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781 - The oldest recorded eruption of Mt. Fuji (Traditional Japanese date: July 6, 781).

1009 - Pietro Boccapecora becomes Pope Sergius IV.

1423 - Hundred Years' War: Battle of Cravant - The French army is defeated at Cravant on the banks of the river Yonne.

1498 - On his third voyage to the Western Hemisphere, Christopher Columbus becomes the first European to discover the island of Trinidad.

1588 - The Spanish Armada is spotted off the coast of England.

1655 - Russo-Polish War (1654-1667): Russian army enters the capital of the Grand Duchy of Lithuania, Wilno, which it would hold for six years.

1667 - Second Anglo-Dutch War: Treaty of Breda ends the conflict.

1703 - Daniel Defoe is placed in a pillory for the crime of seditious libel after publishing a politically satirical pamphlet, but is pelted with flowers.

1777 - The United States Congress passes a resolution that the services of Marquis de Lafayette "be accepted, and that, in consideration of his zeal, illustrious family and connexions, he have the rank and commission of major-general of the United States."

1790 - First U.S. patent issued; granted to inventor Samuel Hopkins for a potash process.

1856 - Christchurch, New Zealand chartered as a city.

1917 - The Third Battle of Ypres starts in Flanders.

1919 - German national assembly adopts the Weimar constitution (to enter into force August 14)

1930 - The radio mystery program The Shadow airs for the first time.

1932 - The NSDAP wins more than 38% of the vote in German elections.

1936 - The International Olympic Committee announces that the 1940 Summer Olympics were to be held in Tokyo. However, the games were given back to the IOC after the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out, and were eventually cancelled altogether because of World War II.

1940 - A doodlebug train in Cuyahoga Falls, Ohio collides with a multi-car freight train heading the opposite way, killing 43 people.

1941 - Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Nazi official Hermann Göring, orders SS general Reinhard Heydrich to "submit to me as soon as possible a general plan of the administrative material and financial measures necessary for carrying out the desired final solution of the Jewish question."

1945 - Pierre Laval, fugitive former leader of Vichy France, surrenders to Allied soldiers in Austria.

1948 - At Idlewild Field in New York, New York International Airport (later renamed John F. Kennedy International Airport) is dedicated.

1951 - Japan Airlines is established.

1954 - First ascent of K2, by an Italian expedition led by Ardito Desio.

1956 - Jim Laker sets extraordinary record at Old Trafford in the fourth Test of taking nineteen wickets in a first-class match (the previous best was seventeen.

1961 - At Fenway Park in Boston, Massachusetts, the first All-Star Game tie in major league baseball history occurs when the game is stopped in the 9th inning due to rain.

1964 - Ranger program: Ranger 7 sends back the first close-up photographs of the moon, with images 1,000 times clearer than anything ever seen from earth-bound telescopes.

1970 - Black Tot Day: The last day of the officially sanctioned rum ration in the Royal Navy.

1971 - Project Apollo: Apollo 15 astronauts become the first to ride in a lunar rover.

1973 - A Delta Air Lines jetliner crashes while landing in fog at Logan Airport, Boston, Massachusetts killing 89.

1975 - In Detroit, Michigan, Teamsters Union president Jimmy Hoffa is reported missing.

1976 - Viking program: Viking 1 - NASA releases the famous Face on Mars photo.

1981 - General Omar Torrijos of Panama dies in a plane crash.

1981 - 42-day strike of Major League Baseball ends in the United States.

1987 - A rare, class F-4 tornado rips through Edmonton, Alberta, killing 27 people and causing $330 million in damage.

1988 - 32 people were killed and 1,674 injured when a bridge at the Sultan Abdul Halim ferry terminal collapsed in Butterworth, Malaysia.

1992 - A Thai Airways Airbus A300-310 crashes into mountain north of Kathmandu, Nepal killing 113.

1996 - MIL-STD-1750A is declared inactive for use in new designs.

1999 - Discovery Program: Lunar Prospector - NASA intentionally crashes the spacecraft into the Moon, thus ending its mission to detect frozen water on the moon's surface.

2006 - Fidel Castro hands over power temporarily to brother Raúl Castro. This leads to a celebration in Little Havana La Pequeña Habana in Spanish, Miami, Florida, where many Cuban-Americans participated.

2006 - In the 2006 Israel-Lebanon conflict Hezbullah said that its forces hit an Israeli corvette near the city of Tyre, Israel denied that any of its ships were hit.

