Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/July
Selected anniversaries / On this day archive
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| An archive of historical anniversaries that appeared on the Main Page 2024 day arrangement | ||||||
July 1: Eid al-Mubahalah (Shia Islam, 2024); Canada Day (1867)
Brown 10-centime Belgian epaulette
- 692 – Berhtwald was elected Archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1849 – Belgium introduced its first series of postage stamps, known as epaulettes (example pictured).
- 1862 – American Civil War: Confederate general Robert E. Lee launched a series of disjointed and ultimately unsuccessful assaults on the nearly impregnable Union position on Malvern Hill in Henrico County, Virginia.
- 1874 – The Remington No. 1, the first commercially successful typewriter, went on sale.
- 1999 – Legislative powers in Scotland were first devolved from the Scottish Office in London to the Scottish Parliament in Edinburgh.
- John Early (b. 1814)
- DeLancey W. Gill (b. 1859)
- Tanya Savicheva (d. 1944)
- Learie Constantine (d. 1971)
James A. Garfield
- 626 – Li Shimin led his forces to assassinate his rival brothers in a coup for the imperial throne of Tang China.
- 1644 – First English Civil War: The combined forces of Scottish Covenanters and English Parliamentarians defeated Royalist troops at the Battle of Marston Moor.
- 1724 – On the Feast of the Visitation, Bach led the first performance of his Meine Seel erhebt den Herren, BWV 10, based on the German Magnificat.
- 1881 – U.S. president James A. Garfield (pictured) was fatally shot by Charles J. Guiteau at the Baltimore and Potomac Railroad station in Washington, D.C.
- 1964 – The Civil Rights Act was signed into law, outlawing segregation in schools, at the workplace, and other facilities that served the general public in the United States.
- Walter Potter (b. 1835)
- Erich Topp (b. 1914)
- Joseph Fielding Smith (d. 1972)
- Sam Hornish Jr. (b. 1979)
French destroyer Mogador burning after British shellfire
- 324 – Civil wars of the Tetrarchy: Roman emperor Constantine the Great defeated his former colleague Licinius at the Battle of Adrianople.
- 1754 – French and Indian War: George Washington surrendered Fort Necessity in Pennsylvania, the only military surrender in his career.
- 1940 – Second World War: The Royal Navy attacked the French fleet at Mers El Kébir (pictured), fearing that the ships would fall into Axis hands after the French–German armistice.
- 1970 – Dan-Air Flight 1903 crashed into the slopes of the Montseny Massif in Catalonia, Spain, killing all 112 people aboard.
- 1979 – U.S. president Jimmy Carter signed a presidential finding, authorizing covert operations to aid the mujahideen against the Soviet-backed Democratic Republic of Afghanistan.
- Leoš Janáček (b. 1854)
- Bo Xilai (b. 1949)
- Lew Hoad (d. 1994)
- Lisa Kahn (d. 2013)
July 4: Independence Day in the United States (1776); Republic Day in the Philippines (1946); Liberation Day in Rwanda (1994)
Crab Nebula
- 414 – Byzantine emperor Theodosius II proclaimed his elder sister Aelia Pulcheria as Augusta.
- 1054 – Chinese astronomers recorded the sudden appearance of a "guest star", later identified as the supernova that created the Crab Nebula (pictured).
- 1863 – American Civil War: Confederate forces failed in an attempt to recapture the Union-occupied Helena, Arkansas.
- 1954 – In what is known as "The Miracle of Bern", West Germany defeated Hungary 3–2 to win the FIFA World Cup.
- 1954 – CIA officers arrived in Guatemala City to begin Operation PBHistory in an attempt to justify the overthrowing of Guatemalan president Jacobo Árbenz one week earlier.
- Brian Twyne (d. 1644)
- Jack Warhop (b. 1884)
- Koko (b. 1971)
- Victor Chang (d. 1991)
July 5: Fifth of July in New York
Artefacts from the Staffordshire Hoard
- 1841 – Thomas Cook, the founder of the British travel company Thomas Cook & Son, organised his first excursion, escorting about 500 people from Leicester to Loughborough.
