EVENTS OF THIS DAY IN THE PAST 30/7

• 762 – Baghdad is founded by caliph Al-Mansur.
• 1419 – First Defenestration of Prague: A crowd of radical Hussites kill seven members of the Prague city council.
• 1502 – Christopher Columbus lands at Guanaja in the Bay Islands off the coast of Honduras during his fourth voyage.
• 1608 – At Ticonderoga (now Crown Point, New York), Samuel de Champlain shoots and kills two Iroquois chiefs. This was to set the tone for French-Iroquois relations for the next one hundred years.
• 1619 – In Jamestown, Virginia, the first representative assembly in the Americas, the House of Burgesses, convenes for the first time.
• 1626 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people.
• 1635 – Eighty Years' War: The Siege of Schenkenschans begins; Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, begins the recapture of the strategically important fortress from the Spanish Army.
• 1656 – Swedish forces under the command of King Charles X Gustav defeat the forces of the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Warsaw.
• 1676 – Nathaniel Bacon issues the "Declaration of the People of Virginia", beginning Bacon's Rebellion against the rule of Governor William Berkeley.
• 1729 – Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland.
• 1733 – The first Masonic Grand Lodge in the future United States is constituted in Massachusetts.
• 1756 – In Saint Petersburg, Bartolomeo Rastrelli presents the newly built Catherine Palace to Empress Elizabeth and her courtiers.
• 1811 – Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, leader of the Mexican insurgency, is executed by the Spanish in Chihuahua City, Mexico.
• 1825 – Malden Island is discovered by captain George Byron, 7th Baron Byron.
• 1859 – First ascent of Grand Combin, one of the highest summits in the Alps.
• 1863 – American Indian Wars: Representatives of the United States and tribal leaders including Chief Pocatello (of the Shoshone) sign the Treaty of Box Elder.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of the Crater: Union forces attempt to break Confederate lines at Petersburg, Virginia by exploding a large bomb under their trenches.
• 1865 – The steamboat Brother Jonathan sinks off the coast of Crescent City, California, killing 225 passengers, the deadliest shipwreck on the Pacific Coast of the U.S. at the time.
• 1866 – Armed Confederate veterans in New Orleans riot against a meeting of Radical Republicans, killing 48 people and injuring another 100.
• 1871 – The Staten Island Ferry Westfield's boiler explodes, killing over 85 people.
• 1912 – Japan's Emperor Meiji dies and is succeeded by his son Yoshihito, who is now known as the Emperor Taishō.
• 1916 – Black Tom Island explosion in Jersey City, New Jersey.
• 1930 – In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup.
• 1932 – Premiere of Walt Disney's Flowers and Trees, the first cartoon short to use Technicolor and the first Academy Award winning cartoon short.
• 1945 – World War II: Japanese submarine I-58 sinks the USS Indianapolis, killing 883 seamen.
• 1956 – A joint resolution of the U.S. Congress is signed by President Dwight D. Eisenhower, authorizing In God we trust as the U.S. national motto.
• 1962 – The Trans-Canada Highway, the longest national highway in the world, is officially opened.
• 1965 – U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Social Security Act of 1965 into law, establishing Medicare and Medicaid.
• 1966 – England defeats West Germany to win the 1966 FIFA World Cup at Wembley after extra time.
• 1969 – Vietnam War: US President Richard Nixon makes an unscheduled visit to South Vietnam and meets with President Nguyễn Văn Thiệu and U.S. military commanders.
• 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission: David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.
• 1971 – An All Nippon Airways Boeing 727 and a Japanese Air Force F-86 collide over Morioka, Iwate, Japan killing 162.
• 1974 – Watergate scandal: U.S. President Richard Nixon releases subpoenaed White House recordings after being ordered to do so by the Supreme Court of the United States.
• 1974 – Six Canadian Army cadets are killed and fifty-four are injured in an accidental grenade blast at CFB Valcartier Cadet Camp.
• 1975 – Jimmy Hoffa disappears from the parking lot of the Machus Red Fox restaurant in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit, at about 2:30 p.m. He is never seen or heard from again.
• 1978 – The 730 (transport), Okinawa Prefecture changes its traffic on the right-hand side of the road to the left-hand side.
• 1980 – Vanuatu gains independence.
• 1980 – Israel's Knesset passes the Jerusalem Law
• 1990 – George Steinbrenner is forced by Commissioner Fay Vincent to resign as principal partner of New York Yankees for hiring Howie Spira to "get dirt" on Dave Winfield.
• 2003 – In Mexico, the last 'old style' Volkswagen Beetle rolls off the assembly line.