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1143 - Emperor Nijo of Japan (d. 1165)

1396 - Philip III, Duke of Burgundy (d. 1467)

1527 - Maximilian II, Holy Roman Emperor, (d. 1576)

1598 - Alessandro Algardi, Italian sculptor and architect (d. 1654)

1702 - Jean Denis Attiret, French Jesuit missionary and painter (d. 1768)

1704 - Gabriel Cramer, Swiss mathematician (d. 1752)

1718 - John Canton, English physicist (d. 1772)

1724 - Noël François de Wailly, French lexicographer (d. 1801)

1803 - John Ericsson, Swedish inventor and engineer (d. 1889)

1816 - George Henry Thomas, American general (d. 1870)

1835 - Henri Brisson, French statesman (d. 1912)

1843 - Peter Rosegger, Austrian poet (d. 1918)

1858 - Richard Dixon Oldham, British geologist, discovered evidence that the Earth has a molten core (1906) (d. 1936)

1860 - Mary Vaux Walcott, American artist and naturalist (d. 1940)

1867 - Sebastian S. Kresge, American merchant and philanthropist, founder of Kmart (d. 1966)

1884 - Carl Friedrich Goerdeler, German politician (d. 1945)

1887 - Hans Freyer, German sociologist (d. 1969)

1901 - Jean Dubuffet, French painter and sculptor (d. 1985)

1904 - Brett Halliday, American writer (d. 1977)

1911 - George Liberace, American musician (d. 1983)

1912 - Bill Brown, Australian cricketer

1912 - Milton Friedman, American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate

1912 - Irv Kupcinet, American newspaper columnist (d. 2003)

1913 - Bryan Hextall, professional ice hockey player (d. 1984)

1914 - Louis de Funès, French actor and comedian (d. 1983)

1916 - Billy Hitchcock, baseball player, coach, and official (d. 2006)

1916 - Bill Todman, American game show producer (d. 1979)

1916 - Sibte Hassan, Pakistani activist, journalist and writer.

1918 - Paul D. Boyer, American chemist, Nobel Prize Laureate

1918 - Hank Jones, American pianist

1919 - Curt Gowdy, American sports announcer (d. 2006)

1919 - Primo Levi, Italian author and chemist (d. 1987)

1921 - Whitney Young, American civil rights activist (d. 1971)

1921 - Peter Benenson, founder of Amnesty International (d. 2005)

1923 - Ahmet Ertegun, Turkish-born record company executive

1929 - Don Murray, American actor

1929 - José Santamaria, Uruguayan footballer

1929 - Lynne Reid Banks, British author

1930 - Oleg Popov, Russian clown

1931 - Kenny Burrell, American guitarist

1931 - Nick Bollettieri, American tennis coach

1933 - Cees Nooteboom, Dutch writer

1935 - Yvon Deschamps, French Canadian author, comedian and humorist

1936 - Vic Davalillo, baseball player

1939 - France Nuyen, French actress

1941 - Amarsinh Chaudhary, Indian politician

1943 - William Bennett, 3rd United States Secretary of Education

1943 - Susan Flannery, American actress

1943 - Lobo, American singer and songwriter

1944 - Geraldine Chaplin, American actress

1944 - Robert Carhart Merton, American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate

1945 - Gary Lewis, American drummer and vocalist (Gary Lewis & the Playboys)

1946 - Bob Welch, American musician

1950 - Steve Miller, American writer

1951 - Evonne Goolagong, Australian tennis player

1951 - Barry Van Dyke, American actor

1952 - Alan Autry, American football player, actor, and Mayor of Fresno, California

1952 - Helmuts Balderis, Latvian hockey player

1952 - João Barreiros, Portuguese writer

1953 - James Read, American actor

1956 - Michael Biehn, American actor

1957 - Daniel Ash, Gothic Rock artist in such bands as Bauhaus, Tones on Tail and Love and Rockets

1957 - Leon Durham, baseball player

1958 - Bill Berry, American drummer (R.E.M.)

