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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 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.
- 1924 – Brazilian Army rebels launched an uprising in São Paulo against President Artur Bernardes, who authorized the bombing of the city in response.
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 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
- 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)
- 1799 – French soldiers at Fort Julien, near the Egyptian port city of Rashid, uncovered the Rosetta Stone, an essential key in the decipherment of ancient Egyptian scripts.
- 1870 – Manitoba was established as a province of Canada following the transfer of Rupert's Land from the Hudson's Bay Company.
- 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)
- Nigel Williams (b. 1944)
- Christine Chubbuck (d. 1974)
- 1377 – The ten-year-old Richard II was crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
- 1782 – 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 the world's largest rooftop garden, 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
- 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 British member of parliament James Pilkington 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)
- 1806 – A gunpowder magazine explosion 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 San Ysidro section 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)
- 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 (remnants 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 perpetrated an assault against an Egyptian military checkpoint in the Libyan Desert, killing 22 soldiers.
- William McSherry (b. 1799)
- Khawaja Nazimuddin (b. 1894)
- Kgalema Motlanthe (b. 1949)
- Sylvia Daoust (d. 2004)
- 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 – The prime minister of Serbia, Nikola Pašić, and the president of the Yugoslav Committee, 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 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 (Aldrin's bootprint pictured).
- 2012 – A gunman carried out a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.
- Clements Markham (b. 1830)
- Wiley Rutledge (b. 1894)
- Anna Vyrubova (d. 1964)
- Chris Cornell (b. 1964)
July 21: Belgian National Day (1831)
- 625 – Paulinus of York was consecrated as the first Bishop of York by Justus.
- 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 shot and 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)
- 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 London-based government-in-exile, 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)
- 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.
- 1862 – American Civil War: Henry Halleck was appointed general-in-chief of the Union Army.
- 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.
- 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)
- 1567 – Mary, Queen of Scots, was forced to abdicate in favour of her one-year-old son, James VI.
- 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 in Greece began with Konstantinos Karamanlis (pictured) taking office as prime minister after the collapse of a 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
- 1547 – Henry II was crowned King of France at Reims Cathedral.
- 1591 – Eighty Years' War: Dutch and English forces relieved the siege of Knodsenburg in the Spanish Netherlands, having defeated the Duke of Parma's army in the field.
- 1893 – The Corinth Canal was formally opened, bisecting the narrow Isthmus of Corinth in Greece to connect the Ionian Sea's Gulf of Corinth with the Aegean Sea's Saronic Gulf.
- 1950 – Korean War: After American troops withdrew, North Korean forces captured the village of Yongdong in South Korea.
- 2007 – Pratibha Patil (pictured) was sworn in as the first female president of India.
- Sibylla, Queen of Jerusalem (d. 1190)
- James Barry (d. 1865)
- Guillermo Mota (b. 1973)
- Azimzhan Askarov (d. 2020)
July 26: Independence Day in Liberia (1847) and the Maldives (1965)
- 1778 – On the orders of Catherine the Great the first of tens of thousands of Greek and Armenian Christians were removed from Crimea and resettled in Pryazovia.
- 1882 – Boer mercenaries established the Republic of Stellaland (later flag pictured) in land claimed by the United Kingdom as part of British Bechuanaland.
- 1953 – In Short Creek, Arizona, police conducted a mass arrest of approximately 400 Mormon fundamentalists for polygamy.
- 1993 – Asiana Airlines Flight 733 crashed into a mountain during a failed attempt to land at Mokpo Airport, South Korea, leading to the deaths of 68 of the people on board.
- 2012 – The New Irish Republican Army was formed from a merger of a number of dissident republican militant groups.
- Armand de Gontaut (d. 1592)
- Bloeme Evers-Emden (b. 1926)
- Ancelma Perlacios (b. 1964)
- Tetsuji Takechi (d. 1988)
- 678 – Unable to penetrate the city's defences, the Sclaveni gave up their siege of the Byzantine city of Thessalonica.
- 1225 – Saint Mary's Church on Gotland, later to become Visby Cathedral, was consecrated.
- 1943 – As the Surprise Hurricane struck Texas, a United States Army Air Forces pilot made the first reconnaissance flight into a hurricane.
