History events
-1315 BCE (9 Av 2446) — A year and two months after the Exodus from Egypt, God led the Children of Israel to the borders of the Holy Land. They refused to enter it, and on the 9th day of the month of Av, they wept and said it would be better to die in the desert than to be killed or enslaved by the Canaanite peoples. Those who had reached the age of twenty by that time were punished for their lack of faith in the Creator with forty years of wandering and death in the desert. Only their children entered the Land of Israel.
70 (24 Tammuz 3830) — The Jewish War. A battle in the western gallery of the Temple
1298 — (14th of Av, 5058) During the Rindfleisch massacres, the Jewish community of Bischofsheim on the Tauber, Germany perished
1349 — (8th of Av, 5109) The Jews of Frankfort were killed in what would be called the Black Death Massacres
1518 — (16th of Av, 5278) Sefer ha-Harkavah, a Hebrew grammar written by Elijah Levita (Bahur) was published in Rome today
1905 (21 Tammuz 5665) — A preliminary meeting of Russian Zionists ahead of the Seventh Zionist Congress. A dispute between supporters of the “Uganda Plan” and Zion. No compromise could be reached
1911 — (28th of Tammuz, 5671) Fire in Balata district of Constantinople destroys Boys’ and Girls’ Schools of the Alliance Israelite Universelle, four synagogues, and 1,000 houses, about 600, which belonged to Jews
1918 — (15th of Av, 5678) On Mt. Scopus in Jerusalem, Dr. Chaim Weizmann laid the cornerstone for Hebrew University. It would be several more years before construction began and the university would actually become a reality.
1922 — (28th of Tammuz, 5682) The League of Nations confirmed Britain’s mandate over Palestine
1938 (25 Tammuz 5698) — A special tax was introduced in the Yishuv, with revenues to be used for the needs of the Haganah.
1941 (29 Tammuz 5701) — The Shoah. Thirteen Jews were murdered in Chernivtsi (Vinnytsia Oblast), and 60 Jews from among the intelligentsia were killed in Lyubeshiv (Volyn Oblast)
1948 — (17th of Tammuz, 5708) During War of Independence, Israeli forces launched an assault as part of Operation Shorter on an area south of Haifa called the «Little Triangle.»
1950 — (10th of Av, 5710) The first World Congress for the Promotion of the Hebrew Language and Culture met in Jerusalem
1954 (23 Tammuz 5714) — An Israeli spy network was exposed in Egypt. Thirteen Egyptian Jews were arrested. In Israel, the so‑called “Lavon Affair” began. Lavon, who was then the Minister of Defence, denied any involvement in organising the network. Prime Minister L. Eshkol was also unaware of it. As a result, the search for scapegoats dragged on for about ten years
1961 — (11th of Av, 5721) The fifth and final convey of Jewish children left Morocco “under the guise of taking a vacation trip to Switzerland” which hid the reality that the children were being taken to leave in Israel as part of what is known as Operation Mural
1969 — (9th of Av, 5729) IAF pilots Shmuel Gordon, Michael Zuk and Ran Goren were responsible for shooting down three Egyptian aircraft today
1995 (26 Tammuz 5755) — Terrorist attack. A bus explosion in Ramat Gan. Seven people were killed.
2014 (26 Tammuz 5774) — Israel. Highway No. 9 opened to traffic, connecting Highway No. 4 south of Hadera with Highway No. 581.
2024 (18 Tammuz 5784 / 19 Tammuz 5784) — War with Gaza. As part of a special operation, the bodies of five hostages were brought to Israel
People
1836 — (10th of Av, 5596) Jean de Bloch, Russo-Polish financier, born
1852 (8 Av 5612) — Yehoshua Stampfer was born, one of the founders of Petah Tikva. He died in 1908.
1880 (16 Av 5640) — Ernest Bloch, a composer, was born. He died on 15 July 1959.
1887 — Gustav Hertz, a German physicist and Nobel Prize winner in Physics (1925), was born. He died on 30 October 1975.
1900 — Yitzhak Avineri, an Israeli linguist and author of books on modern Hebrew, was born. He died on 30 August 1977.
1924 — Joseph Mrimovich, an Israeli football player and coach, was born in Cyprus. He died on 5 May 2011.
1920 — Bella Abzug, an American social activist, was born in the Bronx (USA). She died in 1998
1991 — (12th of Av, 5751) Author Isaac Bashevis Singer passed away
1995 — (26th of Tammuz, 5755) Mordechai Tuvya, 38, Nehama Leibowitz, 61, Zehava Oren, 60, Rahel Tamari, 65, Moshe Shkedi, 75 and Zvia Hacohen, 62 were killed and 30 Israeli civilians were injured when a Hamas suicide bomber detonated 33 pounds of TNT aboard No. 20 commuter bus in Ramat Gan near the Diamond Exchange
2024 (18 Tammuz 5784) — Captain Ariel Topaz, 24 years old, died in hospital. He had been severely injured in a terrorist attack at the Nir Tzvi junction near the Tzrifin base on 14 July 2024.
2024 (18 Tammuz 5784) — War with Gaza. Day 292. In the south of the Gaza Strip, 19‑year‑old Staff Sergeant Noam Duaek was killed