On this day: 22 July

Arab–Byzantine wars: The forces of the Abbasid Caliphate defeated Byzantine troops led by Emperor Theophilos at the Battle of Anzen, near present-day Dazman, Turkey.

First Crusade: Godfrey of Bouillon is elected the first Defender of the Holy Sepulchre of The Kingdom of Jerusalem.

A coalition of north-east German towns, counts and princes defeats King Valdemar II of Denmark in the Battle of Bornhöved.

St. Mary Magdalene's flood is the worst such event on record for central Europe.

Battle of St. Jakob an der Sihl in the Old Zürich War.

Ottoman wars in Europe: Siege of Belgrade: John Hunyadi, Regent of the Kingdom of Hungary, defeats Mehmet II of the Ottoman Empire.

Battle of Dornach: The Swiss decisively defeat the army of Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor.

Albany, New York is formally chartered as a municipality by Governor Thomas Dongan.

Surveyors of the Connecticut Land Company name an area in Ohio "Cleveland" after Gen. Moses Cleaveland, the superintendent of the surveying party.

Gia Long conquered Hanoi and unified modern-day Vietnam, which had experienced centuries of feudal warfare.

American Civil War: Confederate forces unsuccessfully attacked Union troops at the Battle of Atlanta.

Katharine Lee Bates writes "America the Beautiful" after admiring the view from the top of Pikes Peak near Colorado Springs, Colorado.

Jules-Albert de Dion finished first in the world's first motor race, but did not win as his steam-powered car was against the rules.

Rif War: The Spanish Army suffers its worst military defeat in modern times to the Berbers of the Rif region of Spanish Morocco.

Aviator Wiley Post returns to Floyd Bennett Field in New York City, completing the first solo flight around the world in seven days, 18 hours and 49 minutes.

Spanish Civil War: The Popular Executive Committee of Valencia takes power in the Valencian Community.

New Deal: The United States Senate votes down President Franklin D. Roosevelt's proposal to add more justices to the Supreme Court of the United States.

The United States government begins compulsory civilian gasoline rationing due to the wartime demands.

World War II: Allied forces capture Palermo during the Allied invasion of Sicily.

World War II: In opposition to the government-in-exile based in London, the Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation was proclaimed to govern territory recaptured from Germany.

Soviet space dogs: Dezik and Tsygan were launched into a sub-orbital spaceflight from Kapustin Yar and became the first dogs to fly in space and the first to safely return.

A limited state of martial law was declared in Russell County, Alabama, due to organized crime.

Mariner program: Mariner 1 spacecraft flies erratically several minutes after launch and has to be destroyed.

Stanley Forman (pictured) took the Pulitzer Prize–winning photo Fire Escape Collapse, which spurred action to improve the safety of fire escapes across the United States.

Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping is restored to power.

The first game of the 1981 South Africa rugby union tour of New Zealand and the United States is held in Gisborne, New Zealand.

Martial law in Poland is officially revoked.

Greg LeMond, an American road racing cyclist, wins his third Tour de France after leading the majority of the race. It was LeMond's second consecutive Tour de France victory.

Great Flood of 1993: Levees near Kaskaskia, Illinois rupture, forcing the entire town to evacuate by barges operated by the Army Corps of Engineers.

Written and illustrated by Eiichiro Oda, One Piece, the best-selling manga series in history, debuted in Weekly Shōnen Jump.

The second Blue Water Bridge opens between Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario.

Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) captured the cities of Serê Kaniyê and Dirbêsiyê, during clashes with pro-government forces in Al-Hasakah.

Chandrayaan-2, the second lunar exploration mission developed by Indian Space Research Organisation after Chandrayaan-1 is launched from Satish Dhawan Space Centre in a GSLV Mark III M1. It consists of a lunar orbiter, and also included the Vikram lander, and the Pragyan lunar rover.