July 18

Novelist Jane Austen dies (1817); Nelson Mandela born (1918); Astronaut and politician John Glenn born (1921); Nadia Comăneci gets first perfect 10 in Olympic gymnastics history; watch routine (1976); Actress Priyanka Chopra born (1982).

July 19

Inventor and businessman Samuel Colt born (1814); First US women’s rights convention held (1848); Maurice Garin becomes first winner of Tour de France (1903); Sports journalist Stuart Scott born (1965); First GPS signal transmitted (1977).

July 17

Disneyland opens in Anaheim, California (1955); Jazz singer Billie Holiday dies (1959); Broadcast legend Walter Cronkite dies (2009); Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 shot down, 298 killed (2014); Politician and civil rights leader John Lewis dies (2020). 

July 15

Rosetta Stone is found in Egypt (1799); Businesswoman and journalist Arianna Huffington born (1950); Fashion designer Gianni Versace is murdered (1997); Twitter is launched (2006).

July 16

District of Columbia established as capital of the US (1790); Journalist and civil rights activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett born (1862); First successful atomic bomb test (1945); JD Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye" published (1951); Apollo 11 launches with first astronauts who will walk on the moon (1969).

July 13

The Northwest Territory (much of today's Midwest) is created by US law (1787); French revolutionary Jean-Paul Marat killed (1793); The legendary Hollywood Sign is dedicated (1923); Krispy Kreme Doughnuts is founded (1937); Actor Harrison Ford born (1942); Yankees owner George Steinbrenner (immortalized in the sitcom "Seinfeld") dies (2010).

July 14

Revolutionaries in France storm the Bastille (1789); Archaeologist and spy Gertrude Bell born (1868); President Gerald Ford born (1913); Howard Hughes' crew breaks record with 91-hour flight around the world (1938); NASA's New Horizons probe completes flyby of Pluto (2015).