the half dime. May 24 – Battle of Tuyutí: 32,000 soldiers of the Triple Alliance defeat 24,000 Paraguayan soldiers few miles north of the Paraná, Argentina, in the Paraguayan War, with 16,000 casualties. May 26 – First production of the comic opera Cox and Box by F. C. Burnand and Arthur Sullivan at Moray Lodge, Kensington May 30 – Bedrich Smetana's comic opera The Bartered Bride premiered in Prague. June 2 – Fenian forces skirmish with Canadian militia at the battles of Ridgeway and Fort Erie. June 5 – Calculations indicate Pluto (not known at this time) reaches its only aphelion (furthest point from the Sun) between 1618 and August 2113. June 8 – The Parliament of Canada meets for the first time in Ottawa. June 11 – The Agra High Court is established (later shifted to the Allahabad High Court). June 14 – The Austro-Prussian War begins when the Austrians and most of the medium German states declare war on Prussia. June 20 – The Kingdom of Italy declares war on Austria. June 22 – In Sweden, the Riksdag of the Estates votes to replace itself by an elected two-chamber Riksdag. June 27–29 – Battle of Langensalza: The Prussians defeat the Hanoverian army. July–September July 3 – Battle of Königgrätz: the Prussian army under King Wilhelm and Helmuth von Moltke defeats the Austrian army of Ludwig von Benedek, leading to a decisive Prussian victory in the Austro-Prussian War. July 5 – Princess Helena, third daughter of Queen Victoria, marries Prince Christian of Schleswig-Holstein. July 10 – Reconstruction Treaty with Choctaw & Chickasaw, completing the abolition of slavery in the United States; see also Choctaw freedmen. July 13 (July 1 Old Style) – The first Constitution of Romania is issued. July 20 – Naval Battle of Lissa: The Austrian fleet under Wilhelm von Tegetthoff defeats the Italian fleet of Carlo di Persano. July 24 – Reconstruction: Tennessee becomes the first U.S. state to be readmitted to the Union following the American Civil War. July 25 – The United States Congress passes legislation authorizing the four-star rank of General of the Army (later reestablished as a five-star rank); Lieutenant General Ulysses S. Grant becomes the first to have this rank. July 27 – The successfully completes laying the transatlantic telegraph cable between Valentia Island, Ireland, and Heart's Content, Newfoundland, permanently restoring a communications link. July 28 – The Metric Act of