Historical Events in July || Listed by Year

These are some of many widely recognized historic events that occurred during the month of July, listed by year. Dates provided for earlier time events may be approximate. Select another month

46 BC, July 2 - Julius Caesar defeats Pompey the Great at the Battle of Dyrrhachium during the Roman Civil War.

64 CE, 64 July 18 - The Great Fire of Rome begins during the reign of Emperor Nero, lasting for several days and resulting in significant destruction.

365, July 21 - Crete earthquake - An estimated 8.5 magnitude underseas earthquake and resulting Tsunami causes widespread destruction in central and southern Macedonia (Modern Greece), Africa northern Libya, Egypt, where the city of Alexandria was severely damaged, Cyprus, Sicily and Hispania (Spain). On Crete, nearly all towns were destroyed. More  

 711, July 19 - The Umayyad conquest of Hispania begins as Muslim forces under Tariq ibn Ziyad land at Gibraltar. the Islamic Arabs and Moors of Berber descent in northern Africa crossed the Strait of Gibraltar onto the Iberian Peninsula, and in a series of raids they conquered Visigothic Christian Hispania.

 756, July 28 - The Papal States are established as Pepin the Short, King of the Franks, donates land to Pope Stephen II, creating a temporal domain for the papacy.

 939, July 12 - The Battle of Simancas takes place between the Kingdom of León and the Caliphate of Córdoba, resulting in a victory for León and the decline of the Caliphate's power in the region.

 987, July 3 -  Hugh Capet is crowned King of France, marking the beginning of the Capetian dynasty.

1002, July 23 - The Holy Roman Emperor Otto III dies in his palace in Paterno, Italy, at the age of 21.

1009, July 15 - The Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem is destroyed by Fatimid caliph Al-Hakim bi-Amr Allah.

1027, July 6 - Pope John XIX crowns Conrad II as the Holy Roman Emperor in Rome.

1054, July 16 - The Great Schism occurs: Michael Cerularius, Patriarch of Constantinople (now called Istanbul) was excommunicated from the Christian church based in Rome, Italy. The resulting split divided the European Christian church into two major branches: the Western Roman Catholic Church and the Eastern Orthodox Church. 

1060, July 22 - Henry I of France is crowned King of France in Reims.

1099, July 15 - The First Crusaders launch an assault on Jerusalem, ultimately leading to the capture of the city and the establishment of the Crusader states.

1100, July 31- King William II of England, also known as William Rufus, is killed in a hunting accident in the New Forest.

1203, July 17 - The Siege of Constantinople begins during the Fourth Crusade as Roman Catholic Crusaders, aboard a Venetian fleet, attack the city resulting in the Sack of Constantinople and the installation of Prince Alexius Angelus on the Byzantine throne. More

1209, July 22 - The Massacre at Béziers takes place during the Albigensian Crusade, with Crusaders led by Simon de Montfort sacking the city and killing thousands.

1215, July 15 - The signing of the Magna Carta takes place at Runnymede, England, marking a crucial step towards the limitation of monarchic powers.

1223, July 18 - Louis VIII of France is crowned as the King of France in Reims Cathedral.

1230, July 29 - The Treaty of San Germano is signed between Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX, ending the Papal-Imperial conflict.

1237, July 28 - The Battle of Posada takes place between the Mongol Empire and the Kingdom of Hungary, resulting in a Hungarian victory.

1242, July 5 - The Battle of Lake Peipus occurs between the Teutonic Knights and the Novgorod Republic, with the Novgorod forces emerging victorious.

1253, July 10 - Mindaugas is crowned as the first and only King of Lithuania, establishing the Kingdom of Lithuania.

1260, July 3 - The Battle of Ain Jalut occurs between the Mongol Empire and the Mamluk Sultanate, resulting in a decisive Mamluk victory and halting the Mongol expansion into the Middle East.

1290, July 18 - The Edict of Expulsion is issued in England, ordering the expulsion of all Jews from the country.

1307, July 22 - King Philip IV of France orders the arrest of the Knights Templar, marking the beginning of their persecution and eventual dissolution.

1392, July 17 - The Joseon Dynasty is established in Korea with the crowning of King Taejo as the first king of Joseon.

1389, July 15 - The Battle of Kosovo takes place between the Ottoman Empire and an alliance of Balkan states led by Serbia, resulting in a costly but inconclusive outcome.

1456, July 5 - The Siege of Belgrade (Nándorfehérvár) by Sultan Mehmet II begins. Hungarian forces led by John Hunyadi a Hungarian nobleman and warlord of Vlach lineage, defended the city, ultimately compelling the wounded Sultan Mehmet II to lift the siege and retreat. The battle had significant consequences, as it stabilized the southern frontiers of the Kingdom of Hungary for more than half a century and delaying the Ottoman advance in Europe.