• 2006 – The world's longest running music show Top of the Pops is broadcast for the last time on BBC Two. The show had aired for 42 years.
• 2012 – A train fire kills 32 passengers and injures 27 on the Tamil Nadu Express in Andhra Pradesh, India.
• 2012 – A power grid failure in Delhi leaves more than 300 million people without power in northern India.
• 2014 – One hundred and fifty people are trapped after a landslide in the village of Ambe in the Pune district in India's Maharashtra state with 20 killed.

Births

• 1470 – Hongzhi, emperor of the Ming dynasty (d. 1505)
• 1511 – Giorgio Vasari, Italian painter, historian, and architect (d. 1574)
• 1549 – Ferdinando I de' Medici, Grand Duke of Tuscany (d. 1609)
• 1641 – Regnier de Graaf, Dutch physician and anatomist (d. 1673)
• 1751 – Maria Anna Mozart, Austrian pianist (d. 1829)
• 1763 – Samuel Rogers, English poet and art collector (d. 1855)
• 1809 – Charles Chiniquy, Canadian-American priest and theologian (d. 1899)
• 1818 – Emily Brontë, English author and poet (d. 1848)
• 1818 – Jan Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, 16th and 19th Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1897)
• 1825 – Chaim Aronson, Lithuanian engineer and author (d. 1893)
• 1832 – George Lemuel Woods, American lawyer, judge, and politician, 3rd Governor of Oregon (d. 1890)
• 1855 – Georg Wilhelm von Siemens, German-Swiss businessman (d. 1919)
• 1857 – Thorstein Veblen, American economist and sociologist (d. 1929)
• 1859 – Henry Simpson Lunn, English minister and humanitarian, founded Lunn Poly (d. 1939)
• 1862 – Nikolai Yudenich, Russian general (d. 1933)
• 1863 – Henry Ford, American engineer and businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (d. 1947)
• 1872 – Princess Clémentine of Belgium (d. 1955)
• 1881 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1940)
• 1890 – Casey Stengel, American baseball player and manager (d. 1975)
• 1893 – Fatima Jinnah, Pakistani dentist and politician (d. 1967)
• 1898 – Henry Moore, English sculptor and illustrator (d. 1986)
• 1899 – Gerald Moore, English pianist (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Alfred Lépine, Canadian ice hockey player and coach (d. 1955)
• 1904 – Salvador Novo, Mexican poet and playwright (d. 1974)
• 1909 – C. Northcote Parkinson, English historian and author (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Edgar de Evia, Mexican-American photographer (d. 2003)
• 1913 – Lou Darvas, American soldier and cartoonist (d. 1987)
• 1914 – Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin, Irish journalist and author, 6th President of the International Olympic Committee (d. 1999)
• 1916 – Dick Wilson, English-American actor (d. 2007)
• 1920 – Walter Schuck, German lieutenant and pilot (d. 2015)
• 1921 – Grant Johannesen, American pianist and educator (d. 2005)
• 1922 – Henry W. Bloch, American banker and businessman, co-founded H&R Block
• 1925 – Stan Stennett, Welsh actor and trumpet player (d. 2013)
• 1925 – Alexander Trocchi, Scottish author and poet (d. 1984)
• 1927 – Richard Johnson, English actor, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2015)
• 1927 – Pete Schoening, American mountaineer (d. 2004)
• 1927 – Victor Wong, American actor (d. 2001)
• 1928 – Eunice Muñoz, Portuguese actress
• 1928 – Joe Nuxhall, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2007)
• 1929 – Sid Krofft, Canadian-American puppeteer and producer
• 1931 – Dominique Lapierre, French historian and author
• 1933 – Edd Byrnes, American actor
• 1933 – Ben Piazza, American actor (d. 1991)
• 1934 – Bud Selig, American businessman
• 1936 – Buddy Guy, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1936 – Infanta Pilar, Duchess of Badajoz
• 1938 – Hervé de Charette, French politician, French Minister of Foreign Affairs
• 1938 – Terry O'Neill, English photographer
• 1939 – Peter Bogdanovich, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1939 – Eleanor Smeal, American activist, founded the Feminist Majority Foundation
• 1940 – Patricia Schroeder, American lawyer and politician
• 1940 – Clive Sinclair, English businessman, founded Sinclair Radionics and Sinclair Research
• 1941 – Paul Anka, Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1942 – Pollyanna Pickering, English environmentalist and painter
• 1943 – Henri-François Gautrin, Canadian physicist and politician
