64 A.D: Fire of Rome
On July 18, 64 A.D., a fire breaks out in Rome, spreading rapidly throughout the market area in the center of the city. When the flames finally died out more than a week later, nearly two-thirds of Rome had been destroyed. Emperor Nero used the fire as an opportunity to rebuild Rome in a more orderly Greek style and began construction on a massive palace called the Domus Aureus. Some speculated that the emperor had ordered the burning of Rome to indulge his architectural tastes, but he was away in Antium when the conflagration began. According to later Roman historians, Nero blamed members of the mysterious Christian cult for the fire and launched the first Roman persecutions of Christians in response.

1997
All 230 passengers and crew on board a TWA Jumbo Jet are killed when it explodes over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after leaving New York bound for Paris.
1994
More than 100 are killed by car bomb in the main Jewish centre in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
1984
On a Wednesday in America, a gunman massacres 20 people at a MacDonalds' restaurant in California - blaming it on the fact that 'I don't like Mondays'.
1975
Former British MP John Stonehouse is flown back from Australia to face charges relating to his attempt to falsify his own death.
1969
American Senator Edward Kennedy crashes his car into Chappaquiddick River near Martha's Vineyard on the USA's east coast. Kennedy escapes, but his companion, Mary Jo Kopechne drowns.
1947
Convicted Nazi war criminal Rudolf Hess, once deputy to German Fuhrer Adolf Hitler, is moved to Spandau Prison in Berlin.
1947
In Britain, Parliament passes the Indian Independance Bill.
1934
Official opening of the Mersey Tunnel in Liverpool.
1925
German politician Adolf Hitler publishes the first volume of his personal manifesto Mein Kampf.
1919
Unveiling of the Cenataph in Whitehall, London - a World War I memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens.
1901
In London, Earl Russell goes before his Peers in the House of Lords charged with bigamy. He pleads guilty but says he believes his divorce and re-marriage in Nevada, USA are valid. Earl Russell is sentenced to 3 months in prison.
1872
The Ballot Act in Britain introduces secret voting in general elections.
64
The Great Fire of Rome during the reign of Emperor Nero destroys almost two thirds of the city. Nero blames the fire on Christians.