On July 23

The English-Irish boy band One Direction were formed while auditioning for the 2010 series of the British singing competition The X Factor.

Megawati Sukarnoputri was sworn in (pictured) as the first female president of Indonesia following her predecessor's impeachment.

In Tulia, Texas, 47 people were arrested for dealing cocaine; years later, 35 of the 47 were pardoned by the Governor of Texas.

Hale–Bopp, one of the most widely observed comets of the 20th century, was independently discovered by astronomers Alan Hale and Thomas Bopp.

Vanessa Williams, the first African-American Miss America, was forced to resign after the magazine Penthouse published nude photos of her without consent.

A helicopter crashed during the filming of Twilight Zone: The Movie in Valencia, California, killing actor Vic Morrow and two child actors.

A shootout between police and a Black power group began in Cleveland, Ohio, sparking three days of rioting.

The Holocaust: The gas chambers at Treblinka extermination camp began operation, killing 6,500 Jews who had been transported from the Warsaw Ghetto the day before.

Sumner Welles, U.S. Under Secretary of State, issued a declaration that the U.S. government would not recognize the Soviet Union's annexation of the Baltic states.

Wilfred Rhodes of England and Yorkshire became the only person to play in 1,000 first-class cricket matches.

The first National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party opened in a house in Shanghai.

During a visit of the French Navy to Kronstadt in Russia, the two nations reached a secret agreement on a joint response to any future war in Europe.

The trial of the Eastbourne manslaughter, which later became an important legal precedent in the United Kingdom for discussions of corporal punishment in schools, began in Lewes.

A fleet led by the Knights Hospitaller sank 22 of 28 ships of the Turkish Aydinid emirate.