EVENTS:
- 1629 – An earthquake in Naples, Italy, kills about 10,000 people.
- 1729 – Foundation of Baltimore, Maryland.
- 1930 – In Montevideo, Uruguay wins the first FIFA World Cup.
- 1962 – The Trans-Canada Highway, the largest national highway in the world, is officially opened.
- 1971 – Apollo program: Apollo 15 Mission – David Scott and James Irwin on the Apollo Lunar Module module Falcon land on the Moon with the first Lunar Rover.
- 1980 – Vanuatu gains independence.
- 2012 – A power grid failure leaves seven states in northern India without power, affecting 360 million people.
- 2012 – A train fire kills 32 passengers and injures 27 on the Tamil Nadu Express in Andhra Pradesh, 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.
- 2020 – NASA’s Mars 2020 mission was launched on an Atlas V rocket from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station.
- 2024 – A series of landslides occurs in Kerala, India, causing over 420 fatalities.
BIRTHS:
- 1863 – Henry Ford, American businessman, founded the Ford Motor Company (d. 1947)
- 1881 – Smedley Butler, American general, Medal of Honor recipient (d. 1940)
- 1922 – Henry W. Bloch, American banker and businessman, co-founded H&R Block
- 1947 – Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, French virologist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1951 – Alan Kourie, South African cricketer
- 1965 – Tim Munton, England cricketer
- 1968 – Terry Crews, American football player and actor
- 1969 – Errol Stewart, South African cricketer and lawyer
- 1973 – Sonu Nigam, Indian singer and actor
- 1982 – James Anderson, English cricketer
- 1986 – Tiago Alencar, Brazilian footballer
- 1987 – Anton Fink, German footballer
- 1989 – Wayne Parnell, South African cricketer
HOLIDAYS and OBSERVANCES:
