What happened on July 20? There are more than 301 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
Interesting Facts & Myths About July 20
July 20 is the 202nd day of the year 2024. There are 164 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Saturday. This day falls under the 29th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Avon, North Carolina 27915 sunrise occured at 06:01 AM and sunset occured at 08:15 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Cancer. The modern birthstone for this month is Ruby while the mystical birthstone is Ruby.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 193 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
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Historical Events For July 20
- 70First 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.
- 911Rollo lays siege to Chartres.
- 1304Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle – King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using the War Wolf.
- 1402Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara – Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.
- 1738Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
- 1807Nicéphore 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.
- 1810Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.
- 1864American 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.
- 1866Austro-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.
- 1871British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
- 1885The Football Association legalizes professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.
- 1903The Ford Motor Company ships its first car.
- 1917World 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.
- 1922The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
- 1932In 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.
- 19341934 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.
- 1934Labor 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.
- 1935Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.
- 1936The 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.
- 1938The 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.
- 1940California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
- 1940Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
- 1941Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrenti Beria its chief.
- 1944World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
- 1949Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.
- 1950Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.
- 1951King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
- 1954Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany’s secret service, defects to East Germany.
- 1960Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world’s first elected female head of government.
- 1960The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.
- 1961French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.
- 1964Vietnam 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).
- 1968The first Special Olympics is held.
- 1969A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, 6 days after the beginning of the “Football War”.
- 1969Apollo 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.
- 1974Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a coup d'etat, organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.
- 1976The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
- 1977Johnstown, Pennsylvania is hit by a flash flood that kills eighty and causes $350 million in damage.
- 1977The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments.
- 1980The United Nations Security Council votes 14-0 that member states should not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
- 1982Hyde 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.
- 1985The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.
- 1989Burma’s ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
- 1992Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
- 1999Falun Gong is banned in the People’s Republic of China, and a large scale crackdown of the practice is launched.
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Who Were Born On July 20?
- 356 BCAlexander the Great, Greek king of Macedonia and conqueror of Persia (d. 323 BC)
- 810Imam Bukhari, Muslim scholar and compiler of Hadith (d. 870)
- 1304Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (d. 1374)
- 1537Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (d. 1604)
- 1620Nikolaes Heinsius, Dutch scholar (d. 1681)
- 1754Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher (d. 1836)
