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Major Events
- 1829 – William Austin Burt patented the typographer, a predecessor to the typewriter.
- 1885 – Ulysses S. Grant, 18th President of the United States, died at Mount McGregor, New York.
- 1914 – Austria-Hungary issued an ultimatum to Serbia following the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand, setting the stage for World War I.
- 1962 – The first live transatlantic television signal was sent via the Telstar satellite.
- 1982 – International Whaling Commission voted for a commercial whaling ban to take effect in 1986.
- 2015 – NASA’s Kepler mission announced discovery of Earth’s most Earth-like planet to date: Kepler-452b.
Famous Birthdays
- Raymond Chandler (1888–1959), American-British novelist known for his hard-boiled detective fiction
- Daniel Radcliffe (born 1989), British actor best known for portraying Harry Potter
- Monica Lewinsky (born 1973), American activist and former White House intern
- Philip Seymour Hoffman (1967–2014), American actor and director
- Woody Harrelson (born 1961), American actor known for Cheers and True Detective
- Alison Krauss (born 1971), American bluegrass-country singer and musician
Notable Deaths
- Ulysses S. Grant (d. 1885), 18th U.S. President and Union general during the Civil War (b. 1822)
- D. W. Griffith (d. 1948), American film director and pioneer of cinema (b. 1875)
- Eudora Welty (d. 2001), Pulitzer Prize-winning American author (b. 1909)
- Amy Winehouse (d. 2011), English singer-songwriter known for her soulful voice (b. 1983)
Holidays
- Renaissance Day (Oman) – Marks the ascension of Sultan Qaboos bin Said in 1970.
- Children’s Day (Indonesia) – Celebrates and promotes children’s rights and well-being.
Fun Facts
- The Telstar satellite allowed the first transatlantic live television broadcast on this day in 1962.
- Amy Winehouse passed away on July 23, 2011, at the age of 27, adding her to the so-called “27 Club.”
- Daniel Radcliffe, born on this day, began portraying Harry Potter at age 11 and continued for a decade.
- Raymond Chandler created the iconic detective Philip Marlowe, influencing film noir and crime fiction for generations.
- The discovery of Kepler-452b raised new questions and excitement about the possibility of life beyond Earth.