- 1922 – Brazilian Army rebels took over Fort Copacabana and launched a rebellion in Rio de Janeiro against President Epitácio Pessoa and President-elect Artur Bernardes.
- 1969 – Two days after the death of their founder Brian Jones, the Rolling Stones performed at a free festival in Hyde Park, London, in front of more than a quarter of a million fans.
- 2009 – The Staffordshire Hoard, the largest collection of Anglo-Saxon gold ever discovered, consisting of more than 1,500 items (examples pictured), was found near Hammerwich in Staffordshire.
- W. T. Stead (b. 1849)
- Thomas Playford IV (b. 1896)
- Kate Gynther (b. 1982)
- Ted Williams (d. 2002)
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Jadranka Kosor
- 1614 – The Ottoman Empire made a final attempt to conquer the island of Malta, but were repulsed by the Knights Hospitaller.
- 1777 – American Revolutionary War: American troops at Fort Ticonderoga in New York completed a retreat from advancing British forces, causing an uproar among the American public.
- 1809 – Napoleon's French forces defeated Archduke Charles' Austrian army at the Battle of Wagram, the decisive confrontation of the War of the Fifth Coalition.
- 1936 – A major breach of the Manchester Bolton & Bury Canal in England sent millions of gallons of water cascading 300 feet (90 m) into the River Irwell.
- 2009 – Jadranka Kosor (pictured) became the first female prime minister of Croatia.
- Goar of Aquitaine (d. 649)
- William Jackson Hooker (b. 1785)
- Sophie Blanchard (d. 1819)
- Barry Winchell (d. 1999)
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Florenz Ziegfeld Jr.
- 1456 – Joan of Arc was declared innocent of heresy in a retrial twenty-five years after her death.
- 1798 – Outraged by the XYZ Affair, the United States rescinded its treaties with France, resulting in the undeclared Quasi-War, fought entirely at sea.
- 1907 – Inspired by the Folies Bergère of Paris, American impresario Florenz Ziegfeld Jr. (pictured) staged the first of his Ziegfeld Follies.
- 1963 – The secret police of Ngô Đình Nhu, brother and chief political adviser of South Vietnamese president Ngô Đình Diệm, attacked a group of American journalists who were covering a protest during the Buddhist crisis.
- 1991 – Yugoslav Wars: The signing of the Brioni Agreement ended the Ten-Day War between SFR Yugoslavia and Slovenia.
- Camillo Golgi (b. 1843)
- Joe Sakic (b. 1969)
- Francis Hagai (d. 1974)
- Eduard Shevardnadze (d. 2014)
July 8: Islamic New Year (2024, 1446 AH)
John Clarke
- 1663 – Baptist minister John Clarke (pictured) was granted the Rhode Island Royal Charter, described as the "grandest instrument of human liberty ever constructed".
- 1874 – Members of the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Dufferin began their March West, their first journey to the Canadian Prairies.
- 1947 – Following reports of the capture of a "flying disc" by U.S. Army Air Forces personnel near Roswell, New Mexico, the military stated that the crashed object was a conventional weather balloon.
- 1966 – King Mwambutsa IV of Burundi was deposed in a coup d'état by his son, Prince Charles Ndizi.
- 2014 – German citizen Lars Mittank disappeared from Varna Airport, Bulgaria; his last known movements were widely watched on YouTube.
- Ælfwynn (d. 983)
- Giorgio Pullicino (b. 1779)
- Yarden Gerbi (b. 1989)
- Tom Veryzer (d. 2014)
Wolfgang and Maria Anna Mozart
- 1763 – The Mozart family grand tour began, presenting child prodigies Maria Anna and Wolfgang (both pictured) in Western Europe.
- 1877 – The inaugural Wimbledon Championship, the world's oldest tennis tournament, began in London.
- 1896 – Politician William Jennings Bryan made his Cross of Gold speech advocating bimetallism, considered one of the greatest political speeches in American history.
- 1958 – An earthquake struck Lituya Bay, Alaska; the subsequent megatsunami, the largest in modern times, reached an elevation of 1,720 ft (524 m).
