- Jul 1 Kenneth Gibson, is 1st black president of US Conference of Mayors
- Jul 1 Portugal grants autonomy to Madeira.
- Jul 2 Formal reunification of North and South Vietnam
- Jul 2 US Supreme Court rules death penalty not inherently cruel or unusual
- Jul 2 Ramble Inn attack: the Ulster Volunteer Force killed 6 civilians (5 Protestants, 1 Catholic) in a gun attack at a pub near Antrim; the pub was targeted because it was owned by Catholics
- Jul 3 Adolfo Suárez becomes premier of Spain
- Jul 4 Israel launches rescue of 103 Air France crew and passengers being held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers
- Jul 4 Opening ceremony of the Dai Bosatsu monastery Catskill Mt NY
- Jul 4 Operation Entebbe - Israel rescues 229 Air France hostage passengers In Uganda (3 hostages die along with Ugandan soldiers and Israeli soldier)
- Jul 6 Soyuz 21 carries 2 cosmonauts to Salyut 5 space station
- Jul 7 119 women joined the Corps of Cadets, establishing the first class of women in the US Military Academy at West Point
- Jul 7 Lt General Vernon A Walters, USA, ends term as deputy director of CIA; succeeded by E Henry Knoche
- Jul 8 Randy Jones wins NL record 16 games before All Star break
- Jul 9 England all out for 71 v WI at Old Trafford, Holding 14 5-7-17-5
- Jul 9 Houston Astro Larry Dierker no-hits Montreal Expos, 6-0
- Jul 9 Uganda asks UN to condemn Israeli hostage rescue raid on Entebbe
- Jul 10 Chemical factory in Seveso, near Milan explodes covering the surrounding area in dioxin
- Jul 10 One American and three British mercenaries are executed in Angola following the Luanda Trial
- Jul 11 France performs nuclear test at Mururoa atoll
- Jul 11 In pre-game promo at Atlanta County Stadium, 34 couples wed at home plate followed by Championship Wrestling "Headlocks & Wedlocks"
- Jul 12 Ian Dury & Kilburns disband
- Jul 13 Court martial begins in USSR for Valery Sablin (Hunt for Red Oct)
Presidential Convention
Jul 14 Jimmy Carter wins Democratic presidential nomination in NYC
Jimmy Carter
Event of Interest
- Jul 18 Stockhausens "Sirius" premieres in NYC
- Jul 18 Thiokol conducts 2-min firing of space shuttle's SRB at Brigham, Ut
- Jul 19 Allman Brother's roadie Scooter Herring sentenced to 75 years for providing drugs for the group, based on Gregg Allman's testimony
- Jul 19 Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.
- Jul 20 US Viking 1 lands on Mars at Chryse Planitia, 1st Martian landing
- Jul 20 Vietnam War: The US military completes its troop withdrawal from Thailand.
- Jul 21 1st outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease" kills 29 in Philadelphia
- Jul 21 Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British Ambassador to the Republic of Ireland, and his secretary Judith Cook are assassinated by a bomb planted by the Provisional IRA in his car in Dublin
- Jul 23 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
- Jul 23 USSR performs nuclear Test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
- Jul 24 John Naber is 1st to swim 200m backstroke under 2 minutes
- Jul 25 Annegret Richter runs 100m (11.01)
- Jul 27 Japanese ex-premier Tanaka arrested (Lockheed Affair)
- Jul 28 Tangshan Earthquake, 8.2 in magnitude kills over 240,000 Northern China in the largest loss of life from an earthquake in the 20th century
- Jul 28 Eldon Joersz & Geo Morgan set world air speed record of 3,530 kph
- Jul 29 USSR performs underground nuclear Test
- Jul 29 In New York City, the "Son of Sam" kills one person and seriously wounds another in first of a series of attacks
- Jul 30 Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy for the 2nd time
- Jul 30 4 Protestant civilians were shot dead at a pub off Milltown Road, Belfast; the attack was claimed by the Republican Action Force
- Jul 31 Seychelles Independence (Independence day)