- 1757Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician (d. 1811)
- 1774Auguste Marmont, French marshal (d. 1852)
- 1797Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)
- 1804Richard Owen, English biologist (d. 1892)
- 1822Gregor Mendel, German scientist, father of modern genetics (d. 1884)
- 1838Augustin Daly, American playwright (d. 1899)
- 1838George Otto Trevelyan, British statesman and biographer (d. 1928)
- 1847Max Liebermann, German artist (d. 1935)
- 1849Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
- 1852Theo Heemskerk, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1932)
- 1858Ivan Vucetic, Croatian anthropologist (d. 1925)
- 1864Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 1931)
- 1868Miron Cristea, 1st Patriarch of All Romania (d. 1939)
- 1873Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator (d. 1932)
- 1876Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (d. 1944)
- 1889Lord Reith, British broadcast executive (d. 1971)
- 1890King George II of Greece (d. 1947)
- 1893George Llewelyn-Davies, English Peter Pan character model (d. 1915)
- 1895László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer, and sculptor (d. 1946)
- 1896Eunice Sanborn, American supercentenarian (d. 2011)
- 1897Tadeus Reichstein, Polish-born chemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1996)
- 1900Maurice Leyland, English cricketer (d. 1967)
- 1901Heinie Manush, American baseball player (d. 1971)
- 1902Jimmy Kennedy, Irish composer (d. 1984)
- 1909Eric Rowan, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1952 (d. 1993)
- 1909Jean Focas, Greco-French astronomer (d. 1969)
- 1910Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (d. 2004)
- 1911Baqa Jilani, Indian cricketer (d. 1941)
- 1912George Johnston, Australian journalist and novelist (d. 1970)
- 1914Charilaos Florakis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (d. 2005)
- 1918Cindy Walker, American singer (d. 2006)
- 1919Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (d. 2008)
- 1920Elliot Richardson, American politician (d. 1999)
- 1922Alan Stephenson Boyd, American politician
- 1923Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
- 1924Mort Garson, Canadian composer (d. 2008)
- 1924Thomas Berger, American novelist
- 1925Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (d. 1961)
- 1925Jacques Delors, French President of the European Commission
- 1926Lola Albright, American actress
- 1926Patricia Cutts, English actress (d. 1974)
- 1927Michael Gielen, Austrian conductor and composer
- 1928Peter Ind, British jazz double bass player
- 1929Mike Ilitch, American businessman and sports executive
- 1929Rajendra Kumar, Indian actor (d. 1999)
- 1930Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (d. 2009)
- 1930Giannis Agouris, Greek writer and journalist (d. 2006)
- 1930Sally Ann Howes, English-born singer and actress
- 1931Tony Marsh, English racing driver
- 1932Nam June Paik, Video artist (d. 2006)
- 1932Otto Schily, German politician
- 1932Ove Verner Hansen, Danish actor
- 1933Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
- 1933Cormac McCarthy, American author
- 1933Rex Williams, English snooker player
- 1934Aliki Vougiouklaki, Greek actress (d. 1996)
- 1934Doug Padgett, English cricketer
- 1934Uwe Johnson, German writer (d. 1984)
- 1935Ted Rogers, English comedian (d. 2001)
- 1936Barbara Mikulski, American politician
- 1937Ken Ogata, Japanese actor (d. 2008)
- 1938Dame Diana Rigg, English actress
- 1938Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
- 1938Roger Hunt, English footballer
- 1938Tony Oliva, Cuban baseball player
- 1939Judy Chicago, American artist
- 1941Kurt Raab, German actor (d. 1988)
- 1941Periklis Korovesis, Greek author and journalist
- 1942Pete Hamilton, American race car driver
- 1942Ron Bowden, Australian politician
- 1942T. G. Sheppard, American country music singer
- 1943Adrian Păunescu, Romanian poet, journalist, and politician (d. 2010)
- 1943Chris Amon, New Zealand racing driver
- 1943Dennis Yost, lead singer of the Classics IV (d. 2008)
- 1943Wendy Richard, English actress (d. 2009)
- 1944Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor
- 1945Bo Rein, American football coach (d. 1980)
- 1945Harrison Ellenshaw, American matte painter
- 1945John Lodge, English musician (The Moody Blues)
- 1945Johnny Loughrey, Irish singer (d. 2005)
- 1945Kim Carnes, American singer and songwriter
- 1945Larry Craig, American politician
- 1946Randal Kleiser, American film director
- 1947Carlos Santana, Mexican-born American guitarist
- 1947Gerd Binnig, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate
