July 18th

A great fire began that ultimately destroyed most of Rome. The emperor Nero blamed it on Christians and began the first Roman persecution of them.

Detroit, Michigan, files for bankruptcy, becoming the largest US municipal bankruptcy ever at $18.5 billion.

Kim Jong-un is officially appointed Supreme Leader of North Korea and given the rank of Marshal in the Korean People's Army.

Gen. David Petraeus handed over command of American and coalition forces in Afghanistan to Gen. John Allen.

An unrepentant Eric Rudolph was sentenced in Birmingham, Ala., to life in prison for an abortion clinic bombing that killed an off-duty police officer and maimed a nurse.

David Cone of the New York Yankees pitched the 14th perfect game in modern major league baseball history in a game against the Montreal Expos.

A 23-foot tsunami along the coast of Papua New Guinea killed nearly 3,000 people.

Agathe Uwilingiyimana elected as Prime Minister of Rwanda. Rwanda's only female prime minister's tenure was cut short when she was assassinated at the outset of the Rwandan genocide.

Actress Rebecca Schaeffer, 21, was shot to death at her Los Angeles home by an obsessed fan. (The killing prompted California in 1990 to pass the nation's first anti-stalking law.).

14-year-old Romanian gymnast Nadia Comaneci earned the first perfect score, a ten, at the Olympics and went on to score six more tens and win three gold medals.

A car driven by Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., plunged off a bridge on Chappaquiddick Island near Martha's Vineyard. His passenger, 28-year-old Mary Jo Kopechne, died.

Intel is founded. Founded in Santa Clara, California, the Intel corporation is the world's largest semiconductor chip manufacturer.

President Harry S. Truman signed the Presidential Succession Act.

Spanish Civil War : General Francisco Franco issues manifesto and leds uprising with army in Morocco.

Baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb got his 4,000th career hit.

Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf (original title was the catchy 'Four and a Half Years (of Struggle) Against Lies, Stupidity and Cowardice').

Nelson Mandela, a leading anti-apartheid figure and South Africa's first black president, was born in Mvezo.

Britain enacted voting by secret ballot.

The first Vatican Council, also known as Vatican I, decrees the doctrine of Papal infallibility. The doctrine claims that the Pope cannot err when speaking on issues of morality and/ or faith.

Parliament passed an act declaring the authority of the pope void in England.