- Jul 1 The Oresund Bridge, connecting Sweden and Denmark, opens for traffic
- Jul 1 Vermont's civil unions law goes into effect.
- Jul 2 Vicente Fox Quesada is elected the first President of México from an opposition party, the Partido Acción Nacional after more than 70 years of continuous rule by the Partido Revolucionario Institucional.
- Jul 2 UEFA European Championship Final: David Trezeguet scores in extra time to give France a 2-1 win over Italy in Rotterdam
- Jul 4 American jockey Russell Baze scores his 7,000th career victory aboard This Is the Moment at the Alameda County Fair in Pleasanton, California
- Jul 6 West Ham United FC pays a record £1.8 million for the late Bobby Moore's collection of memorabilia, 79 items including his 1966 World Cup winner's medal
- Jul 6 Real estate developer Stan Kroenke announces the acquisition of the Denver Nuggets, Colorado Avalanche and the Pepsi Centre for $450m from the Ascent Entertainment Group
Historic Publication
Jul 8 "Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire", the 4th book in the series by J. K. Rowling is published in the UK (Bloomsbury) and the US (Scholastic)
J. K. Rowling
Tennis Open
Jul 9 107th Wimbledon Women's Tennis: Venus Williams beats L Davenport (6-3 7-6)
Venus Williams
- Jul 9 114th Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Pete Sampras beats Pat Rafter (6-7 7-6 6-4 6-2) winning his 13th Grand Slam tennis title
- Jul 9 Police fired tear gas at fans during a World Cup qualifying soccer game between Zimbabwe and South Africa, setting off a stampede that killed twelve people in Harare, Zimbabwe
- Jul 10 EADS, the world's second largest aerospace group is formed by the merger of Aérospatiale-Matra, DASA, and CASA
- Jul 10 A leaking southern Nigerian petroleum pipeline explodes, killing about 250 villagers scavenging gasoline
Album Release
Jul 10 Coldplay release their debut album "Parachutes" (Grammy Award Best Alternative Album 2002)
Chris Martin
- Jul 11 71st All Star Baseball Game: AL wins 6-3 at Turner Field, Atlanta
- Jul 15 World record Rugby attendance of 108,874 see New Zealand beat Australia, 39-35 in Tri Nations match at Stadium Australia, Sydney; 5 tries each with Andrew Mehrtens' goal kicking (6) the difference
- Jul 20 The leaders of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and racketeering
- Jul 20 In Zimbabwe, Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members for the first time in a decade
- Jul 20 Terrorist Carlos the Jackal sues France in the European Court of Human Rights for allegedly torturing him.
- Jul 20 33rd San Diego Comic-Con International opens at San Diego Convention Center
Golf Major
Jul 23 British Open Golf, Royal Lytham & St. Annes: Tiger Woods beats Thomas Bjørn and Ernie Els by 8 shots to win his first Open title; becomes youngest player at 24 to win all 4 major titles
Tiger Woods
Event of Interest
Jul 23 87th Tour de France: no winner (Lance Armstrong disqualified)
Lance Armstrong
- Jul 25 Air France Flight 4590, a Concorde supersonic passenger jet, F-BTSC, crashes just after takeoff from Paris killing all 109 aboard and 4 on the ground.
- Jul 30 British Open Seniors Golf, Royal County Down: Irishman Christy O'Connor Jr. successfully defends his title by 2 shots from John Bland of South Africa