- 1948Muse Watson, American actor
- 1950Naseeruddin Shah, Indian actor
- 1950Tantoo Cardinal, Canadian actress
- 1951Jeff Rawle, English actor
- 1952Keiko Matsuzaka, Japanese actress
- 1953Dan Shaughnessy, American sports writer
- 1953Dave Evans, Australian singer (AC/DC)
- 1953Marcia Hines, American-born Australian singer
- 1953Thomas Friedman, American journalist
- 1954Jay Jay French, guitarist for Twisted Sister
- 1954Larry Levan, American DJ (d. 1992)
- 1954Moira Harris, American actress
- 1955Jem Finer, English musician and composer (The Pogues)
- 1956Jim Prentice, Canadian politician
- 1956Michael Gordon, American composer
- 1956Paul Cook, English musician (The Sex Pistols)
- 1956Ryo Ishibashi, Japanese actor
- 1957Donna Dixon, American actress
- 1957Nancy Cruzan, American figure in right-to-die case (d. 1990)
- 1958Billy Mays, American TV pitchman (d. 2009)
- 1958Mick MacNeil, Scottish musician (Simple Minds)
- 1958Peter Fraßmann, German footballer
- 1959Radney Foster, Texas country music singer/songwriter
- 1960Claudio Langes, Italian racing driver
- 1962Carlos Alazraqui, American actor and comedian
- 1962Giovanna Amati, Italian racing driver
- 1962Lee Harris, English drummer (Talk Talk, .O.rang)
- 1963Frank Whaley, American actor
- 1964Bernd Schneider, German racing driver
- 1964Chris Cornell, American musician (Soundgarden, Audioslave)
- 1964Dean Winters, American actor
- 1964Kool G Rap, American musician
- 1964Terri Irwin, American naturalist; widow of Steve Irwin
- 1966Agot Isidro, Filipina actress
- 1966Anton du Beke, British ballroom dancer
- 1966Enrique Peña Nieto, American politician
- 1966Stone Gossard, American musician (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad)
- 1967Courtney Taylor-Taylor, American musician (The Dandy Warhols)
- 1967Reed Diamond, American actor
- 1968Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian director
- 1968Jimmy Carson, American ice hockey player
- 1968Julian Rhind-Tutt, English actor
- 1968Michael Park, American actor
- 1969Giovanni Lombardi, Italian cyclist
- 1969Josh Holloway, American actor
- 1969Tobi Vail, American musician (Bikini Kill, The Go Team, The Frumpies)
- 1971Charles Johnson, American baseball player
- 1971DJ Screw, American hip hop deejay (d. 2000)
- 1971Ed Giddins, English cricketer
- 1971Sandra Oh, Korean Canadian actress
- 1972Erik Ullenhag, Swedish jurist and politician
- 1972Jozef Stümpel, Slovak ice hockey player
- 1972Vitamin C, American singer
- 1973Claudio Reyna, American soccer player
- 1973Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
- 1973Mads Rieper, Danish footballer
- 1973Nixon McLean, West Indian cricketer
- 1973Omar Epps, American actor
- 1973Peter Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
- 1974Bengie Molina, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1974Phofo, American musician
- 1974Simon Rex, American actor
- 1975Atiq-uz-Zaman, Pakistani cricketer
- 1975Birgitta Ohlsson, Swedish politician
- 1975El Zorro, Mexican professional wrestler
- 1975Erik Hagen, Norwegian footballer
- 1975Judy Greer, American actress
- 1975Ray Allen, American basketball player
- 1976Alex Yoong, Malaysian racing driver
- 1976Andrew Stockdale, Australian musician (Wolfmother)
- 1976Debashish Mohanty, Indian cricketer
- 1976Erica Hill, American news anchor
- 1977Alessandro dos Santos, naturalized Japanese footballer
- 1977Kiki Musampa, Congolese footballer
- 1978Charlie Korsmo, American actor
- 1978Elliott Yamin, American Idol contestant
- 1978Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey player
- 1978Tamsyn Lewis, Australian athlete
- 1978Will Solomon, American basketball player
- 1979Claudine Barretto, Filipino actress
- 1979David Ortega, Spanish freestyle swimmer
- 1979Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (d. 2004)
- 1980Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian model
- 1980Mike Kennerty, American guitarist (The All-American Rejects)
- 1981Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
- 1981Thorsten Engelmann, German rower
- 1982Percy Daggs III, American actor
- 1984Alexi Casilla, Dominican baseball player
- 1984Matt Gilroy, American Hockey Player
- 1985Anastasia Perraki, Greek fashion model
- 1985David Mundy, Australian rules footballer
- 1985John Francis Daley, American actor
- 1988Julianne Hough, American ballroom dancer
- 1988Stephen Strasburg, American baseball player
- 1989Witwisit Hirunwongkul, Thai actor
- 1991William Tomlin, British actor
- 1997Billi Bruno, American actress
- 1999Princess Alexandra of Hanover
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Who Died On July 20?
