- 1915 - Porfirio Díaz, a Mexican politician, military man, and republican general who ruled the country for 30 years, died.
- 1937 - Amelia Earhart and her co-pilot Fred Noonan disappeared over the Pacific Ocean while attempting to fly around the world.
- 1961 - American novelist Ernest Hemingway, known for "A Farewell to Arms" and "For Whom the Bell Tolls," shot himself.
- 1964 - U.S. President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, prohibiting racial discrimination.
- 1973 - American actress and singer Betty Grable, a World War II pin-up girl, died.
- 1997 - American film star James Stewart passed away. He won an Oscar for his role in "The Philadelphia Story" in 1940 and a special Oscar in 1984, marking 50 years in the film industry.
- 2002 - Millionaire Steve Fossett became the first solo balloonist to circumnavigate the globe nonstop, setting records off the southern coast of Australia. He flew nearly 19,500 miles (31,400 km) around the Southern Hemisphere, landing finally on July 4.
- 2004 - Marlon Brando, the reclusive Oscar-winning star of "The Godfather" and "On the Waterfront," who was acclaimed as one of the most influential actors of his generation, died at the age of 80.
- 2005 - Singers Paul McCartney and Bono from U2 stirred a large crowd in London’s Hyde Park for the anti-poverty campaign "Live 8."
- 2008 - French-Colombian politician Ingrid Betancourt was released, along with other hostages, after years of captivity in the jungle.
- 2013 - An earthquake struck Indonesia's Aceh province, resulting in hundreds of deaths.
