July 20
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July 20 is the 201st day (202nd in leap years) of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, with 164 days remaining.
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Events
For a fuller list of events, click here for events before 1950 and here for events after 1950.
- 514 - Pope Hormisdas assumes the papacy.
- 1304 - Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
- 1738 - French explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
- 1810 - Colombia declares independence from Spain.
- 1861 - American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America begins sitting in Richmond, Virginia.
- 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek - Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.
- 1871 - British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
- 1872 - The United States Patent Office awards the first patent for wireless telegraphy to Mahlon Loomis.
- 1881 - Sioux Chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana
- 1914 - Russia: Czar Nicholas II welcomes France's President Raymond Poincaré.
- 1917 - The Corfu Declaration, which created the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, was signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
- 1917 - Alexander Kerensky becomes Prime Minister of the provisional government and survives an assassination attempt.
- 1917 - In the United States, the first military draft numbers are drawn for World War I.
- 1920 - The funeral of Empress Eugenie of France is held in St. Michael's Abbey near Farnborough, England.
- 1921 - Air mail service begins between New York City and San Francisco.
- 1922 - The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
- 1925 - In Cleveland, Tennessee, Clarence Darrow questions William Jennings Bryan in the Scopes Monkey Trial during a session held out of doors about the literal truth of the Bible.
- 1927 - Michael I becomes King at age five upon the death of his father Ferdinand I.
- 1932 - German President Paul von Hindenburg signs a decree ordering Franz von Papen to take control of the Prussian state government and declares martial law.
- 1932 - In Washington, D.C., police fire tear gas on World War I veterans part of the Bonus Expeditionary Force who attempt to march to the White House.
- 1933 - Germany's Franz von Papen and the Vatican's Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli sign a concordat on behalf of their respective nations.
- 1933 - In the United Kingdom, 500,000 march against anti-Semitism in London.
- 1933 - United States: President Franklin D. Roosevelt orders new regulations on the trading of grain in order to curb speculators.
- 1933 - In Germany, two-hundred Jewish merchants are arrested in Nuremberg and paraded through the streets.
- 1936 - The Montreux Convention is signed in Montreux, Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
- 1940 - Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
- 1940 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart"; the first number one song is Frank Sinatra's "I'll Never Smile Again".
- 1940 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill limiting political activity by Federal employees, the Hatch Act.
- 1941 - Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrenti Beria its chief.
- 1942 - World War II: Red Army troops take bridgeheads over the Don River near Voronezh.
- 1943 - World War II: American and Canadian troops conquer Enna on Sicily.
- 1943 - World War II: Axis leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini confer in northern Italy
- 1944 - Adolf Hitler survives the July 20 Plot an assassination attempt led by Claus von Stauffenberg.
- 1944 - World War II: American troops land on Guam near Port Apra.
- 1944 - In Bombay, India, health authorities announce a cholera epidemic has killed 34,000 in three months.
- 1944 - The United States Democratic Party nominates Franklin D. Roosevelt for a fourth term as president.
- 1945 - The U.S. Congress approves the Bretton Woods Agreement.
- 1946 - The U.S. Congress's Pearl Harbor Committee says Franklin D. Roosevelt was completely blameless for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and calls for a unified command structure in the armed forces.
- 1947 - Pope Pius XII canonizes a French saint, Blessed Louis-Marie Gregnon de Montort.
- 1948 - President Harry S. Truman issues the first peacetime military draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union.
- 1948 - In New York City, twelve leaders of the Communist Party USA are indicted under the Smith Act including William Z. Foster and Gus Hall.
- 1949 - Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen month war.
- 1950 - In Belgium, Parliament authorizes king Leopold III to return from exile in Austria.
- 1951 - King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
- 1952 - The Egyptian prime minister, Hussein Sirry Pasha resigns.
- 1952 - The 15th Olympic Games begin in Helsinki, Finland.
- 1953 - The United Nations Economic and Social Council votes to make UNICEF a permanent agency.
- 1954 - United States Senator Joseph R. McCarthy accepts the resignation of his aide Roy Cohn.
- 1957 - The Soviet Union closes Peter the Great Bay, which provides access to Vladivostok, to foreign ships.
- 1959 - The Organization for European Economic Cooperation admits Spain.
- 1960 - The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington (SSBN-598), for the first time.
- 1960 - In Lebanon, Saeb Salem is named Prime Minister.
- 1961 - The Arab League admits Kuwait to membership.
- 1964 - NASA successfully tests the first electric rocket engine in California.
- 1965 - In Greece, Elias Tsirimokos becomes prime minister.
