS is funded from taxes including a proportion from National Insurance payments. The National Health Service is the world's largest health service and the world's fourth-largest employer.

1950 Korea First American Killed

1950 : The first American reported killed in the Korean War (Private Kenneth Shadrick) a member of a bazooka squad, was cut down by enemy machine-gun fire.

1954 BBC Launches Up To Date Daily TV News

1954 : The BBC launches a new news program based on more up to date news not news from the day before (Current Television Newsreel Program is prepared hours in advance and often carries news items that are 1 - 3 days old). The service was difficult because the communications technology in 1954 were still in infancy.

1955 U.S.A. "Rock Around the Clock"

1955 : Following "Rock Around the Clock" being featured on the opening credits of the film Blackboard Jungle, the record becomes Number 1 on the American Billboard music charts becoming the first rock and roll record to hit the top of the American record charts where it stayed for eight weeks. It quickly then became a number One on many other music charts around the world. It's success provided the springboard for the growth in rock n roll music over the next 10 years.

1970 Canada Plane Crash

1970 : An Air Canada DC-8 crashes while landing in Toronto killing 108 people. The investigation identified Pilot error as the cause of the crash.

1971 U.S.A. 26th Amendment

1971 : The Voting Age in the United States is lowered to 18 yrs old when the 26th Amendment to the US constitution is ratified.

1975 UK Arthur Ashe

1975 : Arthur Ashe becomes the first black man to win the Wimbledon men's singles championship beating the legendary Jimmy Connors.

1982 Argentina Deep Recession

1982 : The new economy minister has announced a number of measures to combat the current deep recession the country is experiencing including: devaluation of the Peso, lowering of interest rates, and new stricter limitations of foreign imports. This is in response to growing unemployment and unrest in the country combined with the 35 billion dollar national debt.

1989 U.S.A. Oliver North

1989 : Former White House aide Oliver North has been found guilty received a three-year suspended prison sentence and a $150,000 fine for three charges relating to illegal United States' support for the Contra rebels in Nicaragua in the mid-1980s.

1991 Bank of Credit and Commerce International

1991 : The Bank of Credit and Commerce International (BCCI) which at one stage was one of the worlds ten largest banks by assets is closed in the United States, The United Kingdom and other countries around the world after regulators found the bank was involved in money laundering, bribery, arms trafficking, the sale of nuclear technologies support of terrorism.

1998 England Party In The Park

1998 : The Prince of Wales Prince's Trust "Party in the park" (Hyde Park) charity event attracts 100,000 hoping to raise as much as £500,000 for the Prince's Trust charity. Some of the best known stars of screen and popular music give their performances for free including All Saints, Des'ree, Louise, Natalie Imbruglia, Tom Jones, Lionel Richie, Boyzone and Gary Barlow from the music world.

2000 England 50% now have Mobile Phones

2000 : In the last 2 years the growth of mobile phone use in the UK has exceeded all expectations as the change in perception of the mobile phone as a "yuppy status gadget" has changed to daily essential for everyone, the change has partly been through the introduction of Pay As You Go and the continuing reduction of prices together with additional functionality including internet access from the latest WAP phones.

2003 WHO SARS Outbreak Contained

2003 : Following an outbreak of the deadly SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) which had killed about 775 people in 29 countries the World Health Organization (WHO) announces that SARS is now contained.

2006 North Korea Missile Testing

2006 : North Korea tested six missiles, one long-range called the Taepodong-2, and five shorter ranged missiles. The Taepodong-2 reportedly crashed only 42 seconds after its launch, while the other five missiles fell into the Sea of Japan. Concern arose over North Korea’s increased nuclear aggressiveness because the Taepodong-2 has the possibility of reaching parts of the Western United States if launched successfully. The shorter range missiles are capable of hitting Japanese Mainland.

2007 Rwanda Genocide Major Sentenced

2007 : Bernard Ntuyahaga, a former army major in Rwanda during the 1994 genocide was convicted of murdering ten United Nations peacekeepers who were from Belgium. He was sentenced to twenty years in prison by a Belgian court.

2008 U.S.A. California Wild Fires

2008 : After 2 weeks of wild fires in California mostly started by lightning strikes fueled by warm winds, dry brush and trees are at last coming under some control, nearly 20,000 fire fighters have been fighting the hundreds of fires over the last 14 days and are exhausted. The two largest wildfires in near the towns of Goleta and Big Sur are now thought to be under control. California has always been susceptible to wildfires but normally from late summer to early autumn but over the last couple of years the trend is changing with wildfires beginning in mid summer.

2011 Casey Anthony Found Not Guilty of Murder

2011 : Accused murder Casey Anthony, a 25 year old single mother, was found not guilty of murdering her two year old daughter Caylee in 2008. The case and subsequent trial had captured the US's attention after Caylee's body had been found near the family home in Florida six months after she had gone missing. The prosecution stated Casey Anthony killed her child because she wanted to party, however conflicting reports and lack of evidence weakened the prosecution's case. Casey Anthony was found guilty on four counts of lying to the police.

2012 Giant Panda Gives Birth at Tokyo Zoo

2012 : Six year old giant panda Shin Shin at Tokyo's Ueno zoo gave birth to a baby panda after being confirmed as pregnant only a few days before. Officials stated that the mother and baby pandas were in good health after the birth. However after only six days, the baby panda died after inhaling its mothers milk which caused it to contract pneumonia.

2013 Indian President Approves Food Plan

2013 : President Pranab Mukherjee of India has signed a food plan that proposes to help feed two-thirds of the country's population into law. The plan would provide subsidized food every month to nearly 800 million poor citizens.