- The first photograph was taken of the Moon and the Earth together. (1977) NASA's unmanned space probe Voyager 1 snapped the photo while on its mission to study the Solar System and its boundaries. Voyager 1 continues its mission today and still is in communication with NASA scientists.
- The United States armed military forces were united. (1947) The National Security Act, which was signed on July 26, 1947, by US President Harry S. Truman, took effect on this day, combining the Air Force, Navy and Army into the US Armed Forces.
- The New York Times published its first edition. (1851) Initially called the New-York Daily Times, the newspaper was founded by Henry Jarvis Raymond, a politician and journalist. It cost one penny per copy and was published six days per week, changing to seven days 1861. Its name was changed to the New York Times in 1857.
- The Fugitive Slave Act was passed, which required the return of runaway slaves to their owners. (1850) The controversial act was passed by the US Congress on this day. Any government official or law enforcement officer who didn't return an escaped slave was subject to $1,000 US Dollars in fines — quite a lot of money for the time.
- Sammy Sosa set a new Major League Baseball (MLB) home-run record. (1999) For the second time, Sosa hit his 60th home run of the season playing for the Chicago Cubs — he was the only player in MLB history to hit more than 60 in a season twice. He repeated it for a third time in 2001.
- Canada claimed the largest parking lot in the world. (1981) The Guinness Book of World Records verified that the West Edmonton Mall parking lot, which can hold 20,000 cars, is the largest in the world.
- US President George Washington laid the cornerstone of the US Capitol building. (1793) The building, which covers about 4 acres (16,000 square meters) and has 540 rooms, took more than 100 years to finish.
- The Columbia Phonograph Broadcasting System — now known as the CBS television network in the US — debuted. (1927) The television network got its start with 16 radio stations. It started its television broadcasts in 1941.
- The biggest accounting firm in the world was formed. (1997) Price Waterhouse merged with Coopers & Lybrand to form PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). The company has offices in 151 countries and employs more than 160,000 people.
- The first chiropractic adjustment was recorded to have been made. (1895) The founder of chiropractic medicine, Daniel David Palmer, met a janitor named Harvey Lillard in Davenport, Iowa. Lillard had lost his hearing 17 years before and Palmer is said to have restored it on this day with a chiropractic adjustment.
- Swedish actress Greta Garbo was born. (1905) Garbo was a well-known silent-film actress in Hollywood, California. Her first "talkie" movie, Anna Christie earned her an Academy Award nomination. She is probably best known for her roles in two films as the character Anna Karenina. She became one of the world's most recognized movie stars, yet only appeared in 27 films.