Walter Hunt
1796 Walter Hunt, American inventor (safety pin, sewing machine), born in Martinsburg, New York (d. 1859)
Walter Hunt
- 1797 Daniel Drew, American financier (d. 1879)
- 1801 George Bradshaw, British publisher, born in Manchester, England (d. 1853)
- 1805 Alexis de Tocqueville, French statesman/writer (Democracy in America)
- 1817 James Blair Steedman, American Major General (Union Army), born in Northumberland County, Pennsylvania (d. 1883)
- 1820 Clement Laird Vallandigham, MC (Union), (d. 1871)
- 1828 Cuvier Grover, American Brevet Major General (Union Army), born in Bethel, Maine (d. 1885)
- 1830 Alvan Cullom Gillem, American Major General (Union Army), born in Gainesboro, Tennessee (d. 1875)
- 1843 Johannes Schmidt, German linguist (d. 1901)
- 1849 Max Nordau, Austrian author and Zionist leader (d. 1923)
- 1854 Georg Kerschensteiner, German educator (Theory of Education)
- 1861 Alice Hathaway Lee Roosevelt, 1st wife of Theodore Roosevelt, born in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts (d. 1884)
- 1861 Sergei D Sazonov, Russian minister of Foreign Affairs (1910-16)
- 1869 Booth Tarkington, American novelist (17, Magnificent Ambersons)
- 1872 Eric Alfred Knudsen, American folklorist (d. 1957)
- 1874 August Stramm, German poet and playwright, born in Cathedrals (d. 1915)
- 1874 James Shaver Woodsworth, Canadian politician (d. 1942)
- 1878 Don Marquis, Ill, journalist/poet (archy & mehitabel) (d. 1937)
Benito Mussolini
1883 Benito Mussolini [Il Duce], Fascist Italian dictator (1922-43), born in Predappio, Forlì, Italy (d. 1945)
Benito Mussolini
Vladimir Zworykin
1888 Vladimir K. Zworykin, Russian-American inventor (development of television, cathode ray tube), born in Murom, Russian Empire (d. 1982)
Vladimir Zworykin
- 1889 Karl Otten, German Expressionist writer, born in Oberkrüchten (d. 1963)
- 1891 Bernhard Zondek, German/Israeli gynaecologist
- 1892 Ernst van Raalte, Dutch journalist (Seen, heard... wrote), born in Rotterdam, South Holland (d. 1975)
- 1897 Sir Neil Ritchie, British general (d. 1983)
- 1898 Isidor Isaac Rabi, Polish physicist (explored atom, Nobel 1944)
- 1900 Eyvind Johnson, Swedish novelist (Return to Ithaca), Nobel Prize (1974), born in Svartbjörnsbyn (d. 1976)
- 1903 Diana Vreeland, French-American fashion editor (Harper's Bazaar, Vogue), born in Paris (d. 1989)
- 1904 J. R. D. Tata, Indian industrialist (d. 1993)
- 1905 Dag Hammarskjöld, Swedish public servant, 2nd Secretary-General of the United Nations (1953-61) and posthumous Nobel Peace Prize winner (1961), born in Jönköping, Sweden (d. 1961)
- 1905 Stanley Kunitz, American poet (d. 2006)
- 1907 Melvin Belli, American lawyer known as "The King of Torts" and "Melvin Bellicose", born in Sonora, California (d. 1996)
- 1910 Henry Brian Boyne, journalist
- 1911 Foster Furcolo, 60th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1995)
- 1911 Iakovos, Archbishop of America (d. 2005)
- 1913 Erich Priebke, Nazi war criminal
- 1914 Abram Games, graphic artist
- 1914 Dovie Hudson, community activist in rural Mississippi
- 1915 Bruce R. McConkie, LDS apostle and author (d. 1985)
- 1915 Francis W. Sargent, 64th Governor of Massachusetts (d. 1998)
- 1918 Vladimir Dudentzev, Russian writer
- 1919 Miltos Sachtouris, Greek poet (d. 2005)
- 1919 Robert Marsden Hope, Australian Justice and Royal Commissioner, born in Sydney, Australia (d. 1999)
- 1920 Neville Jeffress, Australian founder of Media Monitors Australia (d. 2007)
- 1921 Aled Eames, Welsh maritime historian, born in Llandudno (d. 1996)
- 1924 Arnold Weinstock, English industrial/multi-millionaire (GEC)
Elizabeth Short
1924 Elizabeth Short, American victim in the Black Dahlia case, born in Boston, Massachusetts (d. 1947)
Elizabeth Short
- 1926 Russel Firestone, polo great (Circle F-1959 champs)
- 1926 Don Carter, professional bowler, six-time bowler of the year, born in St. Louis, Missouri (d. 2012)
- 1927 Harry K V Mulisch, writer (Message to King Rat)
- 1928 Li Ka-Shing, Hong Kong-Chinese business magnate and entrepreneur (CK Holdings), born in Chao'an, Guangdong, China
- 1929 Jean Baudrillard, French philosopher
- 1932 Nancy Landon Kassebaum, (Sen-R-Kansas, 1979- )
- 1936 Elizabeth Hanford Dole, US Secretary of Transportation (1983-87)
- 1937 Daniel McFadden, American economist, Nobel Prize Laureate
Charles Schwab
1937 Charles Schwab, American investor and entrepreneur (Charles Schwab Corporation), born in Sacramento, California
Charles Schwab
- 1938 Jean Rochon, Quebec politician
- 1946 Bill Forsyth, director (Local Hero, Breaking In, Housekeeping)
- 1949 Marilyn Tucker Quayle, novelist/wife of Vice President Dan Quayle (1989-93)
- 1955 Dave Stevens, American illustrator
- 1956 Ronnie Musgrove, Former Governor of Mississippi
- 1957 Virginia Maria "Ginni" Rometty, American chairwoman, president and CEO of IBM, born in Chigago, Illinois
- 1959 Ruud Janssen, Dutch writer and artist
- 1963 Graham Poll, English football referee
- 1963 Jim Beglin, Irish football commentator
- 1965 Chang-Rae Lee, Korean-born author
- 1966 Richard Steven Horvitz, American comic voiceactor
July in History
Spoonerism – Or Just A Lack Of Pies?
A Spoonerism is a phrase that comes out all wrong, and the man responsible for them, William Spooner, was born on this day. Did he just get bad Press?
July 22, 1844Light and Air For All – With No Charge!
One of Britain's most hated taxes, which had been in force for more than 250 years, was finally abolished on this day.
July 24, 1851Oh! Calcutta! - The Bare Facts
Born when free love and anything goes were the mantra of youth, the show "Oh! Calcutta!" opened in London on this day. Police considered a prosecution for obscenity.
July 26, 1970Cricket's Most Prolific Run-Scorer Of All Time
A world record was set up on this day when Graham Gooch, captain of England, stepped up to the crease at Lord’s, the legendary home of cricket.
July 31, 1990
