What Happened in July 1976

Historical Events

  • 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 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 2 US Supreme Court rules death penalty not inherently cruel or unusual

Wimbledon Women's Tennis

Jul 2 Wimbledon Women's Tennis: American Chris Evert beats Evonne Goolagong Cawley of Australia 6-3, 4-6, 8-6 for second of 3 Wimbledon singles titles

  • Jul 3 Adolfo Suárez becomes premier of Spain

Music History

Jul 3 Brian Wilson performs with the Beach Boys after his 12 year stage absence, at Anaheim Stadium in California

Wimbledon Men's Tennis

Jul 3 Wimbledon Men's Tennis: Sweden's Björn Borg beats Ilie Năstase of Romania 6-4, 6-2, 9-7 for the first of 5 straight Wimbledon titles

  • 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 - it does not

British Golf Open

Jul 10 British Open Men's Golf, Royal Birkdale GC: American Johnny Miller wins his only Open championship, 6 strokes clear of Seve Ballesteros and Jack Nicklaus; Miller's second and last major title

  • 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 1st US football club in Austria forms (FAAFC-1st Austrian American)
  • 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"

US Women's Golf Open

Jul 11 US Open Women's Golf, Rolling Green GC: JoAnne Carner wins in a playoff with Sandra Palmer

  • Jul 12 1st "Family Feud" game show debuts on ABC hosted by Richard Dawson
  • Jul 12 Ian Dury & Kilburns disband
  • Jul 13 47th All Star Baseball Game: NL wins 7-1 at Veterans Stadium, Philadelphia
  • Jul 13 All star MVP: George Foster (Cincinnati Reds)
  • Jul 13 Court martial begins in USSR for Valery Sablin (Hunt for Red Oct)
  • Jul 13 Last day of Test Cricket for English all-rounder Brian Close, aged 45

Presidential Convention

Jul 14 Democratic Convention in NYC nominates former Georgia governor Jimmy Carter for president and US Senator Walter Mondale, from Minnesota, for vice president

  • Jul 14 USSR banishes dissident Andrei Amalrik to Netherlands
  • Jul 15 36-hr kidnap of 26 school children and their bus driver in California
  • Jul 16 Rock duo Loggins & Messina break-up after 6 years
  • Jul 17 21st modern Olympic games opens in Montreal: 25 African teams (later rising to 33 nations) boycott the games due to New Zealand playing rugby in apartheid South Africa

Indonesia Annexes East Timor

Jul 17 Indonesian President Suharto annexes East Timor

  • Jul 17 Walter Alston becomes the fifth MLB manager to win 2,000 games as Los Angeles Dodgers defeat visiting Chicago Cubs, 5-2
  • Jul 18 "Something's Afoot" closes at Lyceum Theater NYC after 61 performances
  • Jul 18 63rd Tour de France won by Lucien Van Impe of Belgium

Olympic Games

Jul 18 Nadia Comăneci (14) becomes the first gymnast in Olympic Games history to score a perfect 10 score (doing so 7 times) at Montreal Games

  • 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 British rock group Deep Purple disbands
  • Jul 19 Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.

Baseball Record

Jul 20 Hank Aaron hits 755th and last home run off Angels Dick Drago

  • 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 "Guys & Dolls" opens at Broadway Theater NYC for 239 performances
  • Jul 21 1st outbreak of "Legionnaire's Disease" kills 29 in Philadelphia
  • Jul 21 9th San Diego Comic-Con International opens at El Cortez Hotel
  • 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 22 "Let My People Come" opens at Morosco Theater NYC for 106 performances
  • Jul 23 42nd NFL Chicago All Star Game: Pittsburgh 24, All Stars 0 (52,895)

Baseball Record

Jul 23 Baltimore Oriole Reggie Jackson homers in 6th straight game

  • Jul 23 France performs nuclear Test at Mururoa atoll
  • Jul 23 USSR performs nuclear Test at the Semipalatinsk Test Site in northeast Kazakhstan
  • Jul 23 Wings release single "Let 'em In"
  • Jul 24 John Naber is 1st to swim 200m backstroke under 2 minutes
  • Jul 25 Annegret Richter runs 100m (11.01)
  • Jul 25 Philip Glass and Robert Wilson's opera "Einstein on the Beach" premieres at Théâtre Municipal, in Avignon, France

John Lennon Gets a Green Card

Jul 27 Former Beatle John Lennon is granted a green card for permanent residence in US

  • Jul 27 Japanese ex-premier Tanaka arrested (Lockheed Affair)
  • Jul 28 Eldon Joersz & Geo Morgan set world air speed record of 3,530 kph
  • 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 White Sox John Odom (5 inn) & Francisco Barrios (4 inn) no-hits A's
  • 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 29 USSR performs underground nuclear Test
  • Jul 30 4 Protestant civilians were shot dead at a pub off Milltown Road, Belfast; the attack was claimed by the Republican Action Force

