July 20
July 20 is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 164 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 70 – First Jewish-Roman War: Siege of Jerusalem – Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
- 911 – Rollo lays siege to Chartres.
- 1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle – King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using the War Wolf.
- 1402 – Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara – Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.
- 1738 – Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
- 1807 – Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.
- 1810 – Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.
- 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.
- 1866 – Austro-Prussian War: Battle of Lissa – The Austrian Navy , led by Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, defeats the Italian Navy near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea.
- 1871 – British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
- 1885 – The Football Association legalizes professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.
- 1903 – The Ford Motor Company ships its first car.
- 1917 – World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
- 1922 – The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
- 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.
- 1934 – Labor unrest in the U.S.: as police in Minneapolis fire upon striking truck drivers, during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934, killing two and wounding sixty-seven.
- 1934 – 1934 West Coast waterfront strike: In Seattle, police fire tear gas on and club 2,000 striking longshoremen. The governor of Oregon calls out the National Guard to break a strike on the Portland docks.
- 1935 – Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.
- 1936 – The Montreux Convention is signed in Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
- 1938 – The United States Department of Justice files suit in New York City against the motion picture industry charging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in regards to the studio system. The case would eventually result in a break-up of the industry in 1948.
- 1940 – Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
- 1940 – California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
- 1941 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrenti Beria its chief.
- 1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
- 1949 – Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.
- 1950 – Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.
- 1951 – King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
- 1954 – Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret service, defects to East Germany.
- 1960 – Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
- 1960 – The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.
- 1961 – French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.
- 1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, Cai Be, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).
- 1968 – The first Special Olympics is held.
- 1969 – Apollo Program: Apollo 11 successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on another world almost 7 hours later.
- 1969 – A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, 6 days after the beginning of the "Football War".
- 1974 – Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a coup d'etat, organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.
- 1976 – The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
- 1977 – Johnstown, Pennsylvania is hit by a flash flood that kills eighty and causes $350 million in damage.
- 1977 – The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments.
- 1980 – The United Nations Security Council votes 14-0 that member states should not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
- 1982 – Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regents Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.
- 1985 – The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.
- 1989 – Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
- 1992 – Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
- 1999 – Falun Gong is banned in the People's Republic of China, and a large scale crackdown of the practice is launched.
Births
- 356 BC – Alexander the Great, Greek king of Macedonia and conqueror of Persia (d. 323 BC)
- 810 – Imam Bukhari, Muslim scholar and compiler of Hadith (d. 870)
- 1304 – Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (d. 1374)
- 1537 – Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (d. 1604)