1499, July 22 - The Swiss Confederation defeats the forces of the Holy Roman Empire at the Battle of Dornach. More

1536, July 9 - Anne Boleyn is executed in England for high treason.

1567, July 24 -  Abdication of Mary, Queen of Scots. After failing to quash a rebellion of Scottish peers, Mary was imprisoned in Loch Leven Castle and forced to abdicate in favor of her one-year-old son. More

1588, July 29 - The Spanish Armada is defeated. The Spanish fleet was led by the Duke of Medina Sidonia and its purpose was to  overthrow Elizabeth I, to reinstate Catholicism in England and to end England's support for the Dutch Republic to prevent attacks by English and Dutch privateers against Spanish interests in the Americas. The English fleet was under the command of Charles Howard, 2nd Baron Howard of Effingham. His second in command was Sir Francis Drake. The Spanish Armada defeat is considered one of England's greatest military achievements. More

1609, July 2 - The Dutch explorer Henry Hudson sails into what is now New York Harbor, later establishing Dutch claims to the region.

1620, July 22 - The Mayflower departs from England on its voyage to North America, carrying the Pilgrims who would establish the Plymouth Colony.

1643, July 2 - The Battle of Adwalton Moor takes place during the English Civil War, resulting in a decisive victoy for the Parliamentarian forces.

1652, July 4 - The Battle of Plymouth takes place during the First Anglo-Dutch War, with the English fleet under Admiral Robert Blake repelling a Dutch attack on Plymouth.

1663, July 3 - King Charles II of England grants a charter establishing the Carolina Colony, named in honor of his father, Charles I.

1664, July 23 - The Siege of New Amsterdam ends when the Dutch surrender to the English, who then rename the settlement New York.

1670, July 30 - The Hudson's Bay Company receives a royal charter from King Charles II, granting it exclusive trading rights in the Hudson Bay region of North America.

1688, July 10 - The Siege of Derry begins during the Williamite War in Ireland, as the predominantly Protestant city resists a Catholic Jacobite army.

1690, July 1 - The Battle of the Boyne takes place in Ireland, resulting in a victory for Protestant King William III over Catholic King James II and securing Protestant rule in Ireland.

1715, July 31 - The Urca de Lima and 9 other treasure ships on their way back to Spain from Havana were all lost in a hurricane off the Atlantic coast. More than 700 seamen, including the Spanish commander, drowned. More than $15 million worth of treasure sank to the bottom of the ocean. Spain managed to recover about $4 million of the treasure. The rest remained on the ocean floor for more than 250 years. More

1718, July 28 - The city of New Orleans is founded by French colonists under the direction of Jean-Baptiste Le Moyne de Bienville.

1742, July 26 - The Battle of Dettingen occurs during the War of the Austrian Succession, marking the last time a reigning British monarch, King George II, personally leads his troops in battle.

1769, July 16 - Fr. Junípero Serra founds Mission San Diego de Alcalá. This is the first of the California Missions.  Fr. Junipero Sierra founded eight more of the 21 California missions: Carmel, San Antonio, San Gabriel, San Luis Obispo, San Francisco (Mission Dolores). San Juan Capistrano, Santa Clara, and San Buenaventura,  Serra’s missions helped strengthen Spain’s control of Alta California.

1775, July 3 - George Washington takes command of the Continental Army at Cambridge, Massachusetts.

1775, July 26 - Benjamin Franklin is appointed first Postmaster General by the Continental Congress before the Declaration of Independence was even signed. More

1776, July 4 - The United States declares independence from Great Britain.

1777, July 31 -  The Marquis de Lafayette, a 19-year-old French nobleman, was made a major-general in the American Continental Army. His Masonic membership opened many doors in Philadelphia and Lafayette's advocates included the recently arrived American envoy to France, Benjamin Franklin, urged Congress to accommodate the young Frenchman who had offered to serve without pay.

1779, July 16 - The United States Congress establishes the Badge of Military Merit, later known as the Purple Heart, to honor soldiers wounded in battle.

1788, July 26 - New York ratifies the U.S. Constitution and becomes the 11th of the original 13 states to join the Union.

