12 July 1971

An edit on the page of the coati nicknamed it the Brazilian aardvark, in which multiple news channels followed in pursuit.

Two U.S. Army AH-64 Apache helicopters (pictured) conducted a series of air-to-ground attacks in Baghdad.

Hezbollah forces crossed the Israel–Lebanon border and attacked Israeli military positions while firing rockets and mortars at Israeli towns, sparking a five-week war.

France defeated the defending champions Brazil 3–0 to win their first FIFA World Cup title.

Hayao Miyazaki's animated film Princess Mononoke is released, becoming the highest-grossing film in Japan for a few months.

Rowdy fans at Comiskey Park in Chicago stormed the field during a Major League Baseball promotional event at which a crate of disco records was blown up.

Sixteen-year-old Pauline Reade, the first victim of serial killers Ian Brady and Myra Hindley, disappeared in Gorton, England.

The English rock band the Rolling Stones (pictured) played their first concert at the Marquee Club in London.

Arab–Israeli War: Israel Defense Forces officer Yitzhak Rabin signed an order to expel Palestinians from the towns of Lydda and Ramle.

World War II: German and Soviet forces engaged each other at the Battle of Prokhorovka (tanks pictured), one of the largest tank battles in military history.

The Soviet–Lithuanian Peace Treaty was signed, with Soviet Russia agreeing to recognize an independent Lithuania.

An explosion in the ammunition magazine of the Japanese battleship Kawachi resulted in the deaths of more than 600 officers and crewmen.

First World War: Second Lieutenant Kléber Dupuy defeated a German attack on Fort Souville at a key moment of the Battle of Verdun.

Second Balkan War: The Serbian Army began the Siege of Vidin, which they abandoned six days later when an armistice between the Serbs and Bulgarians was signed.

French Revolutionary Wars: A squadron of British ships of the line defeated a larger squadron of Spanish and French vessels in the Strait of Gibraltar.

Saint Basil's Cathedral (pictured), located in Red Square, Moscow, was consecrated.

King Æthelstan of England secured the submission of four northern rulers: Constantine II of Scotland, Hywel Dda of Deheubarth, Ealdred I of Bamburgh, and Owain ap Dyfnwal of Strathclyde, leading to seven years of peace.

Gazpromavia Flight 9608 crashes in Russia's Kolomensky District near Kolomna, killing three.

Six people are killed and 200 injured in a French passenger train derailment in Brétigny-sur-Orge.

Syrian Civil War: Government forces target the homes of rebels and activists in Tremseh and kill anywhere between 68 and 150 people.

U.S. Army Apache helicopters engage in airstrikes against armed insurgents in Baghdad, Iraq, where civilians are killed; footage from the cockpit is later leaked to the Internet.

A cross-border raid by Hezbollah militants starts the 2006 Lebanon War.

Space Shuttle program: Space Shuttle Atlantis is launched on mission STS-104, carrying the Quest Joint Airlock to the International Space Station.

The Ulster Volunteer Force attack a house in Ballymoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a petrol bomb, killing the Quinn brothers.