Olympic Gold

Jul 30 Future TV personality ('Keeping Up with the Kardashians') and transgender figure, Bruce Jenner (now Caitlin Jenner) sets WR 8,618 points to win decathlon gold at Montreal Olympics

  • Jul 30 Giulio Andreotti sworn in as premier of Italy for the 2nd time
  • Jul 30 Japanese beat Russian for Olympic gold in woman's volleyball
  • Jul 31 East German runner Waldemar Cierpinski beats American Frank Shorter by 50 seconds to win the Olympic Games marathon in 2:09:55 in Montreal
  • Jul 31 Seychelles Independence (Independence day)
1976 History

Famous Birthdays

  • Jul 1 Aleah [Julia Stanbridge], South African metal musician (Trees of Eternity), born in Cape Town, South Africa (d. 2016)
  • Jul 1 Hannu Tihinen, Finnish soccer defender (76 caps; KePS, HJK Helsinki, Viking FK, RSC Anderlecht, FC Zürich), born in Keminmaa, Finland
  • Jul 1 Patrick Kluivert, Dutch soccer striker (79 caps; Ajax, FC Barcelona) and manager (Curaçao, Adana Demirspor), born in Amsterdam, Netherlands
  • Jul 1 Ruud van Nistelrooy, Dutch soccer striker (70 caps; PSV Eindhoven, Manchester United, Real Madrid) and manager (PSV Eindhoven), born in Oss, Netherlands
  • Jul 1 Szymon Ziółkowski, Polish hammer thrower (Olympic gold 2000), born in Poznań, Poland
  • Jul 2 Krisztián Lisztes, Hungarian footballer
  • Jul 2 Tomáš Vokoun, Czech hockey player
  • Jul 3 Andrea Barber, American actress (Kimmy Gibbler-Full House), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Jul 3 Bobby Skinstad, South African rugby union flanker (42 Tests, 12 as captain; Stormers, Cats, Sharks), born in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
  • Jul 3 Henry Olonga, Zimbabwean cricket fast bowler (30 Tests, 68 wickets, BB 5/70; 50 ODIs, 58 wickets; Matabeleland), born in Lusaka, Zambia
  • Jul 3 Shane Lynch, Irish singer (Boyzone), born in Dublin, Ireland
  • Jul 3 Wanderlei Silva, Brazilian mixed martial artist
  • Jul 4 Daijiro Kato, Japanese motorcycle racer, born in Saitama, Japan (d. 2003)
  • Jul 5 Bizarre [Rufus Johnson], American rapper (D12), born in Detroit, Michigan
  • Jul 5 Marina Dias, Brazilian model, born in São Paulo, Brazil
  • Jul 5 Nuno Gomes, Portuguese soccer striker (79 caps; Boavista, Benfica, Fiorentina), born in Amarante, Portugal
  • Jul 6 Nikki Mott, Australian field hockey forward (Olympic gold 2000; World Cup gold 1998; Champions Trophy gold 1995, 97, 99), born in Rockhampton, Australia
  • Jul 7 Dominic Foley, Irish soccer forward (6 caps Republic of Ireland; Wolverhampton Wanderers, Watford, Gent, Cercle Brugge), born in Cork, Ireland
  • Jul 8 David Kennedy, American guitarist (Angels & Airwaves)
  • Jul 8 Staci Wilson, American soccer defender (15 caps; Olympic gold 1996; Raleigh Wings, Carolina Courage), born in Livingston, New Jersey
  • Jul 8 Talal El Karkouri, Moroccan soccer defender (53 caps; Servette, PSG, Charlton Athletic, Qatar SC) and manager (Umm Salal SC), born in Casablanca, Morocco
  • Jul 9 Dan Estrin, American rock guitarist (Hoobastank - "The Reason"), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Jul 9 Fred Savage, American actor (Kevin-Wonder Years, Vice Versa), born in Chicago, Illinois
  • Jul 10 Adrian Grenier, American actor
  • Jul 10 Brendon Lade, Australian rules footballer
  • Jul 10 Edmílson, Brazilian soccer defensive midfielder, central defender (39 caps World Cup 2002; São Paulo FC, Lyon, FC Barcelona), born in Taquaritinga, Brazil
  • Jul 10 Elijah Blue Allman, American musician (Deadsy), son of Cher and Gregg Allman, born in Beverly Hills, California
  • Jul 10 Ludovic Giuly, French soccer winger (17 caps; Lyon, Monaco, Barcelona, PSG), born in Lyon, France
  • Jul 12 Anna Friel, British actress (Pushing Daisies), born in Rochdale, Greater Manchester
  • Jul 12 Kyrsten Sinema, American politician (Senator-D-Arizona 2019-), born in Tucson, Arizona
  • Jul 12 Tracie Spencer, American pop and R&B singer ("This House"), born in Waterloo, Iowa
  • Jul 13 Al Santos, American model and actor
  • Jul 13 Huw Watkins, British pianist and contemporary classical music composer, born in South Wales
  • Jul 13 Sheldon Souray, Canadian ice hockey player
  • Jul 14 Geraint Jones, English Papua New Guinean cricketer (played for England and Papua New Guinea), born in Kundiawa, Papua New Guinea
  • Jul 14 Kirsten Sheridan, Irish film screenwriter, and director (In America; August Rush), born in Dublin, Ireland