- 1962 – In a seminal moment for pop art, Andy Warhol's Campbell's Soup Cans exhibition opened at the Ferus Gallery in Los Angeles.
- Ann Radcliffe (b. 1764)
- Anna Morandi Manzolini (d. 1774)
- Courtney Love (b. 1964)
- Fernando de la Rúa (d. 2019)
July 10: Independence Day in the Bahamas (1973)
Martin Luther King Jr.
- 1645 – English Civil War: The Parliamentarians destroyed the last Royalist field army at the Battle of Langport, ultimately giving Parliament control of the west of England.
- 1942 – A downed Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero was discovered on Akutan Island, Alaska; it was later rebuilt and flown to devise tactics against the aircraft during World War II.
- 1966 – Martin Luther King Jr. (pictured) led a rally in support of the Chicago Freedom Movement, one of the most ambitious civil-rights campaigns in the northern United States.
- 1999 – The United States defeated China in the final match of the third FIFA Women's World Cup, setting records in both attendance and television ratings for women's sports.
- 2006 – Typhoon Ewiniar made landfall in South Korea, causing damages across the country amounting to 2.06 trillion won (US$1.4 billion).
- Arthur Annesley, 1st Earl of Anglesey (b. 1614)
- Eva Ekeblad (b. 1724)
- Bobo Brazil (b. 1924)
- Calogero Vizzini (d. 1954)
July 11: Day of Remembrance of the Victims of Genocide in Poland (1943)
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Leicester balloon riot, 1864
- 1405 – An expeditionary fleet led by Zheng He set sail for foreign regions of the South China Sea and the Indian Ocean, marking the start of Ming China's treasure voyages.
- 1846 – British soldier Frederick John White died after a flogging, leading to a campaign to end the practice in the British Army.
- 1864 – A riot broke out in Leicester, England, at the failed launching of a gas balloon (pictured).
- 1928 – Archaeologist Ivan Borkovský discovered a medieval skeleton at Prague Castle; competing factions claimed the skeleton as Germanic or Slavic in origin.
- 1936 – New York City's Triborough Bridge, the "biggest traffic machine ever built", opened to traffic.
- Nicole Oresme (d. 1382)
- Thomas Bowdler (b. 1754)
- Eugenia Tadolini (d. 1872)
- Lady Bird Johnson (d. 2007)
The Rolling Stones in 2015
- 927 – King Æthelstan of England secured the submission of four northern rulers: Constantine II of Scotland, Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred I of Bamburgh, and Owain ap Dyfnwal of Strathclyde, leading to seven years of peace.
- 1488 – Choe Bu, an official of the Joseon dynasty, returned to Korea after months of shipwrecked travel in China.
- 1801 – French Revolutionary Wars: A squadron of British ships of the line defeated a larger squadron of Spanish and French vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar.
- 1948 – Arab–Israeli War: Israel Defense Forces officer Yitzhak Rabin signed an order to expel Palestinians from the towns of Lydda and Ramle.
- 1962 – The English rock band the Rolling Stones (pictured) played their first concert at the Marquee Club in London.
- Alexander Hamilton (d. 1804)
- George Eastman (b. 1854)
- Gertrude Bell (d. 1926)
- Anne-Sophie Pic (b. 1969)
July 13: Kashmir Martyrs' Day in Pakistan
Harold Macmillan
- 1586 – Anglo–Spanish War: A convoy of English ships from the Levant Company repelled a fleet of Spanish and Maltese galleys at the Battle of Pantelleria.
- 1831 – Wallachian officials adopted the Regulamentul Organic, which engendered a period of reforms that provided for the westernization of the local society.
- 1943 – World War II: Operation Fustian, an Allied operation to capture the Primosole Bridge in Sicily, was launched.
- 1962 – In an unprecedented reshuffle, British prime minister Harold Macmillan (pictured) dismissed seven members of his cabinet.
- 1992 – Croatian War of Independence: The Croatian Army concluded Operation Tiger, advancing 17 kilometres (11 miles) into the Dubrovnik hinterland.
