1776 – George Washington ordered the Declaration of Independence to be read out to members of the Continental Army in Manhattan, while thousands of British troops on Staten Island prepared for the Battle of Long Island.

1850 – U.S. President Zachary Taylor died after eating raw fruit and iced milk; he was succeeded in office by Vice President Millard Fillmore.

1868 – The 14th Amendment to the United States Constitution was ratified, which guaranteed African Americans full citizenship and all persons in the United States due process of law.

1872 – Doughnut cutter patents were granted to John Blondel of Thomaston, Maine.

1893 – Daniel Hale Williams, American heart surgeon, performed the first successful open-heart surgery in United States without anesthesia.

1918 – In Nashville, Tennessee, an inbound local train collided with an outbound express, which killed 101 and injured 171 people, making it the deadliest rail accident in United States history.

1937 – The silent film archives of Fox Film Corporation was destroyed by the 1937 Fox vault fire.

1947 – Engagement of Britain’s Princess Elizabeth and Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten.

1955 – Bill Haley & Comets’ “Rock Around the Clock” topped the billboards chart, one of the best-selling singles ever.

1956 – Dick Clark’s first appearance as host of American Bandstand.

1981 – Nintendo released arcade game Donkey Kong in Japan (July 31 in the US).

1982 – Pan Am Flight 759 crashed in Kenner, Louisiana, and killed all 145 people on board and eight others on the ground.

1982 – Michael Fagan broke into Buckingham Palace and entered the Queen’s bedroom in Buckingham Palace, London.

1996 – “Blue” debut album by LeAnn Rimes was released (Billboard Album of the Year 1997).

2015 – 48th San Diego Comic-Con began.  It included preview of new Star Wars film by J.J. Abrams.

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