• 1944 – Gerry Birrell, Scottish race car driver (d. 1973)
• 1944 – Peter Bottomley, English politician
• 1944 – Frances de la Tour, English actress
• 1945 – Patrick Modiano, French author and screenwriter, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1945 – David Sanborn, American saxophonist and composer
• 1946 – Neil Bonnett, American race car driver, sportscaster, and actor (d. 1994)
• 1946 – Jeffrey Hammond, English bass player (Jethro Tull)
• 1947 – William Atherton, American actor and producer
• 1947 – Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, French virologist and biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1947 – Jonathan Mann, American physician and author (d. 1998)
• 1947 – Arnold Schwarzenegger, Austrian-American bodybuilder, actor, and politician, 38th Governor of California
• 1948 – John Briscoe, South African-American epidemiologist, engineer, and academic (d. 2014)
• 1948 – Billy Paultz, American basketball player
• 1948 – Jean Reno, Moroccan-French actor
• 1948 – Otis Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1948 – Julia Tsenova, Bulgarian pianist and composer (d. 2010)
• 1949 – Duck Baker, American guitarist
• 1949 – Sonia Proudman, English lawyer and judge
• 1950 – Harriet Harman, English lawyer and politician, Solicitor General for England and Wales
• 1951 – Alan Kourie, South African cricketer
• 1951 – Gerry Judah, Indian-English painter and sculptor
• 1952 – Stephen Blackmore, English botanist and author
• 1954 – Ken Olin, American actor, director, and producer
• 1955 – Rat Scabies, English drummer and producer (The Damned and Vicious White Kids)
• 1955 – Christopher Warren-Green, English violinist and conductor
• 1956 – Delta Burke, American actress
• 1956 – Réal Cloutier, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1956 – Anita Hill, American lawyer and academic
• 1956 – Soraida Martinez, American painter and educator
• 1957 – Antonio Adamo, Italian director and cinematographer
• 1957 – Bill Cartwright, American basketball player and coach
• 1957 – Clint Hurdle, American baseball player and manager
• 1957 – Nery Pumpido, Argentinian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1957 – Leon Wesley Walls, American singer, songwriter, and guitarist
• 1958 – Kate Bush, English singer-songwriter and producer
• 1958 – Neal McCoy, American singer-songwriter
• 1958 – Daley Thompson, English decathlete and trainer
• 1960 – Jennifer Barnes, American-English musicologist and academic
• 1960 – Richard Linklater, American director and screenwriter
• 1960 – Jeff Rudom, American basketball player and actor (d. 2011)
• 1961 – Laurence Fishburne, American actor and producer
• 1962 – Alton Brown, American chef, author, and producer
• 1962 – Jay Feaster, American ice hockey player and manager
• 1962 – Yakub Memon, Indian accountant and terrorist (d. 2015)
• 1963 – Peter Bowler, English-Australian cricketer
• 1963 – Lisa Kudrow, American actress, producer, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Chris Mullin, American basketball player and manager
• 1964 – Ron Block, American singer-songwriter and banjo player
• 1964 – Vivica A. Fox, American actress and producer
• 1964 – Alek Keshishian, Lebanese-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1964 – Jürgen Klinsmann, German footballer and manager
• 1964 – Laine Randjärv, Estonian lawyer and politician, 6th Estonian Minister of Culture
• 1965 – Tim Munton, English cricketer
• 1966 – Kerry Fox, New Zealand actress and screenwriter
• 1966 – Craig Gannon, English guitarist and songwriter (The Smiths, The Bluebells, and The Adult Net)
• 1966 – Allan Langer, Australian rugby player and coach
• 1968 – Terry Crews, American football player and actor
• 1968 – Robert Korzeniowski, Polish race walker and coach
• 1968 – Sean Moore, Welsh drummer and songwriter (Manic Street Preachers)
• 1969 – Simon Baker, Australian actor, director, and producer
• 1969 – Errol Stewart, South African cricketer and lawyer
• 1970 – Alun Cairns, Welsh businessman and politician
• 1970 – Dean Edwards, American comedian, actor, and singer
• 1970 – Christopher Nolan, English-American director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1971 – Elvis Crespo, American-Puerto Rican singer (Grupo Manía)
• 1971 – Tom Green, Canadian comedian, actor, and rapper
• 1971 – Sagi Kalev, Israeli-American bodybuilder and model
• 1971 – Christine Taylor, American actress
