1789 – US War Department established a regular army.
1875 – US-Spanish relations decline in wake of Cuban rebellion.
1907 – Construction begins on Washington National Cathedral.
1913 – Washington Senator Walter Johnson wins his 36th game.
1914 – Boston Braves, who were in last place in mid-July, clinch NL pennant.
1915 – Hurricane claims 275 in Mississippi Delta.
1916 – American oil tycoon John D. Rockefeller becomes the world’s first billionaire.
1920 – Joseph Horne Company in Pittsburgh sells radios for $10.
1930 – NYC College offers 1st course in radio advertising.
1940 – “Double or Nothing”, a radio quiz show, 1st heard on Mutual Radio Net.
1947 – Dizzy Gillespie presented his 1st Carnegie Hall concert in NY.
1950 – Telephone Answering Machine created by Bell Laboratories.
1953 – “Make Room for Daddy” starring Danny Thomas, premieres on ABC-TV.
1957 – Buddy Holly & Crickets released 2nd single “Oh Boy!”/”Not Fade Away”
1960 – “My Three Sons” starring Fred MacMurray, debuts on ABC-TV.
1967 – Gladys Knight & Pips releases “I Heard it Through the Grapevine”
1977 – “Star Wars Theme/Cantina Band” by Meco hits #1.
1985 – “Alfred Hitchcock Presents,” returns to NBC-TV.
2001 – The Syracuse Herald-Journal, a US newspaper dating back to 1839, ceases publication.
2006 – US Representative Mark Foley resigns after allegations of inappropriate emails to house pages were introduced.
2008 – Dow Jones Industrial Average falls 777.68 points, its largest single-day point loss, following the bankruptcies of Lehman Brothers and Washington Mutual.