On July 8

Former Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe (pictured) was assassinated with an improvised firearm due to resentment against the Unification Church.

Head of a Bear (pictured) sold at auction in London for a total of £8.8 million, a record for a drawing by Leonardo da Vinci.

In the 2014 FIFA World Cup semi-final at the Mineirão, Germany defeated Brazil 7–1 (players pictured), breaking several tournament records.

German citizen Lars Mittank disappeared from Varna Airport, Bulgaria; his last known movements were widely watched on YouTube.

Sudan Airways Flight 139 crashed near Port Sudan Airport during an emergency landing attempt, killing 116 of the 117 people on board.

West Germany won the FIFA World Cup final against defending champions Argentina, with Andreas Brehme scoring the game's only goal.

Aeroflot Flight 4225 crashed near Almaty International Airport in the Kazakh Soviet Socialist Republic (present day Kazakhstan) killing all 166 people on board.

King Mwambutsa IV of Burundi was deposed in a coup d'état by his son, Prince Charles Ndizi.

Canadian Pacific Air Lines Flight 21 was destroyed by a bomb near 100 Mile House, Canada, killing 52.

Following student protests at Rangoon University, Burmese general Ne Win ordered the demolition of the historic students' union building.

Korean War: American troops withdrew from Cheonan, in modern-day South Korea, after suffering heavy casualties from a North Korean attack.

Following reports of the capture of a "flying disc" by U.S. Army Air Forces personnel near Roswell, New Mexico, the military stated that the crashed object was a conventional weather balloon.

Members of the North-West Mounted Police at Fort Dufferin began their March West, their first journey to the Canadian Prairies.

The United States Declaration of Independence received its first formal public reading, in Philadelphia.

French and Indian War: French forces defeated the British at Fort Carillon in the British colony of New York.

Great Northern War: Swedish forces under Charles XII were defeated by Russian troops led by Peter the Great at the Battle of Poltava.

Baptist minister John Clarke (pictured) was granted the Rhode Island Royal Charter, described as the "grandest instrument of human liberty ever constructed".