- 1620 – Nikolaes Heinsius, Dutch scholar (d. 1681)
- 1754 – Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher (d. 1836)
- 1757 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician (d. 1811)
- 1774 – Auguste Marmont, French marshal (d. 1852)
- 1797 – Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)
- 1804 – Richard Owen, English biologist (d. 1892)
- 1822 – Gregor Mendel, German scientist, father of modern genetics (d. 1884)
- 1838 – Augustin Daly, American playwright (d. 1899)
- 1838 – George Otto Trevelyan, British statesman and biographer (d. 1928)
- 1847 – Max Liebermann, German artist (d. 1935)
- 1849 – Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
- 1852 – Theo Heemskerk, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1932)
- 1858 – Ivan Vucetic, Croatian anthropologist (d. 1925)
- 1864 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 1931)
- 1868 – Miron Cristea, 1st Patriarch of All Romania (d. 1939)
- 1873 – Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator (d. 1932)
- 1876 – Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (d. 1944)
- 1889 – Lord Reith, British broadcast executive (d. 1971)
- 1890 – King George II of Greece (d. 1947)
- 1893 – George Llewelyn-Davies, English Peter Pan character model (d. 1915)
- 1895 – László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer, and sculptor (d. 1946)
- 1896 – Eunice Sanborn, American supercentenarian (d. 2011)
- 1897 – Tadeus Reichstein, Polish-born chemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1996)
- 1900 – Maurice Leyland, English cricketer (d. 1967)
- 1901 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player (d. 1971)
- 1902 – Jimmy Kennedy, Irish composer (d. 1984)
- 1909 – Jean Focas, Greco-French astronomer (d. 1969)
- 1909 – Eric Rowan, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1952 (d. 1993)
- 1910 – Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (d. 2004)
- 1911 – Baqa Jilani, Indian cricketer (d. 1941)
- 1912 – George Johnston, Australian journalist and novelist (d. 1970)
- 1914 – Charilaos Florakis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (d. 2005)
- 1918 – Cindy Walker, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1919 – Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (d. 2008)
- 1920 – Elliot Richardson, American politician (d. 1999)
- 1922 – Alan Stephenson Boyd, American politician
- 1923 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
- 1924 – Thomas Berger, American novelist
- 1924 – Mort Garson, Canadian composer (d. 2008)
- 1925 – Jacques Delors, French President of the European Commission
- 1925 – Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (d. 1961)
- 1926 – Lola Albright, American actress
- 1926 – Patricia Cutts, English actress (d. 1974)
- 1927 – Michael Gielen, Austrian conductor and composer
- 1928 – Peter Ind, British jazz double bass player
- 1929 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman and sports executive
- 1929 – Rajendra Kumar, Indian actor (d. 1999)
- 1930 – Giannis Agouris, Greek writer and journalist (d. 2006)
- 1930 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (d. 2009)
- 1930 – Sally Ann Howes, English-born singer and actress
- 1931 – Tony Marsh, English racing driver
- 1932 – Nam June Paik, Video artist (d. 2006)
- 1932 – Otto Schily, German politician
- 1932 – Ove Verner Hansen, Danish actor
- 1933 – Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1933 – Cormac McCarthy, American author
- 1933 – Rex Williams, English snooker player
- 1934 – Uwe Johnson, German writer (d. 1984)
- 1934 – Doug Padgett, English cricketer
- 1934 – Aliki Vougiouklaki, Greek actress (d. 1996)
- 1935 – Ted Rogers, English comedian (d. 2001)
- 1936 – Barbara Mikulski, American politician
- 1937 – Ken Ogata, Japanese actor (d. 2008)
- 1938 – Roger Hunt, English footballer
- 1938 – Tony Oliva, Cuban baseball player
- 1938 – Dame Diana Rigg, English actress
- 1938 – Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1939 – Judy Chicago, American artist
- 1941 – Periklis Korovesis, Greek author and journalist
- 1941 – Kurt Raab, German actor (d. 1988)
- 1942 – Ron Bowden, Australian politician
- 1942 – Pete Hamilton, American race car driver
- 1942 – T. G. Sheppard, American country music singer
- 1943 – Chris Amon, New Zealand racing driver
- 1943 – Wendy Richard, English actress (d. 2009)
- 1943 – Adrian Păunescu, Romanian poet, journalist, and politician (d. 2010)
- 1943 – Dennis Yost, lead singer of the Classics IV (d. 2008)
- 1944 – Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor
- 1945 – Kim Carnes, American singer and songwriter
- 1945 – Larry Craig, American politician
