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Marston's Marines land at Reykjavík; U.S. relieves British garrison while still at peace

The 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, sailed from Charleston via Argentia, begins disembarkation on an island the U.S. has no treaty obligation to defend.

By the summer of 1941, Britain was stretched thin across a war on multiple fronts and needed its Iceland garrison for duty elsewhere. Washington, still officially neutral, agreed on June 16, 1941, to take over the island's defense. Brigadier General John Marston's 1st Provisional Marine Brigade, after sailing from Charleston, South Carolina, assembled as Task Force 19 at Argentia, Newfoundland, and sailed for Iceland on July 1, beginning landings at Reykjavík on July 8 and completing disembarkation four days later. The landing came five months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, while the United States was still officially neutral…

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More from July 7
1846

Sloat raises the flag over Monterey; Mexico's California falls without a shot

Sailors and marines from three warships walk ashore unopposed, ending both Mexican rule and the weeks-old California Republic declared at Sonoma.
1898

McKinley signs the Newlands Resolution; Hawaii is annexed, and its $4 million debt with it

The House voted 209 to 91 and the Senate 42 to 21, with a Pacific war making the islands' coaling station and anchorage look essential to Washington.
1958

Eisenhower signs Alaska into the union; the territory has waited forty years for this moment

The House voted 210-166, the Senate 64-20; Alaska is cleared to become the 49th state, though formal admission is not yet complete.
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The Arizona appeals court judge is tapped to fill the seat of retiring Justice Potter Stewart, a pledge Reagan made on the campaign trail last year.
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Read the full July 7 edition →Everything that happened on July 7 →
More from The World Wars
1945

Nearly four years after the fall, Wake Island is handed back to the United States

Rear Admiral Sakaibara surrenders to Brigadier General Sanderson aboard the destroyer escort USS Levy.
1945

American troops come ashore at Incheon; Korea splits at the 38th parallel

Lieutenant General John Hodge lands with no Korean speakers on his staff and a month-old line drawn by two colonels in Washington.
1942

A Japanese submarine surfaces off Cape Blanco and launches a floatplane over Oregon

A fire lookout spots the plane from Mount Emily before its bombs even hit the ground.
1941

Shovels hit dirt at Hoover Field; the War Department breaks ground on a five-sided headquarters

Contracts worth $31.1 million are finalized the same day, sixty years to the day before the building's darkest morning.
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