EVENTS:
- 1497 – Vasco da Gama sets sail on the first direct European voyage to India.
- 1730 – An estimated magnitude 8.7 earthquake causes a tsunami that damages more than 1,000 km (620 mi) of Chile’s coastline.
- 1933 – The first rugby union test match between the Wallabies of Australia and the Springboks of South Africa is played at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town.
- 1948 – The United States Air Force accepts its first female recruits into a program called Women in the Air Force (WAF).
- 1988 – The Island Express train travelling from Bangalore to Kanyakumari derails on the Peruman bridge and falls into Ashtamudi Lake, killing 105 passengers and injuring over 200 more.
- 2011 – Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched in the final mission of the U.S. Space Shuttle program.
- 2014 – Israel launches an offensive on Gaza amid rising tensions following the kidnapping and murder of three Israeli teenagers.
- 2014 – The worst historical defeat of the Brazil against the Germany with a result of 1-7 in the semi-finals of the 2014 FIFA World Cup that has been dubbed the Mineirazo.
BIRTHS:
- 1831 – John Pemberton, American chemist, invented Coca-Cola (d. 1888)
- 1878 – Jimmy Quinn, Scottish footballer (d. 1945)
- 1895 – Igor Tamm, Russian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1971)
- 1920 – Chandrika Prasad Srivastava, Indian civil servant (d. 2013)
- 1941 – Dario Gradi, Italian-English footballer, coach, and manager
- 1949 – Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy, Indian politician, 14th Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh (d. 2009)
- 1952 – Jack Lambert, American football player and sportscaster
- 1958 – Neetu Singh, Indian actress and costume designer
- 1972 – Sourav Ganguly, Indian cricketer and sportscaster
- 1979 – Mat McBriar, American football player
- 1986 – Renata Costa, Brazilian footballer
- 1988 – Miki Roqué, Spanish footballer (d. 2012)
- 1997 – Bryce Love, American football player
- 1999 – İpek Öz, Turkish tennis player
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
- Christian Feast Day:
- Abda and Sabas
- Auspicius of Trier
- Grimbald
- Kilian, Totnan, and Colman
- Procopius of Scythopolis
- Sunniva and companions
- Theobald of Marly
- July 8 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
