Wednesday, July 4, 1821

Keir Starmer led the Labour Party to a landslide victory in the United Kingdom general election, ending fourteen years of Conservative rule.

The monster movie Pulgasari, the most-widely-seen North Korean film ever made, premiered in Tokyo, Japan.

Kylie Minogue's first album, Kylie, was released, and went on to top the charts in the UK and New Zealand.

Four Iranian diplomats were kidnapped after they were stopped at a checkpoint in northern Lebanon by Lebanese Phalange forces; their fates remain unknown.

Israeli forces raided Uganda's Entebbe International Airport to free hostages taken by hijackers on Air France Flight 139.

In what is known as "The Miracle of Bern", West Germany defeated Hungary 3–2 to win the FIFA World Cup.

William Shockley announced the invention of the junction transistor, for which he, John Bardeen, and Walter Houser Brattain later won the Nobel Prize in Physics.

The Brazilian cruiser Bahia (pictured) was accidentally sunk by one of its own crewmen, killing more than 300 people.

The aircraft carrying Władysław Sikorski, prime minister of the Polish government-in-exile, crashed off Gibraltar, killing him and fifteen others and leading to several conspiracy theories.

The Holocaust: During the German occupation of Latvia, a number of synagogues in Riga were set on fire, killing many Jews who were confined within.

German AB-Aktion in Poland: After capturing Lwów, the Nazis executed professors of the University of Lwów along with their families.

World War I: Allied forces led by the Australian general John Monash won the Battle of Hamel, demonstrating the effectiveness of combined-arms techniques in trench warfare.