CNN Interactive - Almanac

It is a catastrophic situation. It cuts across all types of crops and livestock. It's just going to be a very, very bad year, and it is probably too late to salvage much.

-- Gene Hall of the Texas Farm Bureau, discussing the effects of the heat wave

The official ceremony to unveil the African-American Civil War Memorial will be held in Washington.
The National Aviation Hall of Fame induction ceremony in Dayton, Ohio, will feature astronaut James Lovell, commander of Apollo 13.

On Sunday, July 19, the 1998 Goodwill Games begin in New York.
On Monday, July 20, Burundi peace talks are scheduled to resume in Tanzania.
On Tuesday, July 21, INET '98, a conference focusing on the evolution of the Internet, opens in Geneva.
On Wednesday, July 22, U.S. Vice President Al Gore is expected to be in Ukraine.
On Thursday, July 23, the announcement of the nominees for the 50th annual Emmy Awards will be made in Los Angeles.

NEWSLINK:		NOTABLE:
The African-American Civil War Memorial will be unveiled today in Washington. To learn about the role of African-Americans in the bloody war between the states, click here.		Papua New Guinea celebrates Provincial Government Day. Uruguay celebrates Constitution Day. Actor James Brolin ("Hotel") is 57. Sportscaster Dick Button is 69. Actor Hume Cronyn ("Cocoon") is 87. Singer Dion Di Mucci is 59. Politician and astronaut John Glenn is 77. Basketball player Penny Hardaway is 26. Actress Elizabeth McGovern ("Ordinary People") is 37. Singer Martha Reeves (of Martha and the Vandellas) is 57. Musician Ricky Skaggs ("I Don't Care") is 44. Writer Hunter S. Thompson is 59. Poet Yevgeny Yevtushenko us 65.

In 64, the great fire of Rome destroyed two-thirds of the city. The emperor Nero suspected Christians of causing it and they were subsequently persecuted.
In 1536, the authority of the pope was declared void in England by an act of Parliament.
In 1915, the Second Battle of Isonzo began in World War I. A series of battles on this river were fought during the year with no gain for the Italians and the loss of 280,000 men.
In 1925, Adolf Hitler published the first volume of his personal manifesto, "Mein Kampf."
In 1936, the Spanish Civil War began in the early hours of the morning with a revolt at Melilla in Spanish Morocco.
In 1951, Jersey Joe Walcott defeated Ezzard Charles to become world heavyweight boxing champion.
In 1969, Sen. Edward Kennedy crashed his car off the Chappaquidick Island bridge; his passenger, Mary Jo Kopechne, died in the accident.
In 1971, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Umm al-Quwain, Ajman and Fujeirah, decided to form the Union of Arab Emirates.
In 1972, Egypt demanded the Soviet Union remove its 20,000 advisers from the country, accusing it of failing to supply promised arms.
In 1976, the 21st Olympic Games opened in Montreal, with Taiwan being refused entry and 19 nations withdrawing in protest against New Zealand's rugby tour of South Africa.
In 1984, a gunman massacred 20 people at a McDonald's restaurant in California saying, "I don't like Mondays" -- even though it was a Wednesday.
In 1990, the rebel Soviet republic of Lithuania passed a new provisional law on local military service, challenging Moscow's right to conscript its young men.
In 1994, 96 people were killed when a bomb ripped through a Buenos Aires Jewish community center.
In 1997, U.S. astronomer Eugene Shoemaker, died at 69. He helped to discover the giant Shoemaker-Levy 9 comet which slammed into the planet Jupiter in 1994. He was killed in a car crash in the Australian outback.