- Stan Coveleski (b. 1889)
- Kate Sheppard (d. 1934)
- Ernő Rubik (b. 1944)
- Frida Kahlo (d. 1954)
July 14: Bastille Day in France (1789); Festino di Santa Rosalia begins in Palermo, Italy
Machu Picchu
- 1791 – The Priestley Riots, targeting religious dissenters such as Joseph Priestley, began in Birmingham, England.
- 1874 – A fire destroyed 812 structures and killed 20 people in Chicago, leading to reforms in the city's fire-prevention and firefighting efforts.
- 1902 – An expedition led by Peruvian explorer and farmer Agustín Lizárraga discovered the Incan city of Machu Picchu (pictured).
- 1950 – Korean War: North Korean troops began attacking the headquarters of the American 24th Infantry Division in present-day Daejeon, South Korea.
- 2003 – Valerie Plame's identity as a CIA operative was leaked to and published by journalist Robert Novak.
- Roy Inwood (b. 1890)
- Paul Kruger (d. 1904)
- Samir Handanović (b. 1984)
- César Tovar (d. 1994)
July 15: Marine Day in Japan (2024), Statehood Day in Ukraine (2022)
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Psy
- 1799 – French soldiers at Fort Julien, near the Egyptian port city of Rashid, uncovered the Rosetta Stone, which was essential in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts.
- 1870 – Following the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company, Manitoba was established as a province of Canada.
- 1943 – The all-female Emilia Plater Independent Women's Battalion was formed in the Soviet Union's First Polish Army.
- 2009 – Caspian Airlines Flight 7908 crashed in northwestern Iran, killing all 168 people aboard.
- 2012 – South Korean rapper Psy (pictured) released his hit single "Gangnam Style".
- Almira Lincoln Phelps (b. 1793; d. 1884)
- Anton Chekhov (d. 1904)
- Livia Gouverneur (b. 1941)
- Christine Chubbuck (d. 1974)
Impact site on Jupiter of a Shoemaker–Levy 9 fragment
- 1377 – The ten-year-old Richard II was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
- 1782 – Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart's opera Die Entführung aus dem Serail premiered in Vienna, after which Emperor Joseph II anecdotally remarked that it had "too many notes".
- 1950 – Korean War: A Korean People's Army unit massacred 31 prisoners of war of the U.S. Army on a mountain near the village of Tuman.
- 1994 – Fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 began colliding with the planet Jupiter (impact site pictured), with the first impact causing a fireball that reached a peak temperature of 24,000 kelvin.
- 2004 – Millennium Park, a public park in Chicago, Illinois, and one of the world's largest rooftop gardens, opened to the public.
- Fulrad (d. 784)
- al-Nasir Ahmad, Sultan of Egypt (d. 1344)
- Ellen Oliver (b. 1870)
- Gareth Bale (b. 1989)
July 17: Constitution Day in South Korea (1948); World Emoji Day
Russian imperial family, 1913
- 1850 – William Cranch Bond and John Adams Whipple took a daguerreotype of Vega, the first astrophotograph of a star other than the Sun.
- 1862 – The garrotting and robbery of James Pilkington, a British member of Parliament, led to a moral panic in London.
- 1918 – Russian Revolution: Tsar Nicholas II and his family (pictured) were murdered by Bolsheviks at Yekaterinburg.
- 1944 – Laden with munitions for World War II, two ships exploded at the Port Chicago Naval Magazine in California, killing 320 people and injuring more than 400 others.
- 2014 – Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 was shot down over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 people on board.
- Edward the Elder (d. 924)
- Jadwiga of Poland (d. 1399)
- Angela Merkel (b. 1954)
- Otto Piene (d. 2014)
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Coronation of Pedro II of Brazil
- 1806 – An explosion at a gunpowder magazine in Birgu, Malta, killed an estimated 200 people.
- 1841 – Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, was crowned (depicted) at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.
- 1949 – Francisco Javier Arana, the chief of the Guatemalan armed forces, was killed in a shootout with supporters of President Juan José Arévalo.
- 1984 – A gunman massacred 21 people and injured 15 others at a McDonald's restaurant in the district of San Ysidro of San Diego, California.
- 2019 – An arson attack at the studio of Kyoto Animation in Japan led to the deaths of 36 people.
