U.S. Navy's Worst Wartime Loss at Sea July 30, 1945 After the USS Indianapolis was sunk by a Japanese torpedo, the survivors were stranded for three and half days in shark-infested waters. Only 316 of the 1,195-man crew survived the ordeal. This was the greatest single loss of life at sea, from a single ship, in the hi...

Forrestal Disaster July 29, 1967 Fire on USS Forrestal kills 134 people. While the ship was preparing to launch attacks on Vietnam, a rocket from one of its own F-4 Phantom jet fighters accidentally launched and struck several parked A-4 Skyhawk jets which were waiting to take off. One of the parked Skyhawks was pilote...

Bomber Crashes Into Empire State Building July 28, 1945 A U.S. B25 bomber crashed into the 79th floor of the Empire State Building. Fourteen people were killed, including the pilot and his two crew members. A female elevator operator survived a 75-story elevator plunge, which still stands as the Guinness Record for the...

Chicago Race Riot July 27, 1919 Seven days of rioting begins in which 23 blacks and 15 whites are killed, with more than 500 people injured. Between 1,000 and 2,000 residents, most of them black, lost their homes. The riot began when Eugene Williams, a 17-year-old African American, drifted into a white-only beach on th...

Watergate July 24, 1973 U.S. Supreme Court rules that U.S. President Richard Nixon must turn over 64 tapes of White House conversations to Watergate Special Prosecutor Leon Jaworski.