- 985Pope Boniface VII
- 1031King Robert II of France (b. 972)
- 1156Emperor Toba of Japan (b. 1103)
- 1160Peter Lombard, French theologian
- 1320King Oshin of Armenia (b. 1282)
- 1351Margaretha Ebner, German visionary (b. 1291)
- 1387Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu (b. 1356)
- 1398Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, English noble (b. 1374)
- 1453Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French chronicler
- 1454King John II of Castile (b. 1405)
- 1524Claude of France, wife of Francis I of France (b. 1499)
- 1616Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, Irish soldier
- 1704Peregrine White, first English child born to the Pilgrims in the New World (b. 1620)
- 1752Johann Christoph Pepusch, German composer (b. 1667)
- 1816Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, Russian poet (b. 1743)
- 1866Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (b. 1826)
- 1897Jean Ingelow, English poet (b. 1820)
- 1901William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (b. 1840)
- 1903Pope Leo XIII (b. 1810)
- 1908Demetrius Vikelas, Greek author (b. 1835)
- 1908Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz, German geophysicist (b. 1881)
- 1922Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (b. 1856)
- 1923Francisco “Pancho” Villa, Mexican rebel (b. 1878)
- 1926Felix Dzerzhinsky, Soviet law enforcement official (b. 1877)
- 1927King Ferdinand I of Romania (b. 1865)
- 1928Kostas Karyotakis, Greek poet (b. 1896)
- 1932René Bazin, French novelist (b. 1853)
- 1937Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1874)
- 1941Lew Fields, American vaudeville performer (b. 1867)
- 1944Ludwig Beck, German colonel general, part of July 20 Plot (b. 1880)
- 1944Mildred Harris, American actress (b. 1901)
- 1945Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
- 1951Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, German prince (b. 1882)
- 1951King Abdullah I of Jordan (b. 1882)
- 1953Dumarsaid Estime, President of Haiti (b. 1900)
- 1953Jan Struther, British author (b. 1901)
- 1955Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1869)
- 1956James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
- 1959William D. Leahy, American admiral (b. 1875)
- 1969Roy Hamilton, American singer (b. 1929)
- 1970Iain Macleod, English politician (b. 1913)
- 1973Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
- 1973Robert Smithson, American land artist (b. 1938)
- 1976Joseph Rochefort, American Naval officer and cryptanalyst (b. 1900)
- 1977Gary Kellgren, American music producer (b. 1939)
- 1981Kostas Choumis, Greek-Romanian footballer (b. 1913)
- 1982Okot p'Bitek, Ugandan poet (b. 1931)
- 1983Frank Reynolds, American television news anchor (b. 1923)
- 1987Richard Egan, American actor (b. 1921)
- 1989Forrest H. Anderson, Governor of Montana (b. 1913)
- 1990Herbert Jenkins, American law enforcement official (b. 1907)
- 1993Vincent Foster Jr., White House deputy counsel (b. 1945)
- 1998June Byers, American professional wrestler (b. 1922)
- 1999Sandra Gould, American actress (b. 1916)
- 2000Gregory Hill American writer (b. 1941)
- 2001Carlo Giuliani, Italian anarchist (b. 1978)
- 2003Nicolas Freeling, English writer (b. 1927)
- 2004Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fijian chieftainess (b. 1931)
- 2004Scott Andrew Mink, American convicted murderer (b. 1963)
- 2005Finn Gustavsen, Norwegian politician (b. 1926)
- 2005James Doohan, Canadian actor (b. 1920)
- 2005Kayo Hatta, American film director (b. 1958)
- 2006Gérard Oury, French filmmaker (b. 1919)
- 2006Ted Grant, British Trotskyist (b. 1913)
- 2007Tammy Faye Messner (Bakker), American televangelist (b. 1942)
- 2008Artie Traum, American guitarist (b. 1943)
- 2009Mark Rosenzweig, American brain researcher (b. 1922)
- 2009Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (b. 1957)
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