- 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 hostage rescue mission of 106 Air France crew and passengers held at Entebbe Airport in Uganda by pro-Palestinian hijackers. Three hostages die along with all the hijackers, numerous Ugandan soldiers and Yonatan Netanyahu, an Israeli soldier
- Jul 4 Opening ceremony of the Dai Bosatsu monastery Catskill Mt NY
- 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
- 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)