1789, July 14 - The Bastille is stormed by Paris mob. Many consider this event the start of the French Revolution. It is now commemorated in France as a national holiday. More

1790, July 16 - President George Washington signs the Residence Act bill which approved the creation of a national capital on the Potomac River. The bill declared that the exact location was to be selected by President Washington. The initial shape of the federal district was a square from land donated by Maryland and Virginia, measuring 10 miles (16 km) on each side and totaling 100 square miles (259 km2). More

1796, July 11 - The United States takes possession of Detroit from the British during the American Revolutionary War, in accordance with the terms of the Jay Treaty.

1797, July 7 - The U.S. House of Representatives notifies the Senate of the Impeachment of North Carolina's Senator William Blount for high crimes and misdemeanors. The Senate trial which did not begin until December,1798 ended on January 14, 1799, as the Senate dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds, leaving many issues unsettled, most importantly the question, "was a senator a civil officer of the United States and therefore liable to impeachment?"  Although the Senate failed to voice its opinion on that matter, its dismissal of the Blount case set a precedent that still holds today—a U.S. senator cannot be impeached. More

1799, July 2 - The Rosetta Stone is found in the Egyptian village of Rosetta, providing a key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. More

1803, July 4 - The Louisiana Purchase is announced in the United States.

1804, July 11 - Vice President Aaron Burr fatally shoots his long-time political antagonist Alexander Hamilton. Hamilton, a leading Federalist and the chief architect of America’s political economy, died the following day. More

1809, July 2 - Shawnee Chief Tecumseh calls on all Native peoples to unite and resist the growing loss land to the white settlers. proposing that if united,  the various tribes had enough strength to stop the white settlers. More

1810, July 20 - Colombian Declaration of Independence from Spain.

1811, July 5 - Venezuela declares its independence from Spain

1816, July 9 - Argentina declares its independence from Spain

1821, July 28 - Peru declares its independence from Spain.

1838, July 2 -  Enslaved Africans on the Cuban schooner Amistad rise up against their captors and gaining control of the ship, which had been transporting them to a sugar plantation at Puerto Principe, Cuba. More

1840, July 23 - The British North America was approved by the British Parliament. The Act, also known as the Act of Union it was and proclaimed on February 10, 1841, in Montreal. It abolished the legislatures of Lower Canada and Upper Canada and established a new political entity, the Province of Canada to replace them. More

1847, July 24 - Pioneer Day. Completing a treacherous thousand-mile exodus, an ill and exhausted Brigham Young and fellow members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints arrived in Utah’s Great Salt Lake Valley. The Mormon, as they were commonly known, pioneers viewed their arrival as the founding of a Mormon homeland. hence Pioneer Day. More

1847, July 26 - Liberia declaration of Independence. More

1862, July 1 - President Abraham Lincoln signed the first income tax bill, establishing a 3% income tax on annual incomes of $600-$10,000 and a 5% tax on incomes over $10,000.

1863, July 1-3 - The Battle of Gettysburg takes place in Pennsylvania. The loss ended Confederate general Robert E. Lee’s ambitious second quest to invade the North and bring the Civil War to a swift end. With more than 50,000 estimated casualties, the three-day engagement was the bloodiest single battle of the conflict. More

1863, July 7 - Kit Carson begins his campaign against the Navajo that resulted in their removal from the Four Corners area to southeastern New Mexico. More

1866, July 30, The New Orleans Massacre:  a mob of ex-Confederates led an armed attack on a group of Louisiana Republicans and their African American supporters as they convened in the Mechanics Institute Building in New Orleans., site of a reconvened Louisiana Constitutional Convention 38 people were killed and 146 wounded. More

1867, July 1 - Canada Day, formerly known as Dominion Day, is the National Day of Canada. A federal statutory holiday, it celebrates the anniversary of Canadian Confederation which occurred on July 1, 1867, when the three separate colonies of the United Canadas, Nova Scotia, and New Brunswick were united into a single dominion within the British Empire called Canada.

1868, July 28 - The 14th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution, passed by the Senate in 1966, is officially adopted, having been ratified by the requisite number of states. The  Amendment granted citizenship to all persons "born or naturalized in the United States," including formerly enslaved people, and provided all citizens with “equal protection under the laws,” extending the provisions of the Bill of Rights to the states. More

1881, July 2 - President James A. Garfield was shot and mortally wounded as he entered a railway station in Washington, D.C. He died on September 19th. More

1881, July 19 - Sitting Bull and his people return to the United States from Canada to surrender. More

1890, July 3 -  Idaho is admitted into the Union becoming the 43rd State. 

1890, July 10 - Wyoming is admitted into the Union becoming the 44th State.

