July 28 in History

Catastrophic floods devastate Eastern Kentucky, resulting in 45 fatalities and causing damage to thousands of homes and businesses.

Australian Wendy Tuck becomes the first female skipper to win the Clipper Round the World Yacht Race.

Nawaz Sharif was disqualified from office for life by Supreme Court of Pakistan after finding him guilty of corruption charges.

While flying from Seoul, South Korea to Shanghai, China, Asiana Airlines Flight 991 develops an in-flight fire in the cargo hold. The Boeing 747-400F freighter attempts to divert to Jeju International Airport, but crashes into the sea South-West of Jeju island, killing both crew members on board.

Airblue Flight 202 crashes into the Margalla Hills north of Islamabad, Pakistan, killing all 152 people aboard. It is the deadliest aviation accident in Pakistan history and the first involving an Airbus A321.

The Provisional Irish Republican Army calls an end to its thirty-year-long armed campaign against British rule in Northern Ireland.

Nine coal miners trapped in the flooded Quecreek Mine in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, are rescued after 77 hours underground.

Pulkovo Aviation Enterprise Flight 9560 crashes after takeoff from Sheremetyevo International Airport in Moscow, Russia, killing 14 of the 16 people on board.

Australian Ian Thorpe becomes the first swimmer to win six gold medals at a single World Championship meeting.

The remains of a prehistoric man are discovered near Kennewick, Washington. Such remains will be known as the Kennewick Man.

Olympic Games: Games of the XXIII Olympiad: The summer Olympics were opened in Los Angeles.

The Tangshan earthquake measuring between 7.8 and 8.2 moment magnitude flattens Tangshan in the People's Republic of China, killing 242,769 and injuring 164,851.

Spetsgruppa A, Russia's elite special force, was formed.

Summer Jam at Watkins Glen: Nearly 600,000 people attend a rock festival at the Watkins Glen International Raceway.

Vietnam War: U.S. president Lyndon B. Johnson announces his order to increase the number of United States troops in South Vietnam from 75,000 to 125,000.

Beginning of the 8th World Festival of Youth and Students.

The German Volkswagen Act comes into force.

Heavy rain and a mudslide in Isahaya, western Kyushu, Japan, kills 992.

A U.S. Army B-25 bomber crashes into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building killing 14 and injuring 26.

World War II: Operation Gomorrah: The Royal Air Force bombs Hamburg, Germany causing a firestorm that kills 42,000 German civilians.

World War II: Soviet leader Joseph Stalin issues Order No. 227. In response to alarming German advances, all those who retreat or otherwise leave their positions without orders to do so are to be tried in a military court, with punishment ranging from duty in a shtrafbat battalion, imprisonment in a Gulag, or execution.

The Sutton Hoo helmet is discovered.

Hawaii Clipper disappears between Guam and Manila as the first loss of an airliner in trans-Pacific China Clipper service.

First flight of the Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress.

During the Great Depression, U.S. president Herbert Hoover orders the United States Army to forcibly evict the "Bonus Army" of World War I veterans gathered in Washington, D.C.

Anti-lynching movement: The Silent Parade takes place in New York City, in protest against murders, lynchings, and other violence directed towards African Americans.

The United States begins a 19-year occupation of Haiti.

World War I: In the culmination of the July Crisis, Austria-Hungary declares war on the Kingdom of Serbia and begins the Great War.

The Australasian Antarctic Expedition began as the SY Aurora departed London.

The city of Miami is incorporated.

A moderate earthquake measuring magnitude 4.3–5.2 strikes the Italian island of Ischia, killing over 2,300 people.

The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution is certified, establishing African American citizenship and guaranteeing due process of law.

At the age of 18, Vinnie Ream becomes the first and youngest female artist to receive a commission from the United States government for a statue (of Abraham Lincoln).

American Civil War: In the Battle of Ezra Church, Confederate troops make a third unsuccessful attempt under General John Bell Hood to prevent Union forces led by General William T. Sherman from approaching Atlanta, Georgia.

USS Constellation (1854), the last all-sail warship built by the United States Navy and current museum ship in Baltimore Harbor, is commissioned.

José de San Martín declares the independence of Peru from Spain.

Peninsular War: Sir Arthur Wellesley's British, Portuguese and Spanish army repulse a French force led by Joseph Bonaparte in the Battle of Talavera.

Mahmud II became Sultan of the Ottoman Empire and Caliph of Islam.

French Revolution: Maximilien Robespierre and Louis Antoine de Saint-Just are executed by guillotine in Paris, France.

Constitution of the province of Cantabria ratified at the Assembly Hall in Bárcena la Puente, Reocín, Spain.