- 1945 – John Lodge, English musician (The Moody Blues)
- 1945 – Johnny Loughrey, Irish singer (d. 2005)
- 1945 – Bo Rein, American football coach (d. 1980)
- 1945 – Harrison Ellenshaw, American matte painter
- 1946 – Randal Kleiser, American film director
- 1947 – Gerd Binnig, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1947 – Carlos Santana, Mexican-born American guitarist
- 1948 – Muse Watson, American actor
- 1950 – Tantoo Cardinal, Canadian actress
- 1950 – Naseeruddin Shah, Indian actor
- 1951 – Jeff Rawle, English actor
- 1952 – Keiko Matsuzaka, Japanese actress
- 1953 – Dave Evans, Australian singer (AC/DC)
- 1953 – Thomas Friedman, American journalist
- 1953 – Marcia Hines, American-born Australian singer
- 1953 – Dan Shaughnessy, American sports writer
- 1954 – Moira Harris, American actress
- 1954 – Jay Jay French, guitarist for Twisted Sister
- 1954 – Larry Levan, American DJ (d. 1992)
- 1955 – Jem Finer, English musician and composer (The Pogues)
- 1956 – Paul Cook, English musician (The Sex Pistols)
- 1956 – Michael Gordon, American composer
- 1956 – Ryo Ishibashi, Japanese actor
- 1956 – Jim Prentice, Canadian politician
- 1957 – Nancy Cruzan, American figure in right-to-die case (d. 1990)
- 1957 – Donna Dixon, American actress
- 1958 – Peter Fraßmann, German footballer
- 1958 – Mick MacNeil, Scottish musician (Simple Minds)
- 1958 – Billy Mays, American TV pitchman (d. 2009)
- 1959 – Radney Foster, Texas country music singer/songwriter
- 1960 – Claudio Langes, Italian racing driver
- 1962 – Carlos Alazraqui, American actor and comedian
- 1962 – Giovanna Amati, Italian racing driver
- 1962 – Lee Harris, English drummer (Talk Talk, .O.rang)
- 1963 – Frank Whaley, American actor
- 1964 – Chris Cornell, American musician (Soundgarden, Audioslave)
- 1964 – Terri Irwin, American naturalist; widow of Steve Irwin
- 1964 – Kool G Rap, American musician
- 1964 – Bernd Schneider, German racing driver
- 1964 – Dean Winters, American actor
- 1966 – Anton du Beke, British ballroom dancer
- 1966 – Stone Gossard, American musician (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad)
- 1966 – Enrique Peña Nieto, American politician
- 1966 – Agot Isidro, Filipina actress
- 1967 – Reed Diamond, American actor
- 1967 – Courtney Taylor-Taylor, American musician (The Dandy Warhols)
- 1968 – Jimmy Carson, American ice hockey player
- 1968 – Michael Park, American actor
- 1968 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian director
- 1968 – Julian Rhind-Tutt, English actor
- 1969 – Josh Holloway, American actor
- 1969 – Giovanni Lombardi, Italian cyclist
- 1969 – Tobi Vail, American musician (Bikini Kill, The Go Team, The Frumpies)
- 1971 – Ed Giddins, English cricketer
- 1971 – Charles Johnson, American baseball player
- 1971 – Sandra Oh, Korean Canadian actress
- 1971 – DJ Screw, American hip hop deejay (d. 2000)
- 1972 – Jozef Stümpel, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1972 – Erik Ullenhag, Swedish jurist and politician
- 1972 – Vitamin C, American singer
- 1973 – Peter Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1973 – Nixon McLean, West Indian cricketer
- 1973 – Omar Epps, American actor
- 1973 – Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
- 1973 – Claudio Reyna, American soccer player
- 1973 – Mads Rieper, Danish footballer
- 1974 – Bengie Molina, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1974 – Phofo, American musician
- 1974 – Simon Rex, American actor
- 1975 – Ray Allen, American basketball player
- 1975 – Judy Greer, American actress
- 1975 – Erik Hagen, Norwegian footballer
- 1975 – Birgitta Ohlsson, Swedish politician
- 1975 – Atiq-uz-Zaman, Pakistani cricketer
- 1975 – El Zorro, Mexican professional wrestler
- 1976 – Erica Hill, American news anchor
- 1976 – Debashish Mohanty, Indian cricketer
- 1976 – Andrew Stockdale, Australian musician (Wolfmother)
- 1976 – Alex Yoong, Malaysian racing driver
- 1977 – Kiki Musampa, Congolese footballer
- 1977 – Alessandro dos Santos, naturalized Japanese footballer
- 1978 – Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Charlie Korsmo, American actor
- 1978 – Tamsyn Lewis, Australian athlete
- 1978 – Will Solomon, American basketball player
- 1978 – Elliott Yamin, American Idol contestant
- 1979 – Claudine Barretto, Filipino actress
- 1979 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (d. 2004)
- 1979 – David Ortega, Spanish freestyle swimmer
- 1980 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian model
- 1980 – Mike Kennerty, American guitarist (The All-American Rejects)
- 1981 – Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
- 1981 – Thorsten Engelmann, German rower
