July 18

A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens of others. ›

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant requires Christians to either accept dhimmi status, emigrate from ISIL lands, or be killed. ›

The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history. ›

At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria. ›

A Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer crashes near Estes Park, Colorado, killing both crew members. ›

Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever. ›

Battle of Mullaitivu: The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam capture the Sri Lanka Army's base, killing over 1,200 soldiers. ›

On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee. ›

The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300. ›

Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide. ›

A picture of Les Horribles Cernettes was taken, which became the first ever photo posted to the World Wide Web. ›

McDonald's massacre in San Ysidro, California: James Oliver Huberty kills 21 people and injures 19 others before being shot dead by police. ›

Two hundred sixty-eight Guatemalan campesinos ("peasants" or "country people") are slain in the Plan de Sánchez massacre. ›

A Canadair CL-44 and Sukhoi Su-15 collide in mid-air near Yerevan, Armenia, killing four. ›

A landslide occurs on the Iliwerung volcano in Indonesia, triggering a tsunami that kills over 530 and leaves 700 missing. ›

Nadia Comăneci becomes the first person in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 in gymnastics at the 1976 Summer Olympics. ›

An Antonov An-22 of the Soviet Air Forces crashes into the Atlantic Ocean, killing all 23 aboard. ›

Intel is founded in Mountain View, California. ›

Human spaceflight: Gemini 10 is launched from Cape Kennedy on a 70-hour mission that includes docking with an orbiting Agena target vehicle. ›

A racially charged incident in a bar sparks the six-day Hough riots in Cleveland, Ohio; 1,700 Ohio National Guard troops intervene to restore order. ›

World War II: Hideki Tōjō resigns as Prime Minister of Japan because of numerous setbacks in the war effort. ›

World War II: During the Beisfjord massacre in Norway, 15 Norwegian paramilitary guards help members of the SS to kill 288 political prisoners from Yugoslavia. ›

The Germans test fly the Messerschmitt Me 262 using its jet engines for the first time. ›

Adolf Hitler publishes Mein Kampf. ›

The U.S. Congress forms the Aviation Section, U.S. Signal Corps, giving official status to aircraft within the U.S. Army for the first time. ›

The Ballot Act 1872 in the United Kingdom introduced the requirement that parliamentary and local government elections be held by secret ballot. ›

The First Vatican Council decrees the dogma of papal infallibility. ›

American Civil War: Second Battle of Fort Wagner: One of the first formal African American military units, the 54th Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry, supported by several white regiments, attempts an unsuccessful assault on Confederate-held Battery Wagner. ›

First ascent of Dent Blanche, one of the highest summits in the Alps. ›

Louis Faidherbe, French governor of Senegal, arrives to relieve French forces at Kayes, effectively ending El Hajj Umar Tall's war against the French. ›

Coronation of Emperor Pedro II of Brazil. ›

The Treaties of Orebro end both the Anglo-Russian and Anglo-Swedish Wars. ›

A gunpowder magazine explosion in Birgu, Malta, kills around 200 people. ›

Johann Sebastian Bach leads the first performance of his cantata Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz, BWV 136, in Leipzig on the eighth Sunday after Trinity. ›

The College of Arms is reincorporated by Royal charter signed by Queen Mary I of England and King Philip II of Spain. ›

In Brussels, Prince Charles I is crowned Duke of Burgundy and Count of Flanders, a year after inheriting the title. ›

France and England agree to the Truce of Leulinghem, inaugurating a 13-year peace, the longest period of sustained peace during the Hundred Years' War. ›

The bishop of Florence blesses the first foundation stone for the new campanile (bell tower) of the Florence Cathedral, designed by the artist Giotto di Bondone. ›

King Edward I of England issues the Edict of Expulsion, banishing all Jews (numbering about 16,000) from England. ›

Election of pope Honorius III following the death of pope Innocent III two days prior.

Battle of Alarcos: Almohad forces defeat the Castilian army of Alfonso VIII and force its retreat to Toledo. ›

Chinese forces under general Li Shiji besiege the strategic fortress city of Anshi (Liaoning) during the Goguryeo–Tang War. ›

Sack of Aquileia: After an earlier defeat on the Catalaunian Plains, Attila lays siege to the metropolis of Aquileia and eventually destroys it. ›

Roman–Persian Wars: Emperor Julian arrives at Antioch with a Roman expeditionary force (60,000 men) and stays there for nine months to launch a campaign against the Persian Empire. ›

Battle of the Cremera as part of the Roman–Etruscan Wars. Veii ambushes and defeats the Roman army. ›