1958 - Mark Cuban, American businessman, producer, and basketball team owner

1959 - Stanley Jordan, American jazz guitarist

1960 - Dale Hunter, Canadian ice hockey player

1962 - Wesley Snipes, American actor

1962 - Kevin Greene, professional American football player

1963 - Brian Skrudland, professional ice hockey player

1964 - Jim Corr, Irish singer and musician (The Corrs)

1965 - John Laurinaitis, American professional wrestler

1965 - J. K. Rowling, British novelist

1965 - Scott Brooks, former pro basketball player

1966 - Dean Cain, American actor

1967 - Minako Honda, Japanese singer and musical actress (d. 2005)

1969 - David Cash, American professional wrestler

1971 - Gus Frerotte, American football player

1971 - John Lowery (John 5), American guitarist

1973 - Chandra North, American supermodel

1974 - Emilia Fox, English actress

1974 - Jonathan Ogden, American football player

1975 - Simon Hirst, British radio DJ (hit40uk)

1975 - Randy Flores, baseball player

1975 - Mike Lincoln, baseball player

1976 - Annie Parisse, American actress

1976 - Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer

1977 - Tim Couch, American football player

1978 - Justin Wilson, English race car driver

1978 - Will Champion, English drummer (Coldplay)

1978 - Ashley Smith, Hostage

1979 - Jade Kwan, Hong Kong singer

1979 - Per Krøldrup, Danish footballer

1979 - Adam G Brown, English politician

1979 - J.J. Furmaniak, Professional baseball player

1980 - Mils Muliaina, New Zealand and Waikato Rugby Player

1981 - Ira Losco, Maltese singer

1981 - Matthew "M. Shadows" Sanders, American singer (Avenged Sevenfold)

1982 - Blessing Mahwire, Zimbabwean cricketer

1986 - Evgeni Malkin, Russian hockey player

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855 - Imam Ahmad ibn Hanbal, Muslim Jurisprudent (b. 780)

1099 - El Cid, Spanish warrior (b. 1044)

1396 - William Courtenay, Archbishop of Canterbury (b. 1342)

1508 - Na'od, Emperor of Ethiopia (killed in battle) (b. 1494)

1547 - King Francis I of France (b. 1494)

1556 - Ignatius Loyola, Spanish priest and founder of the Jesuits

1653 - Thomas Dudley, Governor of Massachusetts Bay Colony (b. 1576)

1726 - Nicolaus II Bernoulli, Swiss mathematician (b. 1695)

1750 - King John V of Portugal (b. 1689)

1784 - Denis Diderot, French philosopher and encylopedist (b. 1713)

1875 - Andrew Johnson, 17th President of the United States (b. 1808)

1886 - Franz Liszt, Hungarian composer (b. 1811)

1914 - Jean Jaurès, French politician (d. 1859)

1917 - Francis Ledwidge, Irish poet (b. 1881)

1917 - Hedd Wyn (Ellis Humphrey Evans), Welsh poet (b. 1887)

1944 - Antoine de Saint-Exupery, French pilot and writer (b. 1900)

1953 - Robert Taft, U.S. Senator from Ohio and Presidential candidate (b. 1889)

1964 - Jim Reeves, American singer (b. 1923)

1972 - Paul-Henri Spaak, Prime Minister of Belgium (b. 1899)

1980 - Pascual Jordan, German physicist (b. 1902)

1980 - Mohd. Rafi, Indian playback singer (b. 1924)

1981 - Omar Torrijos, Panamanian military leader

1986 - Chiune Sugihara, Japanese diplomat (b. 1900)

1986 - Teddy Wilson, American jazz pianist (b. 1912)

1993 - King Baudouin I of Belgium (b. 1930)

2001 - Poul Anderson, American author (b. 1926)

2003 - Guido Crepax, Italian comics artist (b. 1933)

2004 - Virginia Grey, American actress (b. 1917)

2004 - Laura Betti, Italian actress (b. 1927)

2005 - Wim Duisenberg, Dutch banker and 1st president of the European Central Bank (b. 1935)

2006 - Paul Eells, "Voice of the Arkansas Razorbacks" sportscaster for 38 years (b. 1935)

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Hari Pahlawan - Malaysian warriors day.

La Hae Hawai‘i - Hawaiian Flag Day.

Republic of the Congo - Upswing of the Revolution.

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Liturgical feasts
Roman Catholicism

Saint Banthus, confessor at Trier Trier
Saint Everard Hanse, martyr
Saint Germanus (died 448), bishop of Auxerre, confessor Bruges; Paris
Saint Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits
Blessed John Columbini (died 1367)
Saint Justinus de Jacobis
Saint Neotus, abbot, confessor England
Saint Tertullinus, priest, martyr Salzburg
Saint Helen of Skofde = Helena of Skoefde, widow, martyr Sweden, Denmark; Scandinavia
Saint Joan Antidea Thouret

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Fictional

Harry Potter's birthday, from J.K. Rowling's Harry Potter series