- 1982 – Percy Daggs III, American actor
- 1984 – Alexi Casilla, Dominican baseball player
- 1984 – Matt Gilroy, American Hockey Player
- 1985 – John Francis Daley, American actor
- 1985 – David Mundy, Australian rules footballer
- 1985 – Anastasia Perraki, Greek fashion model
- 1988 – Julianne Hough, American ballroom dancer
- 1988 – Stephen Strasburg, American baseball player
- 1989 – Witwisit Hirunwongkul, Thai actor
- 1991 – William Tomlin, British actor
- 1997 – Billi Bruno, American actress
- 1999 – Princess Alexandra of Hanover
Deaths
- 985 – Pope Boniface VII
- 1031 – King Robert II of France (b. 972)
- 1156 – Emperor Toba of Japan (b. 1103)
- 1160 – Peter Lombard, French theologian
- 1320 – King Oshin of Armenia (b. 1282)
- 1351 – Margaretha Ebner, German visionary (b. 1291)
- 1387 – Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu (b. 1356)
- 1398 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, English noble (b. 1374)
- 1453 – Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French chronicler
- 1454 – King John II of Castile (b. 1405)
- 1524 – Claude of France, wife of Francis I of France (b. 1499)
- 1616 – Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, Irish soldier
- 1704 – Peregrine White, first English child born to the Pilgrims in the New World (b. 1620)
- 1752 – Johann Christoph Pepusch, German composer (b. 1667)
- 1816 – Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, Russian poet (b. 1743)
- 1866 – Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (b. 1826)
- 1897 – Jean Ingelow, English poet (b. 1820)
- 1901 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (b. 1840)
- 1903 – Pope Leo XIII (b. 1810)
- 1908 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek author (b. 1835)
- 1908 – Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz, German geophysicist (b. 1881)
- 1922 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1923 – Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Mexican rebel (b. 1878)
- 1926 – Felix Dzerzhinsky, Soviet law enforcement official (b. 1877)
- 1927 – King Ferdinand I of Romania (b. 1865)
- 1928 – Kostas Karyotakis, Greek poet (b. 1896)
- 1932 – René Bazin, French novelist (b. 1853)
- 1937 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1874)
- 1941 – Lew Fields, American vaudeville performer (b. 1867)
- 1944 – Mildred Harris, American actress (b. 1901)
- 1944 – Ludwig Beck, German colonel general, part of July 20 Plot (b. 1880)
- 1945 – Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
- 1951 – King Abdullah I of Jordan (b. 1882)
- 1951 – Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, German prince (b. 1882)
- 1953 – Dumarsaid Estime, President of Haiti (b. 1900)
- 1953 – Jan Struther, British author (b. 1901)
- 1955 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1869)
- 1956 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
- 1959 – William D. Leahy, American admiral (b. 1875)
- 1969 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (b. 1929)
- 1970 – Iain Macleod, English politician (b. 1913)
- 1973 – Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
- 1973 – Robert Smithson, American land artist (b. 1938)
- 1976 – Joseph Rochefort, American Naval officer and cryptanalyst (b. 1900)
- 1977 – Gary Kellgren, American music producer (b. 1939)
- 1981 – Kostas Choumis, Greek-Romanian footballer (b. 1913)
- 1982 – Okot p'Bitek, Ugandan poet (b. 1931)
- 1983 – Frank Reynolds, American television news anchor (b. 1923)
- 1987 – Richard Egan, American actor (b. 1921)
- 1989 – Forrest H. Anderson, Governor of Montana (b. 1913)
- 1990 – Herbert Jenkins, American law enforcement official (b. 1907)
- 1993 – Vincent Foster Jr., White House deputy counsel (b. 1945)
- 1998 – June Byers, American professional wrestler (b. 1922)
- 1999 – Sandra Gould, American actress (b. 1916)
- 2000 – Gregory Hill American writer (b. 1941)
- 2001 – Carlo Giuliani, Italian anarchist (b. 1978)
- 2003 – Nicolas Freeling, English writer (b. 1927)
- 2004 – Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fijian chieftainess (b. 1931)
- 2004 – Scott Andrew Mink, American convicted murderer (b. 1963)
- 2005 – James Doohan, Canadian actor (b. 1920)
- 2005 – Finn Gustavsen, Norwegian politician (b. 1926)
- 2005 – Kayo Hatta, American film director (b. 1958)
- 2006 – Ted Grant, British Trotskyist (b. 1913)
- 2006 – Gérard Oury, French filmmaker (b. 1919)
- 2007 – Tammy Faye Messner (Bakker), American televangelist (b. 1942)
- 2008 – Artie Traum, American guitarist (b. 1943)
- 2009 – Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (b. 1957)
- 2009 – Mark Rosenzweig, American brain researcher (b. 1922)
Holidays and observances
External links