1893, July 1 - President Grover Cleveland undergoes a secret operation on a friend’s yacht to remove a cancerous growth from his mouth. The entire left side of his jaw was removed along with a small portion of his soft palate. Two weeks later, he was fitted with a rubber prosthesis which he wore until his death in 1908. The secrecy was mostly maintained for 24 years until  one of the doctors wrote an article describing what had transpired. More

1898, July 21 - Guam was ceded to the United States by Spain.

1898, July 25 - During the Spanish-American War, the U.S. invaded Puerto Rico, which was then a Spanish colony. In 1917, Puerto Rico became an unincorporated Territory of the U.S. and Puerto Ricans became American citizens. Partial self-government was granted in 1947 allowing citizens to elect their own governor. In 1951, Puerto Ricans wrote their own constitution and elected a non-voting commissioner to represent them in Washington. More

1900, July 19 - Italian King Umberto I was killed in Monza by Italian-American anarchist Gaetano Bresci. He was succeeded by his son, Victor Emmanuel III. More

1903, July 15 - Ernest Pfennig, a Chicago dentist, orders the first Original Model A Ford car. The car is delivered a week later on July 23, 1903. A total of1,750 cars were made from 1903 through 1904 and sold at an average price of $850 More 

1905, July 11 - The Niagara Movement, a group of 59 well know African American businessmen begin their three day meeting on the Canadian side of the Niagara Falls. W. E. B. Du Bois was named general secretary and the group split into various committees. They renounced Booker T. Washington's accommodation policies set forth in his famed "Atlanta Compromise" speech ten years earlier. The Niagara Movement's manifesto is, in the words of Du Bois, "We want full manhood suffrage and we want it now.... We are men! We want to be treated as men. And we shall win." The movement became  a forerunner of the NAACP. More 

1905, July 29 - The secret Taft-Katsura Agreement is signed in which the United States acknowledged Japanese rule over Korea and condoned the Anglo-Japanese alliance of 1902. At the same time, Japan recognized U.S. control of the Philippines. More

1908, July 26 - The Bureau of Investigation, forerunner of the FBI, is established. More

1911, July 24 - American archeologist Hiram Bingham reaches the ruins of Machu Picchu. Although widely credited with being the first westerner to reach the site, other reports indicate other Europeans had seen it before Bingham, but he was the one who revealed it to the world at large. Local Peruvians, including the expedition's guide, Melchor Arteaga knew of the site. Nine years before Bingham's expedition, Agustin Lizárraga, a local farmer searching for new land for agriculture with some family members came upon Machu Pichu and carved an inscription on a wall in the Temple of the Three Windows that said: "Agustín Lizárraga, July 14th 1902". More 

1914, July 28 - World War I outbreak of hostilities between Austria-Hungary and Serbia begin.

1914, July 31 - Treasury Secretary William Gibbs McAdoo closes the New York Stock Exchange to stop the European liquidation of American securities caused by the outbreak of WWI.  After several days of selloffs, about $3 billion (equivalent to $90 billion in 2023) of foreign portfolio investments had been sold. All of the world’s financial markets also closed. The Sock market remained closed for four months opening again on December 12, 1914. Bond trading had restarted on November 28, 1914. The liquidation of European-held securities transformed the United States from a debtor nation to a creditor nation for the first time in its history. More  

1915, July 24 - The  excursion boat S.S. Eastland, known as the "Speed Queen of the Great Lakes rolles over into the Chicago river at the wharf's edge. More than 2,500 passengers and crew members were on board that day – and 844 people lost their lives, including 22 entire families. More

1917, July 2 -  Following King Constantine I abdication, under pressure from the Allies, Greece  ends three years of neutrality by entering World War I alongside Britain, France, Russia and Italy. 

1917, July 17 - British King, George V, declares that he and all his descendants would be going by Windsor. Both in a “House of Windsor” capacity and as an official last name. Before George V picked Windsor, the royals were going by the “House of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.” The change came about because of the strong anti-German sentiment following World War I. In 1960, Queen Elizabeth II and her husband Prince Philip announced the creation of a brand-new last name for their untitled descendants which honored both their families: Mountbatten-Windsor. But did not change the name of the House, which is still the House of Windsor.

1918, July 15 -  The Second Battle of the Marne  was the last major German offensive on the Western Front during the First World War. It lasted a year ending on July 18, 1919.

1918, July 16 - Russia’s last Imperial Family; Former Tsar Nicholas and Alexandra, and their five children, Olga, Tatiana, Maria, Anastasia and Alexey, were murdered by the Bolsheviks. More 

1919, July 27 - The Chicago race riot of 1919 begins. it was a violent racial conflict between white Americans and black Americans that lasted eight days. During the riot, 38 people died, 537 were injured and between 1,000 and 2,000 residents, most of them black, lost their homes. The riot is considered the worst of the scores of riots and civil disturbances across the United States during the "Red Summer" of 1919. More

1921, July 27 - The Insulin hormone is successfully isolated by Canadian doctors Frederick Banting and Charles Best. More

1921, July 28 - Hitler becomes Party Chairman and leader of the Nazis.

