Unix Timestamp: 1216425600
Saturday, July 19. 2008, 12:00:00 AM UTC

The Space Shuttle Atlantis undocks from the International Space Station for the final time in the history of the space shuttle program. //www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/shuttle/main/index.html (NASA)

The Dow Jones Industrial Average closes above 14,000 points for the first time in history, partly as a result of a good earnings report from IBM. //www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2007/07/20/1983291.htm (AFP via ABC News Australia)

Hail kills 25 and injures hundreds in the Chinese province of Henan.

UK politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer, sentenced to four years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

UK politician and novelist Jeffrey Archer is sentenced to 4 years in prison for perjury and perverting the course of justice.

Four 26-pound ceiling tiles fall from the roof of the Kingdome in Seattle, Washington, just hours before a scheduled Seattle Mariners game.

William Whitelaw, Home Secretary, announces that Michael Trestrail (the Queen's bodyguard) has resigned from the Metropolitan Police Service over a relationship with a male prostitute.

The 1981 Springbok Tour commences in New Zealand, amid controversy over the support of apartheid.

August 3 ndash The 1980 Summer Olympics are held in Moscow, Soviet Union.

Former Turkish Prime MinisterNihat Erim is killed by 2 gunmen in Istanbul, Turkey.

July 20 ndash Flooding in Johnstown, PA, caused by massive rainfall, kills over 75 people and causes billions in damage.

Sagarmatha National Park in Nepal is created.

July 23 ndash Major Hashem al-Atta ousts Jaafar Muhammad al-Nimeiri in a military coup in Sudan. Fighting continues until on July 22, when pro-Nimeiri troops win. Al-Atta and 3 officers are executed.

The South Tower of the World Trade Center is topped out at , making it the second tallest building in the world.

A race riot breaks out in the North Side of Minneapolis on Plymouth Street during the Minneapolis Aquatennial Parade and business are vandalized and fires break out in the area, although the disturbance is quelled within hours. However, the next day a shooting sets off another incident in the same area that leads to 18 fires, 36 arrests, 3 shootings, 2 dozen people injured, and damages totaling 4.2 million. There will be two more such incidents in the following two weeks.

A Chinese delegate in the Netherlands, Liu en-Tsiu, is declared persona non grata because of the death of a Chinese engineer in unclear circumstances there are claims that he was kidnapped and taken to the delegate's office.

The National Movement of the Revolution is instituted as the sole legal political party in the Republic of Congo.

Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack a provincial capital, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).

Vietnam War: At a rally in Saigon, South Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Khanh calls for expanding the war into North Vietnam.

NASA launches Syncom 2, the world's first geostationary (synchronous) satellite.

American test pilot Joe Walker, flying the X-15, reaches an altutude of 65.8 miles (105.9 kilometers), making it a sub-orbital spaceflight by recognized international standards.

An earthquake in Skopje, Yugoslavia (now in the Republic of Macedonia) leaves 1,800 dead.

The First Annual Swiss Wielder Hoop and Stick Tournament is held.

The Beatles, then The Quarrymen, pay 17 shillings and 6 pence to have their first recording session where they record "That'll Be The Day" by Buddy Holly and "In Spite Of All The Danger" by Paul McCartney and George Harrison.

26 – Washington D.C. is buzzed by several alleged UFOs tracked on multiple radars. Jets scramble on several occasions and the objects take evasive action, only to return after the jets leave the area.ref name=DC_UFO_Flap

August 3 – The 1952 Summer Olympics are held in Helsinki, Finland.

The Kingdom of Laos is officially formed but is not independent from the French Army.

WWII: Rome is bombed by the Allies for the first time in the war.

WWII: Battle of the Atlantic: German Grand Admiral Karl Dönitz orders the last U-boats to withdraw from their United States Atlantic coast positions, in response to an effective American convoy system.

20 ndash Pancho Villa is assassinated at Hidalgo del Parral, Chihuahua.

August 7 ndash The Second Congress of the Communist International takes place in Saint Petersburg and Moscow. The notorious Twenty-one Conditions are adopted.

The Foreign Ministry of Azerbaijan Democratic Republic was established at the decree of the chancellory for foreign affairs.//today.az/news/politics/53534.html Azerbaijani Foreign Ministry official: result of overcoming obstacles by first Azerbaijani diplomats was international recognition in Versailles Today.az

The first line of the Paris Métro is opened.

The Newsboys Strike takes place when the Newsies of New York go on strike (strike lasts until August 2).

