On this day
Baldwin IV, 13, becomes King of Jerusalem, with Raymond III, Count of Tripoli, as regent and William of Tyre as chancellor.
Ming admiral Zheng He sets sail to explore the world for the first time.
Samuel de Champlain returns to Quebec.
Jacques Necker is dismissed as France’s finance minister, sparking the Storming of the Bastille.
The first cultured pearl is obtained by Kokichi Mikimoto.
Brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière demonstrate movie film technology to scientists.
The Battle of Silkaatsnek, west of Pretoria.
Eric Liddell wins the gold medal in the 400m at the 1924 Paris Olympics, after refusing to run in the heats for the 100m, his favoured distance, on the Sunday. A movie,
later commemorates his feat.
Security police raid the ANC “safehouse” at Liliesleaf Farm in Rivonia, then just outside Johannesburg, arresting the leadership nucleus of the armed wing of the ANC, including Walter Sisulu and Ahmed Kathrada.
Varig Flight 820 crashes near Paris, .................. 031 308 2332 .............................. Yogas Nair .. Philani Mazibuko ...... Kamini Padayachee .......... Se-Anne Koopman ......................... Glenn Schouw France, on its approach to Orly Airport, killing 123 of the 134 people on board. In response, the FAA bans smoking on flights.
Los Alfaques disaster: A truck carrying liquid gas crashes and explodes at a coastal campsite in Tarragona, Spain, killing 216 tourists.
America’s first space station, Skylab, is destroyed as it re-enters the Earth’s atmosphere over the Indian Ocean.
Nigeria Airways Flight 2120 crashes in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia killing all 261 passengers and crew on board.
Srebrenica massacre, in Yugoslavia, begins; the genocide of more than 8 000 Muslim Bosniaks, mainly men and boys, lasts until July 22.
Mumbai train bombings kill 209 people with a series of seven bomb blasts in a period of 11 minutes.
Ashwell Prince is appointed as South Africa’s first black cricket captain.
Bill Flynn, 58, popular local actor, dies in Johannesburg of a heart attack.
At least 74 people are killed in twin suicide bombings at two locations in Kampala, Uganda.
Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion: Ninety-eight containers of explosives self-detonate, killing 13 people in Zygi, Cyprus. ............... 031 308 2004 ................... 080 020 4711 .......................................... 031 308 2022 ................ mercnews@inl.co.za www.facebook.com/themercurysa www.twitter.com/themercurysa