1924, July 6 - The German psychiatrist Hans Berger records the first EEG (Electroencephalogram) reading from a human by placing electrodes on the brain of a 17-year-old boy to capture its electrical activity. This marked the advent of a new era for neuroscience. More

1925, July 21 - The "Scopes Monkey trial", formally The State of Tennessee v. John Thomas Scopes, which had started on July 10. comes to an end. The trial publicized the Fundamentalist–Modernist controversy, which set Modernists, who said evolution was not inconsistent with religion, against Fundamentalists. The trial was deliberately staged in order to attract publicity to the small town of Dayton, Tennessee, where it was held. Scopes was found guilty and was fined $100 (equivalent to $1,700 in 2023), but the verdict was overturned on a technicality. More

1930, July 7 - Construction work  for the Hoover Dam begins after the appropriations were approved. The dam was dedicated in 1935 and the hydroelectric generators went online in 1937.  The Hoover Dam was built for a cost of $49 million (approximately $760 million adjusted for inflation). The power plant and generators cost an additional $71 million. The sale of electrical power generated by the dam paid back its construction cost, with interest, by 1987. More

1932, July 28 - The Bonus Army,  a group of 43,000 demonstrators – 17,000 veterans of U.S. involvement in World War I, their families, and affiliated groups gathered in Washington, D.C., to demand early cash redemption of their service bonus certificates. They were forcibly disbanded by the U.S. Army in Washington, D.C. 

1933, July 22 - Wiley Post completes a solo flight around the world in the Lockheed 5C Vega Winnie Mae. This record-breaking flight demonstrated several significant new aviation technologies. More

1936, July 17 - The Spanish Civil War begins.  In a matter of days, a well-planned military uprising splits the county in half, with one zone controlled by the government (known as Republicans, Loyalists, or Reds), and the other by the rebels (also referred to as Nationalists, Fascists, or Whites)  An estimated half million people perished during the civil war which lasted until 1939. Franco ruled Spain as a dictator for almost 40 years until his death in 1975.  More 

1937, June 2 - Amelia Earhart and Navigator Fred Noonan disappear on Round-the-World Flight. Earhart and Noonan never found Howland Island and they were declared lost at sea on July 19, 1937 following a massive sea and air search. More

1940, July 10 - The Battle of Britain begins as Nazi Germany launches air attacks on southern England. More

1941, July 7 - The Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union, code-named Operation Barbarossa, begins.

1941, July 26 - U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt issues Executive Order 8832, freezing Japanese assets in the United States and eleven days later, on August 1, declares an embargo on oil and gasoline exports to Japan, bringing commercial relations between the nations to an effective end. On December 7 the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. More at: WWII Museum and the The Independent Institute   

1942, July 28 - Stalin Issues Order No. 227: “Not a Step Back” The order, intended to galvanize the morale of the hard-pressed Red Army under German attack. More

1943, July 10 - American and British forces invade Sicily by air and sea. 

1943, July 12 - Battle of Kursk: Russia stops the German advance. More

1943, July 19,  Approximately 700 United States planes of the USAAF flew over Rome and dropped 9.000 bombs on the city. This raid was intended to only damage the freight yard and the steel factory in the San Lorenzo district of Rome, but it also struck apartments and the Papal Basilica, killing 1500 people. More

1943, July 24 - Operation Gomorrah begins. 791 British bombers took off under cover of darkness tow. ard Hamburg, Germany. The air fleet was composed of British Lancaster, Stirling, Wellington, and Halifax bombers flying in six waves. Each wave had between 100 to 120 aircraft hoping to concentrate as much destruction as possible.  More

1943, July 25 - Mussolini is deposed. The Fascist Grand Council ousted Mussolini from office and placed him under arrest two weeks after the Allied attack on Sicily. King Victor Emmanuel of Italy then ordered Marshal Pietro Badoglio to form a new government.

1943, July 28 - During World War II, a firestorm killed 42,000 civilians in Hamburg, Germany. after 2,326 tons of bombs and incendiaries were dropped by the Allies. 