- Abu'l-Hasan Ali ibn al-Furat (d. 924)
- Philip Snowden (b. 1864)
- James E. Boyd (b. 1906)
- Inge Sørensen (b. 1924)
Remains of the Mary Rose
- 1333 – Second War of Scottish Independence: Scottish forces under Sir Archibald Douglas were heavily defeated by the English at the Battle of Halidon Hill while trying to relieve Berwick-upon-Tweed.
- 1545 – The English warship Mary Rose sank outside Portsmouth during the Battle of the Solent; it was raised from the seabed in 1982 (remains pictured).
- 1916 – First World War: The "worst 24 hours in Australia's entire history" occurred when Australian forces unsuccessfully attacked German defences at Fromelles, France.
- 1957 – The largely autobiographical novel The Ordeal of Gilbert Pinfold by Evelyn Waugh was published.
- 2014 – Gunmen ambushed an Egyptian military checkpoint in the Libyan Desert near Farafra, killing 22 soldiers.
- William McSherry (b. 1799)
- Khawaja Nazimuddin (b. 1894)
- Kgalema Motlanthe (b. 1949)
- Sylvia Daoust (d. 2004)
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Buzz Aldrin's bootprint on the Moon
- 1651 – Wars of the Three Kingdoms: After crossing the Firth of Forth, English Commonwealth forces defeated a Scottish army at the Battle of Inverkeithing, opening the rest of the country to occupation.
- 1867 – The United States Congress established the Indian Peace Commission to seek peace treaties with a number of Native American tribes.
- 1917 – Serbian prime minister Nikola Pašić and Yugoslav Committee president Ante Trumbić signed the Corfu Declaration, agreeing to seek the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes.
- 1969 – The Apollo 11 Lunar Module Eagle landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later (bootprint pictured).
- Clements Markham (b. 1830)
- Wiley Rutledge (b. 1894)
- Anna Vyrubova (d. 1964)
- Chris Cornell (b. 1964)
July 21: Belgian National Day (1831)
Depiction of the Ciompi Revolt
- 625 – Paulinus was consecrated as the first bishop of York by Justus, the archbishop of Canterbury.
- 1378 – Unrepresented labourers revolted and violently took over the government of the Republic of Florence (depicted), demanding that they be granted political office.
- 1946 – After weeks of unrest, rioters lynched Bolivian president Gualberto Villarroel, desecrating and hanging his corpse in the streets of La Paz.
- 1959 – The inaugural International Mathematical Olympiad, the leading mathematical competition for pre-university students, began in Romania.
- 1977 – Libyan forces carried out a raid at Sallum, sparking a four-day war with Egypt.
- John Atta Mills (b. 1944)
- Claus von Stauffenberg (d. 1944)
- Jimmie Foxx (d. 1967)
- Lettice Curtis (d. 2014)
July 22: Feast day of Saint Mary Magdalene (Christianity)
Jules-Albert de Dion
- 838 – Arab–Byzantine wars: The forces of the Abbasid Caliphate defeated Byzantine troops led by Emperor Theophilos at the Battle of Anzen, near present-day Dazman, Turkey.
- 1864 – American Civil War: Confederate forces unsuccessfully attacked Union troops at the Battle of Atlanta.
- 1894 – Jules-Albert de Dion (pictured) finished first in the world's first motor race, but did not win as his steam-powered car was against the rules.
- 1944 – World War II: In opposition to the government-in-exile based in London, the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation was proclaimed to govern territory recaptured from Germany.
- 1954 – A limited state of martial law was declared in Russell County, Alabama, due to organized crime.
- Thomas Macnamara Russell (d. 1824)
- James Whale (b. 1889)
- Louise Fletcher (b. 1934)
- Johann Breyer (d. 2014)
July 23: Seventeenth of Tammuz (Judaism, 2024), Birthday of Haile Selassie (Rastafari)
Wilfred Rhodes in 1906
- 1860 – The trial of the Eastbourne manslaughter, which later became an important legal precedent in the United Kingdom for discussions of corporal punishment in schools, began in Lewes.
- 1927 – Wilfred Rhodes (pictured) of England and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.
