18 July 1974

An arson attack at the studio of Kyoto Animation in Japan led to the deaths of 36 people.

The conviction of former Italian prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, who had been found guilty of paying for an underage prostitute, was overturned on appeal.

A suicide bomber attacked an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria, resulting in the military branch of Hezbollah being designated a terrorist organization by the European Union.

Selena's album Dreaming of You, instrumental in popularizing Tejano music, was posthumously released.

American actress Rebecca Schaeffer was shot and killed by Robert John Bardo, eventually prompting the passage of anti-stalking laws in California.

Parts of the dismembered body of Swedish prostitute Catrine da Costa were found in Stockholm.

At the Olympic Games in Montreal, Nadia Comăneci (pictured) became the first gymnast to score a perfect 10 for her routine on the uneven bars.

Francisco Javier Arana, the chief of the Guatemalan armed forces, was killed in a shootout with supporters of President Juan José Arévalo.

Nationalist rebels attempted a coup against the Second Spanish Republic, sparking the Spanish Civil War.

Newsboys from Long Island City turned over a distribution wagon for the New York Journal, marking the start of the Newsboys' strike of 1899.

American Civil War: Led by Colonel Robert Gould Shaw, the 54th Massachusetts Infantry Regiment, one of the first African-American military units in the Union Army, spearheaded an assault (pictured) on Fort Wagner, South Carolina.

Pedro II, the last emperor of Brazil, was crowned at the Old Cathedral of Rio de Janeiro.

An explosion at a gunpowder magazine in Birgu, Malta, killed an estimated 200 people.

Johann Sebastian Bach directed the first performance of his cantata Erforsche mich, Gott, und erfahre mein Herz in Leipzig.

King Edward I issued an edict to expel all Jews from England.

A man sets fire to an anime studio in Fushimi-ku, Kyoto, Japan, killing 36 people and injuring dozens of others.

The Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant requires Christians to either accept dhimmi status, emigrate from ISIL lands, or be killed.

The Government of Detroit, with up to $20 billion in debt, files for the largest municipal bankruptcy in U.S. history.

At least seven people are killed and 32 others are injured after a bomb explodes on an Israeli tour bus at Burgas Airport, Bulgaria.

A Consolidated PB4Y-2 Privateer crashes near Estes Park, Colorado, killing both crew members.

Storms provoke severe flooding on the Saguenay River, beginning one of Quebec's costliest natural disasters ever.

On the Caribbean island of Montserrat, the Soufrière Hills volcano erupts. Over the course of several years, it devastates the island, destroying the capital, forcing most of the population to flee.

The bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (Argentine Jewish Community Center) in Buenos Aires kills 85 people (mostly Jewish) and injures 300.

Rwandan genocide: The Rwandan Patriotic Front takes control of Gisenyi and north western Rwanda, forcing the interim government into Zaire and ending the genocide.