1944, July 20 - German military leaders attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler and take control of the government. Their plot fails. More

1945, July 16 - The first atomic bomb “ nicknamed “Gadget,” is successfully tested at the Trinity Site in Alamogordo, New Mexico. Gadget detonated with between 15 and 20 kilotons of force, slightly more than the Little Boy bomb dropped on Hiroshima. The Atomic Age had begun. More

1945, July 17 - The Potsdam Conference begins. Soviet leader Joseph Stalin, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill (replaced on July 26 by Prime Minister Clement Attlee), and U.S. President Harry Truman— start a multi day meeting in Potsdam, Germany, to negotiate terms for the end of World War II. During the conference, President Truman informed the Soviet leader that the United States had successfully detonated the first atomic bomb on July 16, 1945. Reportedly, Stalin, was already well-informed about the U.S. nuclear program thanks to the Soviet intelligence network. More 

1945, July 28 - A United States B-25 Mitchell bomber, on its way to LaGuardia Airport crashes into the the N.Y. Empire building near the 79th floor. The two pilots and one passenger aboard and 11 people in the building perished. More near the 

1945, July 30 - The USS Indianapolis is torpedoed by a Japanese submarine and sinks within minutes. Only 316 of the 1,196 men on board survived. The Indianapolis had just completed its major mission; the delivery to Tinian Island in the South Pacific of a key components of the atomic bomb that would be dropped a week later at Hiroshima. More

1947, July 18 - President Harry Truman signs the second Presidential Succession Act. The original act of 1792 had placed the Senate president pro tempore and Speaker of the House in the line of succession, but in 1886 Congress had removed them. The 1947 Executive order reinserted those officials but placed the Speaker ahead of the president pro tempore. In 1965, Senator Birch Bayh of Indiana and Representative Emanuel Celler of New York introduced joint resolutions in the Senate and House of Representatives aimed at clarifying and defining in the Constitution, the rules on Presidential succession and inability. Congress approved the 25th Amendment on 1965. The states completed ratification by February 10, 1967, and President Lyndon Johnson certified the amendment on February 23, 1967.

1947, July 26 - President Harry Truman signs The National Security Act of 1947 . The Act mandated a major reorganization of the foreign policy and military establishments of the U.S. Government and created many of the institutions that Presidents found useful when formulating and implementing foreign policy, including the National Security Council (NSC).

1948, July 20 - The second peacetime draft began with passage of the Selective Service Act of 1948 after the STSA expired. The new law required all men of age 18 to 26 to register. It also created the system for the "Doctor Draft", aimed at inducting health professionals into military service. More

1948, July 26 - President Harry S. Truman signs executive order 9981 banning segregation in the Armed Forces. More

1949, July 27 - The First test flight of the de Havilland DH 106 Comet, takes place. The Havilland, developed and manufactured by de Havilland in the United Kingdom, went on to become the world's first commercial passenger jet aircraft to reach production.
passenger cabin and was commercially promising at its debut in 1952. Within a year, three Comets were lost  after suffering catastrophic mishaps mid-flight. As a result, the Comet was extensively redesigned, with structural reinforcements and other changes. More  

1951,  July 27 - The Korean War armistice is signed, ending three years of fighting and establishing a demilitarized zone between North and South Korea. 1951. No peace treaty is signed .

1952, July 23 - The Egyptian army led by by Mohamed Naguib and Gamal Abdel Nasser launched a revolution toppling King Farouk in a coup d'état by the Free Officers Movement and, changing Egypt from a monarchy to a republic. The Revolution ushered in a wave of revolutionary politics in the Arab World, and contributed to the escalation of decolonization and the development of Third World solidarity during the Cold War. More

1952, July 25 - Puerto Rico becomes a U.S. commonwealth.

1953, July 26 - Fidel Castro's revolutionary "26th of July Movement." begins and culminates by overthrowing dictator Fulgencio
Batista in 1959. Although he once declared that Cuba would never again be ruled by a dictator, Castro's government became a Communist dictatorship.

1953, July 27 - The Korean War ended with the signing of an armistice by U.S. and North Korean delegates at Panmunjom, Korea. It brought an end to the hostilities that lasted just over three years and killed 2.5 million people. More

1955, July 17 -  Disneyland opens for its first guests.; a special 'International Press Preview' event, which was only open to invited guests. More

1956, July 26 - Egyptian president Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalizes the foreign-owned Suez Canal Company, which administered the canal and was owned primarily by British and French shareholders. On October 29, Israel invades the Egyptian Sinai.  and on November 5, Britain and France landed paratroopers along the Suez Canal. Political pressure from the United States, the Soviet Union, and the United Nations led to a withdrawal by the three invaders. The episode humiliated the United Kingdom and France and strengthened Nasser. It later became clear that Israel, France and Britain had conspired to plan the invasion. More 

1956, July 30 - Two years after pushing to have the phrase “under God” inserted into the pledge of allegiance, President Dwight D. Eisenhower signs a law officially declaring “In God We Trust” to be the nation’s official motto. The law, also mandated that the phrase be printed on all American paper currency. The phrase had been placed on U.S. coins since the Civil War. 