• 1972 – Jim McIlvaine, American basketball player and sportscaster
• 1973 – Kenton Cool, English mountaineer
• 1973 – Ümit Davala, Turkish footballer and manager
• 1973 – Anastasios Katsabis, Greek footballer
• 1973 – Markus Näslund, Swedish ice hockey player and manager
• 1973 – Sonu Nigam, Indian playback singer and actor
• 1973 – Clementa C. Pinckney, American minister and politician (d. 2015)
• 1974 – Radostin Kishishev, Bulgarian footballer and manager
• 1974 – Jason Robinson, English rugby player and coach
• 1974 – Hilary Swank, American actress and producer
• 1975 – Graham Nicholls, English author and activist
• 1975 – Kate Starbird, American basketball player and computer scientist
• 1977 – Diana Bolocco, Chilean model and journalist Miss Universe 1987
• 1977 – Misty May-Treanor, American volleyball player and coach
• 1977 – Jaime Pressly, American actress
• 1977 – Bootsy Thornton, American basketball player
• 1977 – Ian Watkins, Welsh singer-songwriter (Lostprophets and Public Disturbance)
• 1979 – Carlos Arroyo, Puerto Rican basketball player and singer
• 1979 – Chad Keegan, South African cricketer and coach
• 1979 – Graeme McDowell, Northern Irish golfer
• 1979 – Maya Nasser, Syrian journalist (d. 2012)
• 1980 – Justin Rose, South African-English golfer
• 1981 – Nicky Hayden, American motorcycle racer
• 1981 – Juan Smith, South African rugby player
• 1981 – Indrek Turi, Estonian decathlete
• 1982 – Jehad Al-Hussain, Syrian footballer
• 1982 – James Anderson, English cricketer
• 1983 – Seán Dillon, Irish footballer
• 1984 – Marko Asmer, Estonian race car driver
• 1984 – Gabrielle Christian, American actress and singer
• 1984 – Kevin Pittsnogle, American basketball player
• 1985 – Aml Ameen, English actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1985 – Daniel Fredheim Holm, Norwegian footballer
• 1985 – Matthew Scott, Australian rugby player
• 1986 – Tiago Alencar, Brazilian footballer
• 1986 – William Zillman, Australian rugby player
• 1987 – Anton Fink, German footballer
• 1987 – Sam Saunders, American golfer
• 1989 – Aleix Espargaró, Spanish motorcycle racer
• 1989 – Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer
• 1990 – Eliot Sumner, Italian-English singer-songwriter
• 1990 – Chris Maxwell, Welsh footballer
• 1991 – Jiyul, South Korean singer and actress (Dal Shabet)
• 1991 – Diana Vickers, English singer-songwriter and actress
• 1992 – Hannah Cockroft, English wheelchair racer
• 1993 – Katie Cecil, American singer, guitarist, and actress (KSM)
• 1993 – Miho Miyazaki, Japanese singer and actress (AKB48)
• 1993 – Margarida Moura, Portuguese tennis player
• 1996 – Nina Stojanović, Serbian tennis player

Deaths

• 578 – Jacob Baradaeus, Greek bishop
• 579 – Pope Benedict I
• 734 – Tatwine, English archbishop (b. 670)
• 1516 – Johann V of Nassau-Vianden-Dietz (b. 1455)
• 1540 – Thomas Abel, English priest and martyr (b. 1497)
• 1540 – Robert Barnes, English martyr and reformer (b. 1495)
• 1550 – Thomas Wriothesley, 1st Earl of Southampton, English politician, Lord Chancellor of the United Kingdom (b. 1505)
• 1652 – Charles Amadeus, Duke of Nemours (b. 1624)
• 1680 – Thomas Butler, 6th Earl of Ossory, Irish admiral and politician, Lord Lieutenant of Ireland (b. 1634)
• 1683 – Maria Theresa of Spain (b. 1638)
• 1691 – Daniel Georg Morhof, German scholar and academic (b. 1639)
• 1718 – William Penn, English businessman and philosopher, founded the Province of Pennsylvania (b. 1644)
• 1771 – Thomas Gray, English poet (b. 1716)
• 1789 – Giovanna Bonanno, Italian criminal (b. 1713)
• 1811 – Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla, Mexican priest and soldier (b. 1753)
• 1875 – George Pickett, American general (b. 1825)
• 1889 – Charlie Absolom, England cricketer (b. 1846)
• 1898 – Otto von Bismarck, German lawyer and politician, 1st Chancellor of Germany (b. 1815)
• 1900 – Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (b. 1844)
• 1912 – Emperor Meiji of Japan (b. 1852)
• 1918 – Joyce Kilmer, American soldier, journalist, and poet (b. 1886)
• 1920 – Albert Gustaf Dahlman, Swedish executioner (b. 1848)
• 1930 – Joan Gamper, Swiss-Spanish footballer and businessman, founded FC Barcelona (b. 1877)
• 1938 – John Derbyshire, English swimmer and water polo player (b. 1878)
• 1941 – Hugo Celmiņš, Latvian politician, former Prime Minister of Latvia (b. 1877)
• 1947 – Joseph Cook, English-Australian miner and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1860)
