July 26th

Battle of Siffin during the first Muslim civil war between Ali ibn Abi Talib and Muawiyah I beside Euphrates River.

A jury in Houston found Andrea Yates not guilty by reason of insanity in the drowning of her children in a bathtub in the second trial she faced on the charges. she was committed to a state mental hospital.

A federal judge approved a $1.25 billion settlement between Swiss banks and more than a half million plaintiffs who alleged the banks had hoarded money deposited by Holocaust victims.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that a young woman – later identified as Kimberly Bergalis of Florida – had been infected with the AIDS virus, apparently by her dentist.

Apollo 15 was launched on a manned mission to the moon.

Independence of Maldives. The Indian Ocean Island nation gained independence after 78 years of British rule.

Teamsters president Jimmy Hoffa and six others were convicted of fraud and conspiracy in the handling of a union pension fund.

Syncom 2, the world's first geosynchronous communications satellite is launched. Part of NASA's Syncom program, it was responsible for transmitting the first TV signal from a geosynchronous satellite, a manmade satellite whose orbital period around the Earth matches the Earth's rotation.

Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser nationalized the Suez Canal.

Fidel Castro was among a group of rebelling anti-Batistas who unsuccessfully attacked an army barracks.

Adlai E. Stevenson was nominated for president by the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.

President Harry S. Truman signed executive orders prohibiting discrimination in the U.S. armed forces and federal employment.

President Harry S Truman signed the National Security Act, creating the Department of Defense, the National Security Council, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

Winston Churchill resigned as Britain's prime minister after his Conservatives were soundly defeated by the Labor Party. He was succeeded by Clement Attlee.

United States Attorney General Charles Joseph Bonaparte issues an order to immediately staff the Office of the Chief Examiner (later renamed the Federal Bureau of Investigation).

Playwright George Bernard Shaw was born in Dublin, Ireland.

Liberia became Africa's first republic.

The Surrey Iron Railway, arguably the world's first public railway, opens in south London.

New York became the 11th state to ratify the Constitution.

Francisco Pizarro receives royal charter for the west coast of South America.