Events

• 1223 - In France, Louis VIII becomes King of France upon the death of his father, Philip II of France.
• 1698 - The Darien scheme begins with five ships, bearing about 1,200 people, departing Leith for the Isthmus of Panama.
• 1771 - Foundation of the Mission San Antonio de Padua in modern California by the Franciscan friar Junípero Serra.
• 1789 - French Revolution: Citizens of Paris storm the Bastille and free seven prisoners.
• 1790 - French Revolution: Citizens of Paris celebrate the constitutional monarchy and national reconciliation in the Fête de la Fédération.
• 1791 - The Priestley Riots drive Joseph Priestley, a supporter of the French Revolution, out of Birmingham, England.
• 1798 - The Sedition Act becomes United States law making it a federal crime to write, publish, or utter false or malicious statements about the United States government.
• 1825 - The Jefferson Literary and Debating Society was founded at the University of Virginia.
• 1827 - The first Roman Catholic Mass is celebrated in the Hawaiian Islands by Fathers Abraham Armand and Alexis Bachelot of France and Patrick Short of the United Kingdom, members of the Congregation of the Sacred Hearts of Jesus and Mary. It would be the foundation of the present-day Diocese of Honolulu.
• 1865 - First ascent of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper and party, four of whom died on the descent.
• 1902 - The Campanile in St Mark's Square, Venice collapses, also demolishing the loggetta.
• 1933 - Gleichschaltung: In Germany, all political parties are outlawed except the Nazi Party.
• 1940 - World War II: Andrew George Latta McNaughton takes command of the 7th Army Corps consisting of British, Canadian and New Zealand troops.
• 1943 - In Joplin, Missouri, George Washington Carver National Monument becomes the first United States National Monument in honor of a black American.
• 1948 - Palmiro Togliatti, leader of the Italian Communist Party, is shot near to the Italian Parliament.
• 1954 - The central region of the United States suffers extremely hot weather, with the temperature reaching 118° F (48° C) in Warsaw and Union, Missouri, and 117° F (47° C) in East St. Louis, Illinois, setting new all-time state record high temperatures.
• 1958 - Iraqi Revolution: In Iraq the monarchy is overthrown by Arab nationalists and Abdul Karim Kassem becomes the nation's new leader.
• 1965 - Mariner 4 flyby of Mars takes the first close-up photos of another planet.
• 1966 - In Chicago, Richard Speck murders eight student nurses in their dormitory.
• 1966 - A fire at a mental hospital in Guatemala City kills 225.
• 1969 - Football War: After Honduras loses a soccer game against El Salvador, rioting breaks out in Honduras against Salvadoran migrant workers. Of the 300,000 Salvadoran workers in Honduras, tens of thousands are expelled, prompting a brief Salvadoran invasion of Honduras. The OAS works out a cease-fire on July 18, taking effect on July 20.
• 1969 - Large denominations of United States currency, namely the $500, $1,000, $5,000 and $10,000 bills, are officially withdrawn from circulation by the Federal Reserve System due to "lack of use," leaving the $100 bill as the largest unit of circulating United States currency. (External Link)
• 1981 - MCLN bombs a popular cinema in Bangui, Central African Republic. Afterwards a declaration is issued, demanding withdrawal of French troops from the country.
• 1984 - New Zealand elects the Fourth Labour Government bringing in David Lange as Prime Minister of New Zealand, and thus breaking nine years of National party governance under Robert Muldoon. It was this government that introduced the world's first and only nuclear free legislation.
• 1988 - Volkswagen's automobile plant in Westmoreland County, Pennsylvania - the first auto assembly plant operated by a non-American car manufacturer in the United States - closes after little more than a decade of operation. The plant built Volkswagen's Rabbit model in its first six years, then produced the Golf and some Jetta models until its closing.
• 1992 - A major fire consumes an entire city block in tourist destination Gatlinburg, Tennessee, destroying the "Ripley's Believe It Or Not!" Museum and several other local businesses and attractions in the process.
• 1995 - The MP3 format was named.
• 2000 - George Speight, the principal instigator of the Fiji coup of 2000, was arrested with 369 of his followers and charged with treason.
• 2002 - During Bastille Day celebrations, French President Jacques Chirac escapes an assassination attempt unscathed.
• 2005 - Europe holds a two minute silence at 12:00 BST in remembrance of the 7/7 bombings of London, United Kingdom
• 2006 - The verdict in the Italian Football Match Fixing Scandal was delivered- Juventus were relegated, Lazio, Fiorentina and AC Milan were spared relegation.
• 2007 - Russia withdraws from the Treaty on Conventional Armed Forces in Europe.

Births