• 1965 – Jun'ichirō Tanizaki, Japanese author and playwright (b. 1886)
• 1970 – Walter Murdoch, Scottish-Australian academic (b. 1874)
• 1970 – George Szell, Hungarian-American conductor and composer (b. 1897)
• 1975 – James Blish, American author and critic (b. 1921)
• 1977 – Emory Holloway, American scholar, author, and educator (b. 1885)
• 1983 – Howard Dietz, American songwriter and publicist (b. 1896)
• 1983 – Lynn Fontanne, English-American actress (b. 1887)
• 1985 – Julia Robinson, American mathematician and theorist (b. 1919)
• 1989 – Lane Frost, American bull rider (b. 1963)
• 1992 – Brenda Marshall, Filipino-American actress and singer (b. 1915)
• 1992 – Joe Shuster, Canadian-American illustrator, co-created Superman (b. 1914)
• 1994 – Ryszard Riedel, Polish singer-songwriter (Dżem) (b. 1956)
• 1996 – Claudette Colbert, French-American actress and singer (b. 1903)
• 1996 – Magda Schneider, German actress and singer (b. 1909)
• 1997 – Bảo Đại, Vietnamese emperor (b. 1913)
• 1998 – Jorge Russek, Mexican actor (b. 1932)
• 1998 – Buffalo Bob Smith, American television host (b. 1917)
• 2001 – Anton Schwarzkopf, German engineer (b. 1924)
• 2003 – Steve Hislop, Scottish motorcycle racer (b. 1962)
• 2003 – Sam Phillips, American record producer, founded Sun Records (b. 1923)
• 2004 – Andre Noble, Canadian actor (b. 1979)
• 2005 – Ray Cunningham, American baseball player (b. 1905)
• 2005 – John Garang, Sudanese colonel and politician, 6th President of South Sudan (b. 1945)
• 2006 – Duygu Asena, Turkish journalist and author(b. 1946)
• 2006 – Al Balding, Canadian golfer (b. 1924)
• 2006 – Murray Bookchin, American philosopher and author (b. 1921)
• 2006 – Anthony Galla-Rini, American accordion player and composer (b. 1904)
• 2006 – Akbar Mohammadi, Iranian activist (b. 1972)
• 2007 – Michelangelo Antonioni, Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1912)
• 2007 – Teoctist Arăpașu, Romanian patriarch (b. 1915)
• 2007 – Ingmar Bergman, Swedish director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Bill Walsh, American football player and coach (b. 1931)
• 2008 – Anne Armstrong, American businesswoman and diplomat, United States Ambassador to the United Kingdom (b. 1927)
• 2009 – Mohammed Yusuf, Nigerian militant leader, founded Boko Haram (b. 1970)
• 2009 – Peter Zadek, German director and screenwriter (b. 1926)
• 2011 – Bob Peterson, American basketball player (b. 1932)
• 2012 – Maeve Binchy, Irish author, playwright, and journalist (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Bill Doss, American singer and guitarist (The Olivia Tremor Control, The Apples in Stereo, and The Sunshine Fix) (b. 1968)
• 2012 – Stig Ossian Ericson, Swedish actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1923)
• 2012 – Les Green, English footballer and manager (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Jonathan Hardy, New Zealand-Australian actor and screenwriter (b. 1940)
• 2012 – Bill Kitchen, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1960)
• 2012 – Mary Louise Rasmuson, American colonel (b. 1911)
• 2013 – Cecil Alexander, American architect, designed the State of Georgia Building (b. 1918)
• 2013 – Berthold Beitz, German businessman (b. 1913)
• 2013 – Robert Neelly Bellah, American sociologist and author (b. 1927)
• 2013 – Harry F. Byrd, Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (b. 1914)
• 2013 – Antoni Ramallets, Spanish footballer and manager (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ossie Schectman, American basketball player (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Benjamin Walker, Indian-English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1913)
• 2014 – Robert Drew, American director and producer (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Harun Farocki, German director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Julio Grondona, Argentinian businessman (b. 1931)
• 2014 – Peter Hall, English geographer, author, and academic (b. 1932)
• 2014 – Dick Smith, American make-up artist (b. 1922)
• 2014 – Dick Wagner, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Frost) (b. 1942)
• 2015 – Lynn Anderson, American singer (b. 1947)
• 2015 – Endel Lippmaa, Estonian physicist (b. 1930)
• 2015 – Francis Paul Prucha, American historian and academic (b. 1921)
• 2015 – Alena Vrzáňová, Czech figure skater (b. 1931)