July 15th

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After 86 days of gushing oil into the Gulf of Mexico and several previous attempts to contain the flow, BP caps its leaking oil well.

MSNBC is launched. The American news television channel was created by Microsoft and General Electric's NBC unit. The first show of the channel was hosted by Jodi Applegate.

Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 collides with Jupiter. The Jupiter orbiting comet collided with Jupiter. It was the first time in recorded history that Astronomers had observed a collision between two celestial objects.

Orly Airport attack. A Turkish Airlines check-in counter was bombed at the Orly Airport in Paris, killing 8 people and injuring more than 50 people. The Armenian militant organization ASALA took responsibility for the attack.

The Russian Soyuz and the U.S. Apollo launched. The Apollo-Soyuz mission was the first international manned spaceflight.

Mainau Declaration is signed by 18 Nobel laureates. The declaration against the use of nuclear weapons was initiated by German scientists Otto Hahn and Max Born.

John J. Pershing, whose leadership in World War I earned him the title General of the Armies of the United States, died in Washington, DC.

The world's tallest man (8 feet, 11.1 inches), Robert Wadlow, died.

The Second Battle of the Marne began during World War I.

Georgia became the last of the Confederate States to be readmitted to the Union.

Margarine was patented in France by Hippolyte Mege Mouries.

The Rosetta Stone is found. The ancient Egyptian rock inscribed with a decree by King Ptolemy V was found in the Egyptian port city of Rashid (Rosetta) by French Captain Pierre Bouchard.

Battle of Grunwald (2nd Battle of Tannenburg), one of Medieval Europe's largest battles during Poland-Lithuanian Teutonic War. Polish King Władysław Jagiełło and Lithuanian Grand Duke Vytautas defeat Teutonic Ulrich von Jungingen.

John Ball, a leader in the Peasants' Revolt, is hung, drawn and quartered in the presence of Richard II of England.

City of Jerusalem is captured and plundered by Christian forces during the First Crusade.