- 1969 - Apollo 11 lands on the Moon and Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first humans to walk on its surface.
- 1972 - In the Netherlands, the cabinet of Prime Minister Barend Biesheuvel resigns in a dispute over the budget.
- 1973 - The United States Senate passes the War Powers Act.
- 1973 - In testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry Friedheim to the U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee, the United States Defense Department admits it lied to U.S. Congress about bombing Cambodia .
- 1973 - Palestianian terrorists hijack a Japan Airlines jet en route from Amsterdam to Japan and force it down in Dubai.
- 1973 - Indiana is found guilty of operating segregated schools by federal judge S. Hugh Dillin, who orders the state to develop a desegregation plan for Indianapolis's schools.
- 1974 - Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after Greek Cypriots' attempt at enosis. NATO's Council praises the United States and the United Kingdom for attempts to settle the dispute. Syria and Egypt put their militaries on alert.
- 1976 - The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
- 1977 - The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments.
- 1979 - Diana Nyad swims the sixty miles from the Bahamas to Florida.
- 1980 - Takieddih Solh is named Lebanon's new prime minister.
- 1980 - The United Nations Security Council votes 14-0 that member states should not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
- 1980 - The Air Force reveals it has a stealth plane.
- 1981 - The United States suspends sales of F-16 fighter jets to Israel
- 1984 - Officials of the Miss America pageant ask Vanessa Williams to quit after Penthouse published nude photos of her.
- 1987 - The United Nations Security Council demands a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War.
- 1988 - The Democrats nominate Governor Michael Dukakis of Massachusetts for President.
- 1990 - Iran Contra: All of Colonel Oliver North's convictions for perjury and other offenses are overturned by an appeals court.
- 1992 - In Czechoslovakia, Václav Havel resigns as president.
- 1994 - Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's Fragment Q1 hits Jupiter.
- 2000 - The leaders of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and racketeering.
- 2001 - The London Stock Exchange goes public.
- 2002 - The 27th Annual G8 summit opens in Genoa. An Italian protester in Genoa, Carlo Giuliani, is shot by police.
- 2002 - The United States Senate confirms Roger L. Gregory as the first black to sit on the United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit.
- 2004 - Former National Security Advisor Sandy Berger resigns as an advisor to Senator John Kerry's presidential campaign after it was revealed he stole classified documents from the National Archives.
- 2004 - PETA releases a video of gross cruelty to chickens taken at Pilgrim's Pride, one of KFC's suppliers in West Virginia, and the company pledged to investigate the claims.
- 2004 - Ahmed Qurei, Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority, agrees to withdraw his resignation, three days after tendering it.
- 2004 - Human Rights Watch releases a report stating that Sudanese government documents confirm support for the Arab Janjaweed militia in their campaign of ethnic cleansing against African Muslims in Darfur.
Births
For a fuller list of births, click here.
- 1304 - Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (d. 1374)
- 1519 - Pope Innocent IX
- 1754 - Destutt de Tracy, philosopher
- 1797 - Sir Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)
- 1838 - George Otto Trevelyan, British statesman and biographer (d. 1928)
- 1838- Augustin Daly, American playwright (d. 1899)
- 1847 - Max Liebermann, painter and graphic artist (d. 1935)
- 1849 - Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
- 1868 - Miron Cristea, First patriarch of the Romanian Orthodox Church (d. 1939)
- 1873 - Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator (d. 1932)
- 1889 - John Reith, BBC director-general
- 1890 - Theda Bara (Theodosia Burr Goodman), American actress (d. 1955)
- 1890 - King George II of Greece (d. 1947)
- 1895 - László Moholy-Nagy, painter, photographer, sculptor (d. 1946)
- 1897 - Clifford Braughton, American actor (d. 1979)
- 1901 - Heinie Manush, Baseball Hall of Famer (d. 1971)
- 1902 - Jimmy Kennedy, Irish composer (d. 1984)
- 1918 - Cindy Walker, American country music singer
- 1919 - Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountain climber
- 1920 - Elliot Richardson, American politician (d. 1999)
- 1923 - Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d.2005)
- 1924 - Mort Garson, Canadian composer