1958, July 29 - President Eisenhower signs into law the bill passed by the U. S. Congress establishing NASA. The National Aeronautics and Space Administration began operations on October 1, 1958. More

1960, July 1 - The Somali republic was formed on July 1, 1960, as a unification of the Trust Territory of Italian Somaliland, and British Somaliland. The independence day of Somalia is a national holiday observed annually in Somalia and the diaspora worldwide.

1962, July 1 - Rwanda gains independence from Belgium. Independence Day in Rwanda is a somewhat muted affair. Kwibohora, (July 4) is celebrated as Rwanda Liberation Day. On this day in 1994 the Rwandan Patriotic Front (RPF) secured the capital of Kigali and ended the 1994 Genocide Against the Tutsi in Rwanda.

1962, July 1 - Burundi gains its freedom from Belgium.

1962, July 10 - The U.S. Patent Office issued Patent No. 3,043,625 to “Nils Ivar Bohlin, Goteborg, (Volvo) for the three-point seatbelt. Volvo was so convinced of its safety potential safety that it made the patent available for other manufacturers, and motorists, to benefit from.

1964, July 2 - U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act into law, outlawing discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. More

1964, July 6 - Malawi Independence Day.

1964, July 23 - President de Gaulle proposes at a news conference in the Salle des Fetes of the Elysee Palace, that the United States, the Soviet Union, Communist China and France agree to get out and stay out of the Indochinese peninsula as a means of ending the fighting in Laos and South Vietnam. He also proposes, once the fighting had ended, a massive program of economic and technical aid to the peoples of North and South Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia. More

1964, July 29 -  Ranger 7, an unmanned U.S. lunar probe reaches the Moon and takes the first close-up images of earths' satellite. During its final 17 minutes of flight, it sent back 4,316 images of the lunar surface. The last image taken 2.3 seconds before impact had a resolution of just half-a-meter.  More

1965, July 26 - Maldives Independence Day

1965, July 29 - The 1st Brigade, 101st Airborne Division, arrives in Vietnam Cam Ranh Bay. The 101st fought in 45 operations spanning seven years. Seventeen members of the 101st Airborne received the Congressional Medal of Honor for their conduct in combat in this conflict. The unit officially came home to Fort Campbell on April 6, 1972. The 101st Airborne suffered heavy casualties during the Vietnam War, 4,011 were killed in action, and 18,259 were wounded. This was over twice the amount of soldiers lost from their unit during WWII. More

1965, July 30 - Medicare is signed into law by President Lyndon Johnson at the Truman Library in Independence, Missouri. His gesture drew attention to the 20 years it had taken Congress to enact government health insurance for senior citizens after Harry Truman had proposed it. In fact, Medicare’s history dated back even further. More

1969, July 20 - American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin land the Apollo 11 mission Lunar Module “Eagle” in the Sea of Tranquility and become the first humans to walk on the moon. More

1971, July 1 - The Twenty-Sixth Amendment to the Constitution is ratified, lowering the voting age from 21 to 18.

1971,  July 30 - Japanese Air Force, Fighter Jet collides with a passenger plane, Boeing 727 operated by All Nippon Airways (ANA).  causing both aircraft to crash. All 162 people aboard the airliner were killed, while the Sabre pilot, a trainee with the JASDF, freed himself from his airplane after the collision and parachuted to safety. More

1973, July 10 - The Bahamas gains its independence by the United Kingdom Government, Order in Council.  This date is now celebrated as the country's Independence Day.

1973, July 31 - Delta Air Lines DC-9 Flight 723, on approach to Boston, Massachusetts slams into a seawall at the foot of the runway, spewing burning wreckage across the airport and killing 88 of the 89 people on board. The lone survivor was Leopold Chouinard, who clung to life despite severe injuries but, tragically, died in the hospital four months after the crash. More

1975, July 5 - Cape Verde Independence Day from Portugal - Effective date of the Agreement Between Portugal and Partido Africano para a Independência da Guiné e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) signed on 18 December 1974.[

1975, July 5 - Guinea-Bissau Independence Day - Declaration of independence during the Guinea-Bissau War of Independence.[52]

1975, July 6 - Comoros Independence Day from France. Unilateral declaration of independence by the Chamber of Deputies of Comoros following the 1974 Comorian independence referendum.[

1976, July 4 - The United States celebrates its bicentennial with a day of parades, concerts, and fireworks.