- 1942 – The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before.
- 1995 – Hale–Bopp, one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century, was independently discovered by astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp.
- 1999 – In Tulia, Texas, 47 people were arrested for dealing cocaine; years later, 35 of the 47 were pardoned by the Governor of Texas.
- John Day (d. 1584)
- Bonaventura Peeters the Elder (b. 1614)
- Daniel Radcliffe (b. 1989)
- Hassan II of Morocco (d. 1999)
July 24: Pioneer Day in Utah, United States (1847)
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Konstantinos Karamanlis
- 1411 – Scottish clansmen led by Donald of Islay, Lord of the Isles, and Alexander Stewart, Earl of Mar, fought the Battle of Harlaw near Inverurie, Scotland.
- 1959 – Soviet premier Nikita Khrushchev and U.S. vice president Richard Nixon held an impromptu debate at the opening of the American National Exhibition at Sokolniki Park in Moscow.
- 1974 – The Metapolitefsi period began with Konstantinos Karamanlis (pictured) taking office as Prime Minister of Greece after the collapse of the military junta.
- 1980 – The Australian swimming team, nicknamed the Quietly Confident Quartet, won the men's 4 × 100 metre medley relay at the Moscow Olympics.
- 2014 – Air Algérie Flight 5017 disappeared from radar shortly after take-off from Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso; its wreckage was found the following day in Mali with no survivors.
- Prince William, Duke of Gloucester (b. 1689)
- John William Finn (b. 1909)
- Ada Baker (d. 1949)
- James Chadwick (d. 1974)
July 25: National Day of Galicia, Saint James's Day
Pratibha Patil
- 306 – Constantine the Great was proclaimed Roman emperor by his troops after the death of Constantius Chlorus.
- 1788 – Mozart completed his Symphony No. 40, one of his two extant symphonies in a minor key.
- 1898 – Spanish–American War: After more than two months of sea-based bombardment, the United States invaded Puerto Rico.
- 1943 – The Grand Council of Fascism voted a motion of no confidence against Benito Mussolini, who was arrested the same day by King Victor Emmanuel III and replaced by Pietro Badoglio.
- 1976 – The orbiting spacecraft Viking 1 took a photograph of an apparent face on Mars in a classic example of pareidolia.
- 2007 – Pratibha Patil (pictured) was sworn in as the first female president of India.
- Elliott Fitch Shepard (b. 1833)
- Enriqueta Legorreta (b. 1914)
- Nestor Makhno (d. 1934)
- Beji Caid Essebsi (d. 2019)
July 26: Independence Day in the Maldives (1965), Kargil Vijay Diwas in India
L. L. Zamenhof
- 1759 – French and Indian War: Troops led by French brigadier general François-Charles de Bourlamaque attempted to blow up Fort Carillon, near present-day Ticonderoga, New York, rather than defending it against approaching British forces.
- 1887 – L. L. Zamenhof (pictured) published Unua Libro, the first publication to describe Esperanto, a constructed international language.
- 1936 – The Canadian National Vimy Memorial, dedicated to Canadian Expeditionary Force members killed in the First World War, was unveiled in Pas-de-Calais, France.
- 1953 – The Battle of the Samichon River, the last engagement of the Korean War, ended a few hours before the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.
- 2007 – After widespread controversy throughout Wales, Shambo, a black Friesian bull that had been adopted by the local Hindu community, was slaughtered due to concerns about bovine tuberculosis.
- Winsor McCay (d. 1934)
- Betty Davis (b. 1944)
- Liz Truss (b. 1975)
- Ed Gein (d. 1984)
Comet 1 prototype
- 1054 – During his invasion of Scotland, Siward, Earl of Northumbria, defeated Macbeth, King of Scotland, in an engagement north of the Firth of Forth.
- 1214 – Philip II of France decisively won the Battle of Bouvines, the conclusive battle of the 1213–1214 Anglo-French War.
- 1916 – First World War: British mariner Charles Fryatt was executed in Bruges, Belgium, after a German court-martial found him guilty of being a franc-tireur.
- 1949 – The de Havilland Comet (prototype pictured), the world's first commercial jet airliner to reach production, made its maiden flight.
