- Jul 2 Andrei Gromyko appointed Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet in the USSR
- Jul 2 European Space Agency launches Giotto (Halley's Comet Flyby)
Back to the Future
Jul 3 "Back to the Future" directed by Robert Zemeckis and starring Michael J. Fox and Christopher Lloyd is released
CBS Thwarts Turner
Jul 3 CBS announces a 21% stock buy-back to thwart Ted Turner's takeover
- Jul 3 Tinker Bell's first nightly flight at Walt Disney World Resort, Florida
- Jul 5 Nicholas Mark Sanders (England) begins circumnavigation of globe, covering 13,035 road miles in 78 days, 3 hr, 30 min
Mugabe Wins 2nd Term
Jul 5 Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union - Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF) party wins re-election in Zimbabwe for a second term
- Jul 6 Mom's Command wins the Coaching Club American Oaks at Belmont to clinch American thoroughbred racing's Triple Tiara for fillies
Wimbledon Women's Tennis
Jul 6 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Martina Navratilova beats Chris Evert 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 for her 6th Wimbledon singles title
The Rise and Fall of Boris Becker
Jul 7 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Boris Becker beats South African Kevin Curren 6-3, 6-7, 7-6, 6-4 to become the youngest man (17) to win a Wimbledon singles title
- Jul 8 Marge Schott becomes CEO of Cincinnati Red
Griselda Blanco Convicted in NY
Jul 9 Colombian drug trafficker Griselda Blanco convicted in New York of manufacturing, smuggling and distributing cocaine and sentenced to 15 years [1]
- Jul 9 South Africa police arrested Dutch ANC'er Klaas de Jong
- Jul 10 Coca-Cola Co announces it will resume selling old formula Coke
The Sinking of the Rainbow Warrior
Jul 10 French foreign intelligence agents blow up the Greenpeace flagship Rainbow Warrior in Auckland harbor, New Zealand, to prevent it interfering with French nuclear tests in the South Pacific. Dutch photographer Fernando Pereira is killed.
Sports History
Jul 11 Astros' Nolan Ryan, 1st to strike out 4000 (Mets' Danny Heep)
- Jul 11 Refurbished space shuttle Columbia moves overland from Palmdale to Dryden
- Jul 11 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
- Jul 12 "Singin' in the Rain", musical adaptation of the 1952 film, opens at Gershwin Theater, NYC; runs for 367 performances
Event of Interest
Jul 12 Doctors discover a cancerous growth in President Ronald Reagan's colon
- Jul 12 STS 51-F launch scrubbed at T -3s because of main engine shutdown
- Jul 13 "Live Aid" concerts held at both Wembley Stadium (London, England) and JFK Stadium (Philadelphia, Pennsylvania) raises over $70 million for African famine relief
- Jul 13 Doctors at Bethesda Naval hospital remove two small benign polyps from US President Ronald Reagan's colon [1]
Sports History
Jul 13 New York Yankees retire Roger Maris (9) and Elston Howard (32) uniform numbers
- Jul 14 Columbia returns to Kennedy Space Center via Offutt AFB, Neb
- Jul 14 Last USFL game-Baltimore Stars defeats Oakland Invaders, 28-24
- Jul 14 US Open Women's Golf, Baltusrol GC: Kathy Baker (later Guadagnino) wins her first LPGA Tour event and only major title, 3 strokes ahead of runner-up Judy Clark (later Dickinson)
- Jul 15 Deborah Carthy-Deu, of Puerto Rico, crowned 34th Miss Universe
- Jul 16 56th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 6-1 at Humphrey Metrodome, Minn
- Jul 16 All star MVP: LaMarr Hoyt (San Diego Padres)
- Jul 16 Bill to abolish Greater London Council receives royal assent
- Jul 18 USSR performs underground nuclear Test
- Jul 19 Christa McAuliffe chosen as 1st school teacher to fly aboard the space shuttle
- Jul 19 The Val di Stava Dam collapse killing 268 people in Val di Stava, Italy.
- Jul 20 Divers find wreck of Spanish galleon Atocha
- Jul 20 The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles
- Jul 21 "Leader of the Pack" closes at Ambassador Theater NYC after 120 performances
Tour de France
Jul 21 72nd Tour de France won by Bernard Hinault of France
- Jul 21 Amina Fakir (Detroit), 23, crowned 18th Miss Black America
British Golf Open
Jul 21 British Open Men's Golf, Royal St George's GC: Scotsman Sandy Lyle wins his only Open title by 1 stroke from runner-up Payne Stewart; last time event features double cut (after 36 and 54 holes), introduced in 1968
- Jul 24 French DGSE officers Dominique Prieur and Alain Mafart are arrested and charged with murder over the bombing of the Rainbow Warrior
Punjab Crisis Peace Accord
Jul 24 Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi signs a peace accord with Sikh leader Harchand Singh Longowai to settle the three-year Punjab crisis [1]
Hudson's AIDS Confirmation
Jul 25 Spokeswoman for Rock Hudson confirms he has AIDS
- Jul 25 Steve Cram runs world record mile (3:46.32)
- Jul 25 Uganda suspends constitution following coup
- Jul 25 US performs nuclear Test at Nevada Test Site
- Jul 25 USSR performs nuclear test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
10,000m Record Set
Jul 27 Ingrid Kristiansen of Norway becomes first woman to run 10,000m in under 31 minutes; takes world record down to 30:59.42 in Oslo, Norway
- Jul 28 Alan Garcia sworn in as President of Peru
Canadian Women's Open
Jul 28 Canadian Open Women's Golf (du Maurier Classic), Beaconsfield GC: Pat Bradley wins by 1 from Jane Geddes
Baseball Hall of Fame
Jul 28 Lou Brock, Enos Slaughter, A Vaughan, & Hoyt Wilhelm are inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York
- Jul 29 19th NASA Space Shuttle Mission (51-G): Challenger 8 launches
Tina Turner Films Prison Video
Jul 29 Singer Tina Turner films music video for the song “One Of The Living” at Eastern State Penitentiary in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; song is from the film "Mad Max: Beyond Thunderdome" in which she co-starred with Mel Gibson
- Jul 30 Discovery moves to Vehicle Assembly Building at Kennedy Space Center (Florida) for mating of STS 51-I mission
- Jul 30 Valerie Lowrance, of Texas, 18, crowned America's Junior Miss
Under the Banyan Tree
Jul 31 Indian writer R.K. Narayan publishes his short story collection "Under the Banyan Tree and Other Stories"
Authors
Dictators
Explorers
Outlaws
Queens
Spies