1976, July 20 - Viking 1 Lands on Mars' on the western slope of Chryse Planitia (the Plains of Gold). Viking 1 found a place in history when it became the first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft safely on the surface of Mars and return images of the surface. More

1976, July 28 - A 7.8 earthquake razes the Chinese city of Tangshan located about 68 miles east of Beijing. The official death toll,  reported was 242,000 persons, but it may have been twice as high. At least 700,000 more people were injured and the property damage was extensive. More

1978, July 25 - Louise Brown gives birth to the world’s first "test-tube baby", in Oldham, northwest England. More 

1979, July 12 - Kiribati Independence Day

1980, July 30 - Vanuatu, achieves independence from the United Kingdom and France under Prime Minister Walter Lini.

1982, July 9 - Pan Am Flight 759, a Boeing 727 flight from Miami to San Diego, with stops in New Orleans and Las Vegas. crashed in the New Orleans suburb of Kenner after being forced down shortly after takeoff due to wind shear which the pilots were not informed about prior to takeoff. All 145 on board, as well as 8 people on the ground, were killed. More

1985, July 10 - French secret service agents planted two bombs and sank the Greenpeace Flagship The Rainbow Warrior. One crew member was killed. More

1985, July 13 - Live Aid, a global rock concert for famine relief in Ethiopia, is held in London and Philadelphia.

1988, July 3 - The U.S. cruiser USS Vincennes shoots down the Iranian passenger jet, Iran Air 655, with a surface-to-air missile, killing 290 people. More

1990, July 27 - The Jamaat al Muslimeen attempted coup d'état in Trinidad and Tobago.

1994, July 4 - Rwandan Patriotic Front troops capture the Rwandan capital of Kigali, ending the Rwandan Genocide.

1994, July 12 - Germany's Constitutional Court ended the ban on sending German troops to fight outside the country which  had been in effect since the end of World War II. The ruling allowed German troops to join in United Nations and NATO
peace-keeping missions. On July 14, German military units marched in Bastille Day celebrations in Paris, the first appearance of German troops there since World War II.

1995, July 23 - Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp separately discover the Comet Hale–Bopp. The comet becomes visible to the naked eye a year later and stays visible for a record 18 months, due to its massive nucleus size. This is twice as long as the Great Comet of 1811, the previous record holder. Accordingly, Hale–Bopp was dubbed the great comet of 1997. Sadly, 39 people who were part of the "Heaven's Gate" cult in San Diego committed mass suicide as the comet came close to Earth. More 

1996, July 5 - Dolly, the most famous sheep of all time is born in the lab from DNA taken from an adult sheep’s mammary gland. She was the first mammal to be cloned from an adult cell, rather than an embryo. A major scientific achievement which also raised ethical concerns. More

1996, July 17 - TWA Flight 800 departed Kennedy International Airport in New York bound for Paris but exploded in mid-air 12 minutes after takeoff.  All 212 passengers and 17 crew members on board were killed. Although it could not be determined with certainty, the likely ignition source was a short circuit.  Problems with the aircraft's wiring were found, including evidence of arcing in the fuel quantity indication system (FQIS) wiring that enters the tank. More

1997, July 1 - Britain returns Hong Kong to China, ending over 150 years of British rule. More

2000, July 25 - Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde passenger jet on an international charter flight from Paris to New York, crashes shortly after takeoff,. All 109 people on board and four on the ground were killed. It was the only fatal Concorde accident during its 27-year operational history. More

2005, July 7 - A series of coordinated terrorist attacks in London, England, kill 52 people and injure over 700.

2009, July 7 - The United Nations declares a famine in parts of southern Somalia, the first time the term has been used in almost 20 years.

2011, July 9 - South Sudan gains independence from Sudan ending a decades-long civil war and becoming the world's newest country.

2011, July 21 - The Space Shuttle Atlantis completes STS-135, its 33rd and final mission landing on Runway 15 at Kennedy Space Center's Shuttle Landing Facility. More

2013,  July 3 - Egypt's first democratically elected president, Mohamed Morsi, is overthrown in a military coup.

2014, July 17 -  Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 shot down over Ukraine by a Russian-made surface-to-air missile, fired by Moscow-backed separatists. In January of 2023, the European Court of Human Rights confirmed Russia's involvement in the downing of flight MH17. More

2015, July 14 - Iran and six world powers reach a historic nuclear deal in Vienna, Austria.to limit Iran's nuclear program in exchange for lifting economic sanctions.

2016, July 14 - Terrorist Attack in the city of Nice kills 86 people and injures 434 others. More

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