July 14 Birthday
On July 14, 1789, a Parisian mob stormed the Bastille, a medieval fortress and prison. The Bastille held seven prisoners — four forgers, two lunatics, and one aristocrat imprisoned by his father. The mob attacked not to free the prisoners but to seize the gunpowder stored inside. The garrison of thirty-two Swiss Guards was overwhelmed. The governor, Bernard-René de Launay, was dragged through the streets and killed. His head was placed on a pike. July 14 became the French national holiday, Bastille Day. The Bastille was demolished within months. Its stones were carved into miniature replicas and sold as souvenirs. Gerald Ford, born this day in 1913 as Leslie Lynch King Jr., was the only person to serve as both Vice President and President without being elected to either office. He was appointed VP by Nixon after Spiro Agnew resigned, and became president when Nixon resigned. He pardoned Nixon, which may have cost him the 1976 election. He was a star football player at Michigan and turned down offers from the Detroit Lions and Green Bay Packers. People born on July 14 fall under the zodiac sign of Cancer. The birthstone is Ruby and the birth flower is Larkspur. Historical events on July 14 include 1789: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille, beginning the French Revolution, 1881: Billy the Kid shot and killed by Pat Garrett in New Mexico, 1933: Nazi Party declared the only legal party in Germany. Famous people born on July 14 include Woody Guthrie (1912), Gerald Ford (1913), Ingmar Bergman (1918).