Today in History, July 6th
On July 6, 1957, Althea Gibson became the first Black player to win the Wimbledon women's singles title. Plus Lennon meets McCartney.
Published · Last updated
July 6 is best known for 1957, when Althea Gibson became the first Black player to win the women’s singles title at Wimbledon. On the same day in 1957, John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time, and in 1942 Anne Frank’s family went into hiding in Amsterdam.
The big story: Althea Gibson wins Wimbledon (1957)
Althea Gibson was the daughter of South Carolina sharecroppers, raised in Harlem, and she was a city paddle tennis champion by age 12. Tennis in the 1950s was a mostly white, mostly segregated sport, and she had to fight just to get into the big tournaments. By 1957 she had earned her place. At the All England Club on July 6, she faced Darlene Hard, who was also her doubles partner, in the women’s singles final. Gibson won 6-3, 6-2 in less than an hour, riding a serve that skidded off the grass. Queen Elizabeth II handed her the trophy. She won every match she played at that year’s tournament. Gibson went on to win the U.S. Nationals that September and repeated both titles in 1958. Later she broke another barrier as the first Black woman on the LPGA Tour. Her Wimbledon win showed that the sport’s walls could come down.
More events on July 6
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1415 | Czech religious reformer Jan Hus was burned at the stake after being condemned for heresy. |
| 1535 | Thomas More was beheaded in England for refusing to accept Henry VIII as head of the English church. |
| 1775 | The Continental Congress adopted a declaration explaining why the colonies were taking up arms against Britain. |
| 1785 | The Continental Congress made the dollar the official currency of the United States. |
| 1885 | Louis Pasteur successfully tested his rabies vaccine. |
| 1933 | Major League Baseball held its first All-Star Game, at Comiskey Park in Chicago. |
| 1942 | Anne Frank and her family went into hiding in a closed-off part of a building in Amsterdam. |
| 1944 | A fire under the Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey circus tent in Hartford, Connecticut, killed 167 people. |
| 1957 | John Lennon and Paul McCartney met for the first time, at a church event in Liverpool. Together they later formed the Beatles. |
| 1964 | Nyasaland became the independent nation of Malawi, within the Commonwealth. |
| 1976 | The U.S. Naval Academy admitted its first women, 81 female midshipmen. |
| 2002 | Serena Williams beat her sister Venus to win her first Wimbledon singles title. |
Born on July 6
- 1747: John Paul Jones, naval hero of the American Revolution, born in Kirkbean, Scotland.
- 1907: Frida Kahlo, Mexican painter known for her vivid self-portraits, born in Coyoacán, Mexico.
- 1935: Tenzin Gyatso, who became the 14th Dalai Lama, born in Tibet.
- 1946: George W. Bush, 43rd U.S. president, born in New Haven, Connecticut.
Sources
- Today in History—July 6: Althea Gibson Wins Wimbledon, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Althea Gibson is first African American to win Wimbledon, History.com
- This Day in History: July 6, History.com
- On This Day: July 6, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- John Paul Jones, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Frida Kahlo, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Dalai Lama, leader of Tibet, is born, History.com
- George W. Bush, Encyclopaedia Britannica