- 1990 – Jamaat al Muslimeen, a radical Islamic group, began a coup attempt against the government of Trinidad and Tobago by taking hostages, including Prime Minister A. N. R. Robinson, before surrendering five days later.
- Iwane Matsui (b. 1878)
- Kenneth Bainbridge (b. 1904)
- Ferruccio Busoni (d. 1924)
- Maya Ali (b. 1989)
Reconstruction of the Sutton Hoo helmet
- 1540 – King Henry VIII of England had his chief minister Thomas Cromwell executed for treason and heresy.
- 1866 – Aged 18, Vinnie Ream became the youngest artist and first woman to receive a United States government commission for a statue—that of Abraham Lincoln currently in the Capitol rotunda.
- 1911 – The Australasian Antarctic Expedition began with the departure of SY Aurora from London.
- 1939 – During the excavation of a 7th-century ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England, archaeologists discovered a helmet (reconstruction pictured) that is widely associated with King Rædwald of East Anglia.
- 2005 – The Provisional Irish Republican Army announced the formal end of its armed campaign to overthrow British rule in Northern Ireland and create a united Ireland.
- Louis Antoine de Saint-Just (d. 1794)
- Lucy Burns (b. 1879)
- Vida Blue (b. 1949)
- Zach Parise (b. 1984)
July 29: Torch Festival in China (2024)
Cape Cod Canal
- 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Byzantine forces defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion in the mountains of Belasica near present-day Klyuch.
- 1693 – Nine Years' War: French troops defeated the forces of the Grand Alliance led by William III of England at the Battle of Landen in present-day Neerwinden, Belgium.
- 1818 – French physicist Augustin-Jean Fresnel submitted a memoir on the diffraction of light to the Royal Academy of Sciences, providing strong support for the wave theory of light.
- 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal (pictured), connecting Cape Cod Bay and Buzzards Bay in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, opened on a limited basis.
- 1954 – The Fellowship of the Ring, the first part of J. R. R. Tolkien's novel The Lord of the Rings, was published by Allen & Unwin.
- Francisco Rodrigues da Cruz (b. 1859)
- Isidor Isaac Rabi (b. 1898)
- Jaojoby (b. 1955)
- Virginia S. Baker (d. 1998)
Portrait of Miguel Hidalgo by Antonio Fabrés
- 1724 – Bach's chorale cantata Wo Gott der Herr nicht bei uns hält, a paraphrase of Psalm 124 based on a 1524 hymn by Justus Jonas, was first performed in Leipzig.
- 1811 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla (depicted), a leader of the Mexican War of Independence, was executed by Spanish forces in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
- 1871 – The boiler of the Staten Island Ferry Westfield II exploded at South Ferry in New York City, killing at least 45 people.
- 1990 – British Conservative member of Parliament Ian Gow was killed outside his home in a car bombing by the Provisional Irish Republican Army.
- 2014 – More than 150 people died after heavy rains triggered a landslide in the village of Malin in Maharashtra, India.
- Tatwine (d. 734)
- Casey Stengel (b. 1890)
- Gerald Moore (b. 1899)
- C. T. Vivian (b. 1924)
July 31: Lā Hae Hawaiʻi (Flag Day) and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sovereignty Restoration Day) in Hawaii (1843)
The lunar surface as photographed by Ranger 7 approximately 17 minutes before impact
- 1874 – Patrick Francis Healy was inaugurated as president of Georgetown University, becoming the first African-American president of a predominantly white university in the United States.
- 1924 – A private senator's bill by Herbert Payne to introduce compulsory voting in Australia became law.
- 1954 – A team of Italian climbers became the first to reach the summit of K2, the world's second-highest mountain.
- 1964 – The space probe Ranger 7 captured thousands of close-up photographs of the Moon (example pictured) over its final minutes of flight and transmitted them to Earth before crashing on the lunar surface.
- 2014 – Gas explosions in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, killed 32 people and injured 321 others.
- Fred Keenor (b. 1894)
- David Norris (b. 1944)
- J. K. Rowling (b. 1965)
Selected anniversaries / On this day archive
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