Diane Kruger (47 years old)

Jul 15 German actress and fashion model (Inglorious Bastards), born in Algermissen, West Germany

  • Jul 15 Jim Jones, American rapper (The Diplomats), born in New York City
  • Jul 15 Steve Cunningham, American boxer (IBF cruiserweight title 2007-08, 10-11), born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
  • Jul 16 Anna Smashnova, Russian tennis star (1993 Futures-Erlangen GER), born in Minsk, Russia
  • Jul 16 Bobby Lashley, American professional wrestler, born in Junction City, Kansas
  • Jul 16 Carlos Humberto Paredes, Paraguyan footballer and coach, born in Asunción, Paraguay
  • Jul 16 Tomasz Kuchar, Polish rally driver, born in Wrocław, Poland

Luke Bryan (47 years old)

Jul 17 American country singer ("I'll Stay Me"), and television personality (American Idol, 2018- ), born in Leesburg, Georgia

  • Jul 17 Dagmara Dominczyk, Polish actress, born in Kielce, Poland
  • Jul 17 Eric Winter, American actor (The Rookie), born in La Mirada, California
  • Jul 17 Gino D'Acampo, Italian celebrity chef, born in Torre del Greco, Italy
  • Jul 17 Matthew Holmes, Australian actor, born in Albury, Australia
  • Jul 18 Elsa Pataky, Spanish actress

Benedict Cumberbatch (47 years old)

Jul 19 British actor (12 Years a Slave; Sherlock), born in London, England

  • Jul 19 Gonzalo de los Santos, Uruguayan footballer
  • Jul 19 Oleksandr Radchenko, Ukrainian soccer left-back (17 caps; FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk), born in Mariupol, Ukraine (d. 2023)
  • Jul 19 R. J. Williams, American child actor (General Hospital) and media entrepreneur (Young Hollywood), born in Los Angeles, California
  • Jul 20 Alex Yoong, Malaysian racing driver
  • Jul 20 Andrew Stockdale, Australian rock musician (Wolfmother), born in Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  • Jul 20 Debashish Mohanty, Indian cricketer
  • Jul 20 Erica Hill, American news anchor
  • Jul 21 Cori Bush, American politician, nurse and activist (first African American woman representative from Missouri), born in St. Louis, Missouri
  • Jul 23 Jonathan Gallant, Canadian musician (Billy Talent), born in Streetsville, Ontario
  • Jul 23 Judit Polgár, Hungarian chess player (only female chess player to make world's top 10), born in Budapest, Hungary
  • Jul 24 Anita Nall, American breaststroke swimmer (Olympic gold, 1992), born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania
  • Jul 24 Christian Ahrens, American rower (Olympic gold eight 2004; World C'ship gold M8+ 1997, 98, 99; M4+ 1995), born in Whitefish Bay, Wisconsin
  • Jul 24 Rashida Tlaib, American politician (Rep-D-Michigan 2018-), one of the first Muslim women elected to US House, born in Detroit, Michigan
  • Jul 24 Tiago Monteiro, Portuguese Formula One driver
  • Jul 24 Yulia Navalnaya, Russian public figure and economist (widow of opposition figure Alexei Navalny), born in Moscow, Soviet Union
  • Jul 25 Javier Vázquez, Puerto Rican baseball player, born in Ponce, Puerto Rico
  • Jul 25 Jovica Tasevski-Eternijan, Macedonian poet, born in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia

Demis Hassabis (47 years old)

Jul 27 British artificial intelligence researcher and computer game designer (Theme Park, DeepMind, AlphaGo), born in London

  • Jul 27 Fernando Ricksen, Dutch soccer midfielder (12 caps; Glasgow Rangers), born in Hoensbroek, Limburg (d. 2019)
  • Jul 27 Mwadi Mabika, WNBA guard and forward (LA Sparks), born in Kinshasa, Zaire
  • Jul 27 Scott Mason, Australian cricketer, born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia (d. 2005)
  • Jul 28 Huma Abedin, American political staffer to Hillary Clinton, born in Kalamazoo, Michigan
  • Jul 28 Jacoby Shaddix, American singer (Papa Roach), born in Mariposa, California
  • Jul 30 Julio Gonzalez, Mexican light heavyweight boxer (WBO Champion 2003-2004), born in Baja California, Mexico (d. 2012)
  • Jul 31 Joshua Cain, American guitarist (Motion City Soundtrack), born in St. Paul, Minnesota
  • Jul 31 Marty Booker, American NFL wide receiver (Pro Bowl 2002, Chicago Bears), born in Jonesboro, Louisiana
  • Jul 31 Paulo Wanchope, Costa Rican footballer
Born in 1976