Second Northern War: Battle of Warsaw begins.

Eighty Years' War: The Spanish capture the strategic Dutch fortress of Schenkenschans.

La Laguna encomienda, known today as the Laguna province in the Philippines, is founded by the Spaniards as one of the oldest encomiendas (provinces) in the country.

Henry VIII of England marries his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

Thomas Cromwell is executed after having been condemned untried, using a bill of attainder which Cromwell had used against his opponents.

Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara: Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.

Troops of the Republic of Pisa and the Republic of Florence clash in the Battle of Cascina.

Pope Felix III excommunicated patriarch Acacius of Constantinople for his support of the Henoticon and his support of the removal of patriarch John Talaia, leading to the Acacian schism.

Malik Nabers, American football player

Emile Smith Rowe, English footballer

GloRilla, American rapper

Harriet Dart, British tennis player

Walker Buehler, American baseball player

Hyojung, South Korean singer

Harry Kane, English footballer

Evan Rodrigues, Canadian ice hockey player

Cher Lloyd, English singer

Spencer Boldman, American actor

Soulja Boy, American rapper, producer, and actor

Simone Pizzuti, Italian footballer

Gunnar Nelson, Icelandic professional fighter and mixed martial artist

Yevhen Khacheridi, Ukrainian-Greek footballer

Pedro, Spanish footballer

Christofer Ranzmaier, Austrian politician

Alexandra Chando, American actress

Lauri Korpikoski, Finnish ice hockey player

Essence Carson, American basketball player

Nolan Gerard Funk, Canadian actor

Mathieu Debuchy, French footballer

Dustin Milligan, Canadian actor, producer, and screenwriter

Ali Krieger, American soccer player

Zach Parise, American ice hockey player

DeMeco Ryans, American football player and coach

John David Washington, American actor and football player

Sam Dastyari, Iranian-Australian politician

Cody Hay, Canadian figure skater

Ilir Latifi, Swedish-Kosovar mixed martial artist

Cain Velasquez, Mexican-American mixed martial artist and wrestler

Michael Carrick, English footballer and coach

Willie Green, American basketball player and coach

Henrik Hansen, Danish footballer

Birgitta Haukdal, Icelandic singer-songwriter and producer

Lee Min-woo, South Korean singer-songwriter and dancer

Alena Popchanka, Belarusian-French swimmer and coach

Kārlis Vērdiņš, Latvian poet

Hitomi Yaida, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist

Aki Berg, Finnish-Canadian ice hockey player

Manu Ginóbili, Argentinian basketball player

Miyabiyama Tetsushi, Japanese sumo wrestler

Jacoby Shaddix, American singer-songwriter

Leonor Watling, Spanish actress

Afroman, American rapper and comedian

Elizabeth Berkley, American actress

Alexis Tsipras, Greek engineer and politician, 186th Prime Minister of Greece

Marc Dupré, Canadian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Steve Staios, Canadian ice hockey player

Robert Chapman, English cricketer

Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, Iraqi leader of the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (died 2019)

Ludmilla Lacueva Canut, Andorran writer

Stephen Lynch, American singer-songwriter and actor

Annie Perreault, Canadian speed skater

Michael Amott, Swedish guitarist and songwriter

Isabelle Brasseur, Canadian figure skater

Paul Strang, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach

Alexis Arquette, American actress (died 2016)

Garth Snow, American ice hockey player and manager

Dana White, American businessman, president of the Ultimate Fighting Championship

Taka Hirose, Japanese bass player

Liz Cheney, American politician, daughter of Dick Cheney

Sossina M. Haile, Ethiopian American chemist

Miguel Ángel Nadal, Spanish footballer

Jimmy Pardo, American stand-up comedian, actor, and host

Shikao Suga, Japanese singer-songwriter and guitarist

Priscilla Chan, Hong Kong singer

Delfeayo Marsalis, American jazz musician (trombonist), member of the Marsalis family

Lori Loughlin, American actress

Rachel Sweet, American singer, television writer, and actress

Yannick Dalmas, French racing driver

Luiz Fernando Carvalho, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter

Jon J. Muth, American author and illustrator

Yōichi Takahashi, Japanese illustrator

Mark Meadows, American politician, Donald Trump's former Chief of Staff

William T. Vollmann, American novelist, short story writer and journalist

Terry Fox, Canadian runner and activist (died 1981)

Michael Hitchcock, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Scott Pelley, American journalist and author

John Feinstein, American sportswriter and commentator (died 2025)

Robert Swan, English explorer

Hugo Chávez, Venezuelan colonel and politician, President of Venezuela (died 2013)

