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William Hardham (31 July 1876 – 13 April 1928) was a New Zealand soldier. Born in Wellington, Hardham volunteered to serve with the New Zealand Military Forces in the Second Boer War. Posted to the 4th Contingent in 1900, he served in South Africa and was awarded the Victoria Cross for the rescue of a wounded soldier while under fire. When the First World War began, he joined the New Zealand Expeditionary Force (NZEF) and was posted to the Wellington Mounted Rifles (WMR) to serve overseas as a captain. Wounded during the Gallipoli campaign, he was repatriated to New Zealand. On recovery he was made the commandant of Queen Mary Hospital in Hanmer Springs. He rejoined the WMR, then in Palestine, in late 1917 and reached the rank of major by the end of the war in 1918. Returning to civilian life after his discharge from the NZEF, he worked for a newspaper and later the Public Works Department as well as being involved in veterans' affairs. He died in 1928 at the age of 51. ( Full article... )

Statue in John Paul II Park

• ... that a park in Chile features a 7-metre-tall (23 ft) statue of Pope John Paul II covered in plants (pictured)?
• ... that Pirngadi mapped Indonesia's ethnic groups for the 1931 Paris Colonial Exposition?
• ... that Madonna's new film features Debi Mazar, with whom she used to party in the 1980s before either of them was famous?
• ... that Theo Faiss was remembered by Rudolf Steiner after his death as "You dear Sun-Boy, you"?
• ... that Um, Jennifer? describe their music as "slut rock"?
• ... that a Utah TV station was historically preferred by non-Mormon viewers?
• ... that Vitiges divorced his wife so that he could strengthen his legitimacy as king by forcibly marrying the granddaughter of Theodoric the Great?
• ... that the statue of Austin Blair , according to the newspaper City Pulse , is one of only two monuments in the United States to mention slavery as a cause of the American Civil War?
• ... that Lionel Messi bathed a six-month-old Lamine Yamal for a charity photo shoot in 2007 ?

Earthquake damage

• A magnitude 6.8 earthquake (damage pictured) strikes Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, leaving 34 people dead.
• In cycling, Tadej Pogačar wins the Tour de France .
• In Gaelic football, the All-Ireland Senior Football Championship concludes with Mayo defeating Kerry in the final .
• Cockroach Janta Party–led protests following an exam leak conclude with the resignation of India's minister of education Dharmendra Pradhan.

July 31 : Lā Hae Hawaiʻi (Flag Day) and Lā Hoʻihoʻi Ea (Sovereignty Restoration Day) in Hawaii (1843)

Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

• 1009 – Sergius IV became the 142nd pope, succeeding John XVIII.
• 1777 – The Second Continental Congress passed a resolution commissioning the Marquis de Lafayette (pictured) as a major general in the American revolutionary forces.
• 1941 – The Holocaust: Under instructions from Adolf Hitler, Hermann Göring authorised SS officer Reinhard Heydrich to handle preparations for the " Final Solution of the Jewish question".
• 2002 – Hamas attackers detonated a bomb at the Mount Scopus campus of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, killing nine students and injuring about 100 more.
• 2020 – A mid-air collision in Soldotna, Alaska, killed seven people, including state representative Gary Knopp.