Steve Fossett takes off on his record-breaking balloon flight
The American adventurer lifted off from Northam in Western Australia to commence history’s first solo flight around the world in any aircraft. On July 3, after having traveled 33,195 km (20,626 mi), he touched down again in Queensland, Australia.
An ETA car bomb kills 21 in Barcelona
The 1987 Hipercor bombing was one of the bloodiest attacks by Basque separatist organization, Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA.
Garfield, the lazy cat makes his debut
The first Garfield comic strip by Jim Davis appeared in 41 newspapers on that day. It currently holds the Guinness World Record for the world’s most widely syndicated comic strip.
South Africa implements the Natives Land Act
The law limited the areas of land that could be owned by black people to “native reserve” areas, which comprised less than 10 percent of the country’s total area. It was in force until Apartheid was dismantled in the 1990s.
- 1978 Dirk Nowitzki
German basketball player - 1964 Boris Johnson
British politician - 1947 Salman Rushdie
Indian author - 1945 Aung San Suu Kyi
Burmese politician, Nobel Prize laureate - 1861 José Rizal
Filipino polymath
- 2013 James Gandolfini
American actor - 1993 William Golding
English author, poet, playwright, Nobel Prize laureate - 1991 Jean Arthur
American actress - 1937 J. M. Barrie
Scottish author, playwright - 1312 Piers Gaveston, 1st Earl of Cornwall
English nobleman