Gerd Faltings, German mathematician and academic

Nnenna Freelon, American jazz singer, composer, and arranger

Steve Morse, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Mikey Sheehy, Irish footballer

Glenn A. Baker, Australian journalist and author

Vajiralongkorn, King of Thailand

Santiago Calatrava, Spanish architect and engineer, designed the Athens Olympic Sports Complex

Doug Collins, American basketball player and coach

Gregg Giuffria, American rock musician and businessman

Ray Kennedy, English footballer (died 2021)

Shahyar Ghanbari, Iranian singer-songwriter

Tapley Seaton, Kittitian politician, 4th Governor-General of Saint Kitts and Nevis (died 2023)

Vida Blue, American baseball player and sportscaster (died 2023)

Randall Wallace, American screenwriter and producer

Simon Kirke, English drummer

Gerald Casale, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and director

Eiichi Ohtaki, Japanese singer-songwriter and producer (died 2013)

Georgia Engel, American actress and comedian (died 2019)

Peter Cosgrove, Australian general and politician, 26th Governor General of Australia

Sally Struthers, American actress

Jonathan Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Linda Kelsey, American actress

Fahmida Riaz, Pakistani poet and activist (died 2018)

Jim Davis, American cartoonist, created Garfield

Mike Bloomfield, American guitarist and songwriter (died 1981)

Bill Bradley, American basketball player and politician

Richard Wright, English singer-songwriter and keyboard player (died 2008)

Tonia Marketaki, Greek director and screenwriter (died 1994)

John Sattler, Australian rugby league player (died 2023)

Bill Crider, American author (died 2018)

Riccardo Muti, Italian conductor and educator

Susan Roces, Filipino actress and producer (died 2022)

Luis Aragonés, Spanish footballer, coach, and manager (died 2014)

Arsen Dedić, Croatian singer-songwriter and poet (died 2015)

Alberto Fujimori, Peruvian engineer, academic, and politician, President of Peru (died 2024)

Chuan Leekpai, Thai lawyer and politician, 20th Prime Minister of Thailand

Peter Duchin, American pianist and bandleader

Francis Veber, French director and screenwriter

Russ Jackson, Canadian football player and coach

Garfield Sobers, Barbadian cricketer (died 2026)

Neil McKendrick, English historian and academic

Jacques d'Amboise, American dancer and choreographer (died 2021)

Charlie Hodge, Canadian ice hockey player and scout (died 2016)

Natalie Babbitt, American author and illustrator (died 2016)

Carlos Alberto Brilhante Ustra, Brazilian colonel (died 2015)

Alan Brownjohn, English poet and author (died 2024)

Darryl Hickman, American actor (died 2024)

Johnny Martin, Australian cricketer (died 1992)

Firoza Begum, Bangladeshi singer (died 2014)

Junior Kimbrough, American singer and guitarist (died 1998)

Jean Roba, Belgian author and illustrator (died 2006)

Ramsey Muir Withers, Canadian general (died 2014)

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis, American journalist and socialite, 37th First Lady of the United States (died 1994)

John Ashbery, American poet (died 2017)

Charlie Biddle, American-Canadian bassist (died 2003)

Baruch Samuel Blumberg, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2011)

Luigi Musso, Italian racing driver (died 1958)

Ray Ellis, American conductor and producer (died 2008)

Jacques Piccard, Belgian-Swiss oceanographer and engineer (died 2008)

Andrew V. McLaglen, English-American director and producer (died 2014)

David Brown, American journalist and producer (died 2010)

Charles H. Townes, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 2015)

Dick Sprang, American illustrator (died 2000)

Frankie Yankovic, American polka musician (died 1998)

Carmen Dragon, American conductor and composer (died 1984)

Aenne Burda, German publisher (died 2005)

Malcolm Lowry, English novelist and poet (died 1957)

Earl Tupper, American inventor and businessman, founded Tupperware Brands (died 1983)

Albert Namatjira, Australian painter (died 1959)

Karl Popper, Austrian-English philosopher and academic (died 1994)

Freddie Fitzsimmons, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1979)

Rudy Vallée, American actor, singer, and saxophonist (died 1986)

Lawrence Gray, American actor (died 1970)

Barbara La Marr, American actress and screenwriter (died 1926)

Rued Langgaard, Danish organist and composer (died 1952)

Bullet Rogan, American baseball player (died 1967)

Marcel Duchamp, French-American painter and sculptor (died 1968)

Willard Price, Canadian-American journalist and author (died 1983)

Lucy Burns, American activist, co-founded the National Woman's Party (died 1966)

