July 25, 1940

1940Richard Ballantine, American-English journalist and author (died 2013)^[†]

Richard Ballantine was a cycling writer, journalist and cycling advocate. Born in America, the son of Ian and Betty Ballantine of Ballantine Books, and educated at the Browning School in New York and Columbia University, he principally resided in London, England. He wrote the popular Richard's Bicycle Book (1972) and its subsequent editions. He was an editor at Rufus Publications and founded several magazines including Bicycle magazine.

1940General Henri Guisan orders the Swiss Army to resist German invasion and makes surrender illegal.^[†]

Henri Guisan was a Swiss military officer who held the office of General of the Swiss Armed Forces during the Second World War. He was the fourth and the most recent person to be appointed to the rarely used Swiss rank of general, and was possibly Switzerland's most famous soldier. He is best remembered for effectively mobilizing the Swiss military and population in order to prepare resistance against a possible invasion by Nazi Germany in 1940. Guisan was voted the fourth-greatest Swiss figure of all time in 2010.