This day in history

American aviator Wiley Post returns to Floyd Bennet Field in New York, having flown solo around the world in 7 days, 18 hours and 49 minutes. He was the first aviator to accomplish the feat.

Post, instantly recognisable by the patch he wore over one eye, began the journey on 15 July flying non-stop to Berlin. After a brief rest, he flew on to the Soviet Union, where he made several stops before returning to North America via Alaska, Canada and finally New York.

As part of a two-man team, he had already flown around the world in 1931. In 1935, he was attempting to fly across the North Pole to the USSR with American humorist Will Rogers when both were killed in an air crash in Alaska.
 

Brazilian electrician, Jean Charles de Menezes, is shot dead in Stockwell Underground station, London, by British police who mistakenly believe him to be a terrorist 
 

Saddam Hussein’s sons Uday and Qusay are killed by U.S. troops during combat. 

In Britain, Conservative Prime Minister John Major launches his ill fated Citizens Charter designed to improve public services.   

Palestinian cartoonist and satirist, Naji Salim al-Ali, is shot in London. He later dies as a result of his wounds in August. 

Deng Xiaoping is restored to a position of power with the Chinese Government and Communist Party.