Stefan Filipkiewicz, Polish painter (died 1944)

Ernst Cassirer, Polish-American philosopher and academic (died 1945)

Albert Sarraut, French journalist and politician, 106th Prime Minister of France (died 1962)

Charles Dillon Perrine, American-Argentinian astronomer (died 1951)

Beatrix Potter, English children's book writer and illustrator (died 1943)

Albertson Van Zo Post, American fencer (died 1938)

Huseyn Khan Nakhchivanski, Russian general (died 1919)

Elias M. Ammons, American businessman and politician, 19th Governor of Colorado (died 1925)

Grand Duchess Anastasia Mikhailovna of Russia (died 1922)

Ballington Booth, English-American activist, co-founded Volunteers of America (died 1940)

James Edson White, American author and publisher, second son of Ellen G. White and James S. White

Gerard Manley Hopkins, English poet (died 1889)

Stefan Dunjov, Bulgarian colonel (died 1889)

Ludwig Feuerbach, German anthropologist and philosopher (died 1872)

Ignaz Bösendorfer, Austrian businessman, founded the Bösendorfer Company (died 1859)

Friedrich Wilhelm von Bismarck, German army officer and writer (died 1860)

Fabre d'Églantine, French actor, playwright, and politician (died 1794)

Thomas Heyward Jr., American judge and politician (died 1809)

Charles Ancillon, French jurist and diplomat (died 1715)

Marguerite Louise d'Orléans, French princess (died 1721)

Judith Leyster, Dutch painter (died 1660)

William, Duke of Jülich-Cleves-Berg, German nobleman (died 1592)

Jacopo Sannazaro, Italian poet, humanist and epigrammist (died 1530)

Margaret of Durazzo, Queen of Naples and Hungary (died 1412)

Laura Dahlmeier, German biathlete, Olympic champion (born 1993)

John Anderson, Scottish television personality, teacher and coach (born 1931)

Doug Creek, American baseball player (born 1969)

Reyes Moronta, Dominican baseball player (born 1993)

Francine Pascal, American author (born 1932)

Bernard Cribbins, British actor (born 1928)

Dusty Hill, American musician (born 1949)

Junrey Balawing, Filipino record holder (born 1993)

Wanny van Gils, Dutch footballer (born 1959)

Émile Derlin Zinsou, Beninese politician (born 1918)

Mahasweta Devi, Indian Bengali fiction writer and socio-political activist (born 1926)

Jan Kulczyk, Polish businessman (born 1950)

Edward Natapei, Vanuatuan politician, 6th Prime Minister of Vanuatu (born 1954)

Clive Rice, South African cricketer and coach (born 1949)

Alex Forbes, Scottish footballer and manager (born 1925)

Alakbar Mammadov, Azerbaijani footballer and manager (born 1930)

Mustafa Adrisi, Ugandan general and politician, 3rd Vice President of Uganda (born 1922)

Eileen Brennan, American actress and singer (born 1932)

Rita Reys, Dutch jazz singer (born 1924)

William Scranton, American captain and politician, 13th United States Ambassador to the United Nations (born 1917)

Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (born 1914)

Colin Horsley, New Zealand-English pianist and educator (born 1920)

Sepp Mayerl, Austrian mountaineer (born 1937)

William F. Milliken Jr., American race car driver and engineer (born 1911)

Abdul Fatah Younis, Libyan general (born 1944)

Jim Johnson, American football player and coach (born 1941)

Karl Gotch, Belgian-American wrestler and trainer (born 1924)

Jim LeRoy, American soldier and pilot (born 1961)

David Gemmell, English author (born 1948)

Francis Crick, English biologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)

Tiziano Terzani, Italian journalist and author (born 1938)

Valerie Goulding, Irish activist and politician (born 1918)

Archer John Porter Martin, English chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1910)

Ahmed Sofa, Bangladeshi poet, author, and critic (born 1943)

Abraham Pais, Dutch-American physicist and historian (born 1918)

Trygve Haavelmo, Norwegian economist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)

Zbigniew Herbert, Polish poet and author (born 1924)

Lenny McLean, English boxer, actor, and author (born 1949)

Consalvo Sanesi, Italian racing driver (born 1911)

Rosalie Crutchley, English actress (born 1920)

Seni Pramoj, Thai lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Thailand (born 1905)

Roger Tory Peterson, American ornithologist and academic (born 1908)

Stanley Woods, Irish motorcycle racer (born 1903)

Sulev Nõmmik, Estonian actor and director (born 1931)

Jill Esmond, English actress (born 1908)

Jack Renshaw, Australian politician, 31st Premier of New South Wales (born 1909)