Dorr Eugene Felt receives the first U.S. patent for his comptometer.//www.google.com/patents/about?id=-FxEAAAAEBAJ U.S. Patent No. 366,945, filed July 6, 1886 second patent granted October 11, 1887: //www.google.com/patents/about?id=TptMAAAAEBAJ U.S. Patent No. 371,496, filed March 12, 1887.

Doc Holliday kills for the first time after a man shoots up Holliday's New Mexico saloon.

Russo-Turkish War, 1877–1878: The first battle in the Siege of Plevna is fought.

Franco-Prussian War: France declares war on Prussia.

Women\\\\'s rights ndash Seneca Falls Convention: The 2-day Women\\'s Rights Convention opens in Seneca Falls, New York and the Bloomers are introduced at the feminist convention.

Isambard Kingdom Brunel's

George IV is crowned king of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland.

A formal request is made to the Spanish government as to allow the founding of the later city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.

Battle of Casteldelfino: France defeats the Kingdom of Sardinia.

Battle of Flint River: failed attack by Spanish and ApalacheeIndian forces against CreekIndians supported by English traders in what is now the state of Georgia.

July 8 O.S. July 9 Swedish calendar) ndash Battle of Klissow: Charles II of Sweden decisively defeats the Polish–Lithuanian-Saxon army.

September ndash Churchill forces the surrender of Venlo on the Meuse River.

Sir George Rooke fails to take Cadiz, but captures a Spanish treasure fleet and destroys French and Spanish warships. Churchill forces the surrender of Liège.

Iyasus succeeds his father Yohannes I as Emperor of Ethiopia.

Wanli Emperor of China ascends the throne at the age of nine he will rule for 48 years.

Queen Mary I of England begins her reign.

September 14 ndash English forces under Henry VIIIbesiege and capture Boulogne.

Battle of Halidon Hill: Edward III defeats Sir Archibald Douglas, during the last of the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Childebert III died and is succeeded by Dagobert III as king of Austrasia.

Reconstruction of the Hōryū-ji Temple in Japan ends.

Philippicus incites a revolt against Justinian II, and upon the latter's death declares himself Byzantine Emperor.

Battle of Guadalete: Umayyad Moors' victory over the Visigothic army. Visigothic king Roderic (Rodrigo in Spanish and Portuguese) dies in the battle.

After pirates plunder an Arab ship near the mouth of the Indus River, Arabs led by Muhammad bin Qasim invade India with 6,000 horses, establishing a sultanate in Sindh.

Pope Symmachus dies at Rome after a 16-year reign and is succeeded by Hormisdas as the 52nd pope.

King Gundobad proclaims the "Lex Burgundionum". A law code of the Burgundians, concerning marriage and inheritance as well as regulating weregild and other penalties (approximate date).

Leontius, Roman usurper, is crowned emperor at Tarsus (modern Turkey). Empress dowager Verina sends a letter to the governors of the Diocese of the East and the Diocese of Egypt for support. He is recognized in Antioch and makes it his capital.

Zeno signs a peace treaty with Theodoric the Great. He appoints him to "magister militum" and becomes a consul. The eastern empire is safed by diplomatic negotiations and the imperial army is strengthened behind the walls of Constantinople.

Leontius raises a rebellion against emperor Zeno, who faces a revolt also from the Ostrogoth king Theodoric the Great. He sends an army to Syria, but is defeated by the Byzantine general Illus.

Nero proposes a new urban planning program based the creation of buildings decorated with ornate porticos, the widening of the streets and the use of open spaces. This plan will not be applied until after his death in 68.

The year the First Epistle of Peter is traditionally believed to be written.

The Kushan sack the town of Taxila (in present-day Pakistan).

Great fire of Rome: A fire begins in the merchant area of Rome and soon burns completely out of control, while emperor Nero allegedly plays his lyre and sings as he watches the blaze from a safe distance. There is no hard evidence to support this claim: fires were very common in Rome at the time. The fire destroys close to one-half of the city and it is officially blamed on the Christians, a small but growing religious movement. Nero is accused of being the arsonist by popular rumour.

Phoenicia becomes part of Syria.

In Rome, persecution of early Christians begins under Roman Emperor Nero. Saint Peter is among those executed.

Lyon sends a large sum of money to Rome to aid in the reconstruction. However, during the winter of 64–65, Lyon suffers a catastrophic fire itself, and Nero reciprocates by sending money to Lyon.

Seneca proclaims the equality of all men, including slaves.