- 1924 - Thomas Berger, American novelist
- 1925 - Jacques Delors, former President of the European Commission
- 1926 - Lola Albright, American actress (Peter Gunn)
- 1932 - Otto Schily, German politician
- 1933 - Chuck Daly, American basketball coach
- 1933 - Nelson Doubleday, American book publisher and baseball executive
- 1933 - Cormac McCarthy, American author
- 1933 - Rex Williams, English snooker player
- 1934 - Uwe Johnson, German writer
- 1934 - Aliki Vougiouklaki, Greek actress
- 1936 - Barbara Mikulski, U.S. Senator from Maryland
- 1937 - Ken Ogata, Japanese actor
- 1938 - Natalie Wood, American actress: (Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story (d. 1981)
- 1938 - Dame Diana Rigg, British actress
- 1939 - Judy Chicago, American feminist artist
- 1940 - Tony Oliva, Cuban-born American baseball player
- 1941 - Kurt Raab, German actor (d. 1988)
- 1943 - Wendy Richard, British television actress (Are You Being Served?, EastEnders)
- 1945 - Kim Carnes, American singer and songwriter ("Bette Davis Eyes")
- 1945 - Larry Craig, U.S. Senator from Idaho
- 1946 - Peter Simons, Belgian director
- 1947 - Carlos Santana, Mexican guitarist
- 1950 - Naseeruddin Shah, Indian actor
- 1950 - Tantoo Cardinal, Canadian actress
- 1953 - Marcia Hines, American born-Australian singer
- 1954 - Moira Harris, American actress
- 1956 - Paul Cook, English musician (The Sex Pistols)
- 1959 - Radney Foster, American singer
- 1964 - Chris Cornell, American musician
- 1964 - Kool G. Rap, American musician
- 1964 - Terri Irwin, American television personality, wife of Steve Irwin
- 1968 - Michael Park, American actor (As the World Turns)
- 1968 - Julian Rhind-Tutt, English actor (Keen Eddie)
- 1969 - Vitamin C, British singer
- 1969 - Josh Holloway, American actor (Lost)
- 1971 - Charles Johnson, American baseball player
- 1973 - Haakon Magnus, Crown Prince of Norway
- 1973 - Peter Forsberg, Swedish-born hockey player
- 1974 - Simon Rex, American actor
- 1980 - Gisele Bundchen, Brazilian model
- 1996 - Billi Bruno, American actress (According to Jim)
Deaths
For a fuller list of deaths, click here.
- 985 - Pope Boniface VII
- 1031 - King Robert II of France (b. 972)
- 1398 - Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March
- 1454 - King John II of Castile (b. 1405)
- 1524 - Queen Claude of France
- 1870 - Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, French writer
- 1897 - Jean Ingelow, English poet (b. 1820)
- 1901 - William Cosmo Monkhouse, poet and critic (b. 1840)
- 1903 - Pope Leo XIII
- 1908 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek International Olympic Committee president
- 1922 - Andrey Markov, mathematician
- 1923 - Pancho Villa, revolutionary (assassinated)
- 1926 - Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinskiy, head of the Soviet secret police
- 1927 - King Ferdinand of Romania
- 1937 - Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor
- 1941 - Lew Fields, American vaudeville performer
- 1945 - Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
- 1951 - Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern, Crown Prince of Germany
- 1951 - King Abdullah, King of Jordan
- 1953 - Dumarsaid Estime, President of Haiti (b. 1900)
- 1953 - Jan Struther, British author
- 1957 - Dr. Alfred Einstein Cohen, American cardiologist
- 1959 - Admiral William Leahy, American naval officer
- 1967 - Albert Lutuli, South African civil rights leader, winner of the 1960 Nobel Peace Prize
- 1968 - Bray Hammond, American historian
- 1973 - Bruce Lee, actor and martial artist
- 1990 - Herbert T. Jenkins, American policeman
- 1991 - Earl Robinson, American singer and composer
- 1992 - John Bratby, British painter
- 1996 - Colin Mitchell, British Member of Parliament
- 1993 - Vincent Foster Jr., White House deputy counsel
- 1997 - John Akii-Bua, Ugandan hurdler
- 1999 - Sandra Gould, American actress
- 2001 - Carlo Giuliani, Italian activist
- 2003 - Nicolas Freeling, crime writer
- 2004 - Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fijian chieftainess, wife of Kamisese Mara
Holidays and observances
- Colombia - Independence Day
- Japan - Marine Day (Umi-no-hi, currently it falls on the third Monday in July.)
- Occupied North Cyprus - Peace and Freedom Day
- Argentina - Friendship Day
- Feast day for at least thirteen saints in the Roman Catholic Church: Ss. Aurelius, Margaret of Antioch, Wilgefortis, Elias, Barhadbesciabas, Wulmar, Sabinus, Severa (two of this name), Flavian, John of Pulsano, Joseph of Barsabas, Margaret, and Paul of St. Zoilus.
External links
- BBC: On This Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/july/20)
July 19 - July 21 - June 20 - August 20 -- listing of all days
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