Keith Green, American singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1953)

Stanley Rother, American priest and missionary (born 1935)

Rose Rand, Austrian-born American logician and philosopher (born 1903)

Don Miller, American football player and coach (born 1902)

Charles Shadwell, English conductor and bandleader (born 1898)

Maggie Gripenberg, Finnish dancer and choreographer (born 1881)

Helen Traubel, American soprano and actress (born 1903)

Lawrence Moore Cosgrave, Canadian colonel and diplomat (born 1890)

Myril Hoag, American baseball player (born 1908)

Charles E. Pont, French-American minister and painter (born 1898)

Ramón Grau, Cuban physician and politician, 6th President of Cuba (born 1882)

Frank Loesser, American composer (born 1910)

Otto Hahn, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1879)

Karl W. Richter, American lieutenant and pilot (born 1942)

Edogawa Ranpo, Japanese author and critic (born 1894)

Attallah Suheimat, Jordanian politician (born 1875)

Carl Borgward, German engineer, founder of Borgward Group

Edith Abbott, American economist, social worker, and educator (born 1876)

Isaac Heinemann, German-Israeli scholar and academic (born 1876)

Saint Alphonsa, first woman of Indian origin to be canonized as a saint by the Catholic Church (born 1910)

Flinders Petrie, English archaeologist and academic (born 1853)

Meletius IV of Constantinople (born 1871)

Marie Dressler, Canadian-American actress and singer (born 1868)

Louis Tancred, South African cricketer and pilot (born 1876)

Nishinoumi Kajirō III, Japanese sumo wrestler, 30th yokozuna (born 1890)

John DeWitt, American hammer thrower (born 1881)

Allvar Gullstrand, Swedish ophthalmologist and optician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)

Édouard-Henri Avril, French painter (born 1849)

Edward Beecher, American minister and theologian (born 1803)

Moses Montefiore, British philanthropist, sheriff and banker (born 1784)

George Law Curry, American publisher and politician (born 1820)

Jan Evangelista Purkyně, Czech anatomist and physiologist (born 1787)

Charles Albert of Sardinia (born 1798)

Joseph Bonaparte, French diplomat and brother of Napoleon (born 1768)

Clemens Brentano, German author and poet (born 1778)

Bernhard Crusell, Finnish composer (born 1775)

Nathan Mayer Rothschild, German-English banker and financier (born 1777)

Édouard Mortier, duc de Trévise, French general and politician, 15th Prime Minister of France (born 1768)

Gaspard Monge, French mathematician and engineer (born 1746)

Richard Beckett, English cricketer and captain (born 1772)

Selim III, Ottoman sultan (born 1761)

Maximilien Robespierre, French politician, (born 1758)

Louis Antoine de Saint-Just, French soldier and politician (born 1767)

George Dodington, 1st Baron Melcombe, English politician, Lord Lieutenant of Somerset (born 1691)

Johann Sebastian Bach, German organist and composer (born 1685)

Antonio Vivaldi, Italian violinist and composer (born 1678)

Étienne Baluze, French scholar and academic (born 1630)

Henry Bennet, 1st Earl of Arlington, English politician and diplomat, Secretary of State for the Southern Department (born 1618)

Bulstrode Whitelocke, English lawyer and politician (born 1605)

Abraham Cowley, English poet and author (born 1618)

Cyrano de Bergerac, French poet and playwright (born 1619)

Guillén de Castro y Bellvis, Spanish playwright (born 1569)

Francis Russell, 2nd Earl of Bedford (born 1527)

Thomas Cromwell, English lawyer and politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (born 1495)

Rodrigo de Bastidas, Spanish explorer, founded the city of Santa Marta (born 1460)

Robert Blackadder, bishop of Glasgow

Edward Woodville, Lord Scales (at the Battle of St. Aubin-du-Cormier)

John II, king of Cyprus and Armenia (born 1418)

Sancia of Majorca, queen regent of Naples (born c. 1285)

Guy VIII of Viennois, Dauphin of Vienne (born 1309)

Keran, Queen of Armenia ( b. before 1262)

Walter de Burgh, 1st Earl of Ulster (born 1220)

Leopold VI, Duke of Austria (born 1176)

William Clito, English son of Sybilla of Conversano (born 1102)

Victor II, pope of the Catholic Church (born 1018)

Shi Jingtang, emperor of Later Jin (born 892)

Thankmar, half-brother of Otto I (during Siege of Eresburg) (born c. 908)

Athanasius I Gammolo, Syriac Orthodox Patriarch of Antioch.

Theodosius II, Roman emperor (born 401)