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.
[edit] 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 Vιrendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
- 1799 Tekle Giyorgis I begins his first of five reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1807 Nicιphore Niιpce is awarded a patent by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Pyrιolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saτne in France.
- 1810 Citizens of Bogotα, 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 the Moon almost 7 hours later. (US Time)
- 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 Vαclav 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.
[edit] 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)
- 1762 Jakob Haibel, Austrian composer, operatic tenor and choirmaster (d. 1826)
- 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 Lαszlσ 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 Vilιm Tauskύ, Czech conductor and composer (d. 2004)
- 1911 Baqa Jilani, Indian cricketer (d. 1941)
- 1911 Josι Zabala-Santos, Filipino cartoonist (d. 1985)
- 1912 George Johnston, Australian journalist and novelist (d. 1970)
- 1914 Charilaos Florakis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (d. 2005)
- 1914 Ersilio Tonini, Italian Cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church
- 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 Fraίmann, 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
- 1961 Σscar Elνas Biscet, Cuban dissident
- 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
- 1965 Jess Walter, American author
- 1966 Anton du Beke, British ballroom dancer
- 1966 Stone Gossard, American musician (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad)
- 1966 Enrique Peρa Nieto, Mexican 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 Julian Rhind-Tutt, English actor
- 1968 Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian director
- 1969 Josh Holloway, American actor
- 1969 Kreso Kovacec, German footballer
- 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 Stόmpel, 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 Manou, Australian athlete
- 1978 Will Solomon, American basketball player
- 1978 Elliott Yamin, American Idol contestant
- 1979 Claudine Barretto, Filipino actress
- 1979 Miklσs Fehιr, Hungarian footballer (d. 2004)
- 1979 David Ortega, Spanish freestyle swimmer
- 1980 Gisele Bόndchen, 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 Solenn Heussaff, Half-Filipino, Half-French Artist
- 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
- 1989 Cristian Pasquato, Italian footballer
- 1991 William Tomlin, British actor
- 1997 Billi Bruno, American actress
- 1999 Princess Alexandra of Hanover
[edit] 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 Renι 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 Valιry, 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 Turner 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 Gιrard 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)
- 2011 Lucian Freud, British painter (b. 1922)
[edit] Holidays and observances