- 1953 – An armistice was signed (pictured) to end hostilities in the Korean War, officially making the division of Korea indefinite by creating a 4 km wide (2.5 mi) demilitarized zone across the Korean Peninsula.
- 2010 – Police in Tokyo found the mummified remains of Sogen Kato, thought to have died in 1978, leading to widespread inquiries into the status of isolated elderly people in Japan.
- Frances Stewart, Duchess of Lennox (b. 1578)
- Elizabeth Plankinton (b. 1853)
- Wu Zhonghua (b. 1917)
- Alfred Duraiappah (d. 1975)
July 28: Statehood Day in Ukraine (2022)
- 1148 – Crusades: The siege of Damascus ended in a decisive victory for the Muslims, leading to the disintegration of the Second Crusade.
- 1821 – Peruvian War of Independence: Argentine general José de San Martín declared the independence of Peru from the Spanish Empire.
- 1917 – In New York City, the NAACP and church and community leaders organized a silent march (newsreel footage featured) of at least 8,000 people to protest violence directed towards African Americans.
- 1976 – An earthquake registering 7.6 Mw, one of the deadliest in history, devastated Tangshan, China, and killed at least 240,000 people.
- 2001 – At the World Aquatics Championships in Fukuoka, Japan, Australian Ian Thorpe became the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single FINA world championship.
- Athanasius I Gammolo (d. 631)
- Marguerite Louise d'Orléans (b. 1645)
- R. A. B. Mynors (b. 1903)
- Huma Qureshi (b. 1986)
July 29: Torch Festival in China (2024)
- 1014 – Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Byzantine forces defeated troops of the Bulgarian Empire at the Battle of Kleidion (pictured) in the mountains of Belasica near present-day Klyuch.
- 1900 – Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci assassinated King Umberto I of Italy in Monza.
- 1914 – The Cape Cod Canal, 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 high-fantasy novel The Lord of the Rings, was published by Allen & Unwin.
- 1981 – An estimated worldwide television audience of 750 million watched the wedding of Prince Charles and Lady Diana Spencer at St Paul's Cathedral in London.
- Offa of Mercia (d. 796)
- Francisco Rodrigues da Cruz (b. 1859)
- Nancy Kassebaum (b. 1932)
- Oliver Dragojević (d. 2018)
- 1811 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican War of Independence, was executed by Spanish forces in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
- 1865 – Off the coast of Crescent City, California, the steamer Brother Jonathan (depicted) struck an uncharted rock and sank, killing 225 people; its cargo of gold coins was not retrieved until 1996.
- 1930 – In Montevideo, the Uruguay national football team won the first FIFA World Cup.
- 1950 – At the height of a political crisis known as the royal question, four workers were shot dead by the Belgian Gendarmerie at a strike in Grâce-Berleur.
- 2006 – Lebanon War: The Israeli Air Force attacked a three-story building near the Lebanese village of Qana, killing at least 28 civilians, including 16 children.
- Jacob Baradaeus (d. 578)
- Smedley Butler (b. 1881)
- Walter Schuck (b. 1920)
- Maeve Binchy (d. 2012)
July 31: Lā Hae Hawaiʻi (Flag Day) and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sovereignty Restoration Day) in Hawaii (1843)
- 1966 – The pleasure cruiser MV Darlwyne disappeared off the coast of Cornwall with the loss of all 31 people aboard.
- 1972 – The Troubles: Hours after the British Army's Operation Motorman brought an end to the self-declared autonomous area of Free Derry (Free Derry Corner pictured) in Northern Ireland, three car bombs exploded in the village of Claudy.
- 2000 – Three years after being hit by a mudslide, the Ten Thousand Buddhas Monastery in Hong Kong fully reopened.
- 2006 – Following intestinal surgery, Fidel Castro provisionally transferred the duties of the Cuban presidency to his brother Raúl.
- 2014 – Gas explosions in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, killed 32 people and injured 321 others.
- Feng Xingxi (d. 910)
- Marion Talbot (b. 1858)
- José Santamaría (b. 1929)
- Nabarun Bhattacharya (d. 2014)
Selected anniversaries / On this day archive
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