Famous Weddings

George Gervin

Jul 7 NBA guard George Gervin (24) weds Joyce King

Walter Payton

Jul 7 NFL running back Walter Payton (21) weds Connie Norwood in Los Angeles, California

Andy Gibb

Jul 11 British pop singer Andy Gibb (18) weds Kim Reeder (18) in Australia; divorce in 1979

Frank Sinatra

Jul 11 Singer and actor Frank Sinatra (60) weds 4th and final wife, American socialite Barbara Marx (45)

Tammy Wynette

Jul 18 American country singer Tammy Wynette (34) weds real-estate mogul Michael Tomlin, divorced, later in 1976

Natalie Cole

Jul 31 American pop singer Natalie Cole (26) weds songwriter, manager, and Baptist minister Marvin Yancy (29); divorce in 1980


Famous Deaths

  • Jul 1 Anneliese Michel, German woman said to be possessed by demons (b. 1952)
  • Jul 2 Frances Howard, actress (Swan, Shock Punch), dies at 73
  • Jul 3 Hans Bentz van den Berg, Dutch actor (Last Train), dies at 58
  • Jul 4 Antoni Słonimski, Polish poet (b. 1895)
  • Jul 4 Yonatan Netanyahu, Israel commander killed freeing Israeli hostages during Operation Entebbe in Uganda, at 30 years
  • Jul 6 Fritz Lenz, German geneticist and Nazi eugenics influencer, dies at 89
  • Jul 6 Zhu De, Chinese general and politician (commander-in-chief of Eighth Route Army), dies at 89
  • Jul 7 Gustav Heinemann, President of West Germany (1969-74), dies at 76
  • Jul 7 Norman Foster, American actor (Skyscraper Souls), dies at 75
  • Jul 7 Walter Giesler, American soccer coach (b. 1910)
  • Jul 9 Tom Yawkey, American Baseball HOF executive (owner Boston Red Sox 1933-76), dies from leukemia at 73
  • Jul 12 Ted Mack, American TV host (The Original Amateur Hour), dies at 72
  • Jul 13 Frederick Hawksworth, GWR Chief mechanical engineer. (b. 1884)
  • Jul 13 Joachim Peiper, German military leader (SS, by assassination; b. 1915)
  • Jul 13 Max Butting, German composer, dies at 87
  • Jul 15 Paul William Gallico, writer, dies at 78
  • Jul 16 Carmelo Soria, Spanish diplomat assassinated in 1976 by the Chilean DINA
  • Jul 18 Sally Salminen, Finnish writer (Katrina), dies at 70
  • Jul 19 Gene Roth [Eugene Stutenroth], American actor (She Demons, Tormented, The Spider), dies at 73
  • Jul 19 Sal Tas, Dutch journalist (Het Parool), dies at 70
  • Jul 20 Samuel Mutendi, founder of the Zimbabwean Zion Christian Church, dies
  • Jul 20 Tom Lowry, New Zealand cricket batsman (7 Tests, 2 x 50s; first NZ Test captain), President NZ Thoroughbred Breeders Association 1951-65, dies at 78
  • Jul 21 Christopher Ewart-Biggs, British ambassador to Ireland, assassinated by the IRA at 54
  • Jul 21 Earle Combs, American Baseball HOF center fielder (9 × World Series 1927, 28, 32, 36–39, 41, 43; New York Yankees), dies at 77
  • Jul 23 Martin Wickramasinghe, Sri Lankan author (Gamperaliya - The Uprooted/Changing Village), dies at 85
  • Jul 23 Wilhelmina Von Bremen, American 4X100 relay sprinter (Olympic gold 1932), dies at 64
  • Jul 24 Afro Basaldella, Italian painter (The Garden of Hope), dies at 64
  • Jul 24 Leo Shuken, American film music composer and arranger (Stagecoach; The Fabulous Dorseys; The Unsinkable Molly Brown), dies at 69
  • Jul 27 Ray Brennan, retired US Air Force captain, American Legion bookkeeper and the 1st American to die of "Legionnaire's Disease," dies of an apparent heart attack at 61
  • Jul 28 Lucie Mannheim, German singer and actress (39 Steps), dies at 77
  • Jul 29 Mickey Cohen, American gangster (Cohen crime family), dies at 62
  • Jul 30 Emil Solomon "Solly" Sachs, South African socialist, dies in London