July 20Birthdays & History

On this day: July 20 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 70Siege 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.Middle EastEurope
2. 514Consecration of pope Hormisdas following the death of pope Symmachus the previous day.North America
3. 792Kardam of Bulgaria defeats Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI at the Battle of Marcellae.Europe
4. 911Rollo lays siege to Chartres.World
5. 1189Richard I of England officially invested as Duke of Normandy.Europe
6. 1230Treaty of San Germano is signed at San Germano between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX. A Dominican named Guala is responsible for the negotiations.Europe
7. 1398The Battle of Kellistown was fought on this day between the forces of the English led by Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March against the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles under the command of Art Óg mac Murchadha Caomhánach, the most powerful Chieftain in Leinster.Europe
8. 1592During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Pyongyang, although they were ultimately unable to hold it.AsiaAsia
9. 1705A fire in Oulu, Finland almost completely destroyed the fourth district, which covered the southern part of the city and was by far the largest of the city districts.Europe
10. 1715Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Empire captures Nauplia, the capital of the Republic of Venice's "Kingdom of the Morea", thereby opening the way to the swift Ottoman reconquest of the Morea.Middle EastEurope
11. 1738Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.North America
12. 1799Tekle Giyorgis I begins his first of six reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.Africa
13. 1807Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.Europe
14. 1810Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.Latin AmericaEurope
15. 1831Seneca and Shawnee people agree to relinquish their land in western Ohio for 60,000 acres west of the Mississippi River.North America
16. 1848The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, a two-day event, concludes.North America
17. 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.North America
18. 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.Europe
19. 1871British Columbia joins the Canadian Confederation.EuropeNorth America
20. 1885The Football Association legalizes professionalism in association football under pressure from the British Football Association.Europe
21. 1903The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.North America
22. 1906In Finland, a new electoral law is ratified, guaranteeing the country the first and equal right to vote in the world. Finnish women are the first in Europe to receive the right to vote.Europe
23. 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.Europe
24. 1920The Greek Army takes control of Silivri after Greece is awarded the city by the Paris Peace Conference; by 1923 Greece effectively lost control to the Turks.EuropeMiddle East
25. 1922The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.AfricaEurope
26. 1932In the Preußenschlag, German President Hindenburg places Prussia directly under the rule of the national government.Europe
27. 1934West 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.North America
28. 1934Labor unrest in the U.S.: Police in Minneapolis fire upon striking truck drivers, during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934, killing two and wounding sixty-seven.North America
29. 1935Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.Europe
30. 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.EuropeMiddle East
31. 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.North America
32. 1940Denmark leaves the League of Nations.Europe
33. 1940California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.North America
34. 1941Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrentiy Beria its chief.Europe
35. 1944World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.Europe
36. 1949The Israel–Syria Mixed Armistice Commission brokers the last of four ceasefire agreements to end the 1948 Arab–Israeli War.Middle East
37. 1950Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.North AmericaEurope
38. 1950After a month-long campaign, the majority of North Korea's Air Force was destroyed by anti-communist forces.Asia
39. 1951King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.Middle East
40. 1954Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret service, defects to East Germany.Europe
41. 1960The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.North America
42. 1961French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.EuropeAfrica
43. 1964Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Định Tường Province, Cái Bè, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of whom are children).Asia
44. 1968The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.North America
45. 1969A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the "Football War".Latin America
46. 1969Apollo program: Apollo 11's crew successfully makes the first human landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.North America
47. 1974Turkish invasion of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a coup d'état, organized by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.Middle EastEurope
48. 1976The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.North AmericaEurope
49. 1977The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments.Europe
50. 1977The Johnstown flood of 1977 kills 84 people and causes millions of dollars in damages.North America
51. 1977Aeroflot Flight B-2 crashes after takeoff from Vitim Airport in the Sakha Republic, killing 39.World
52. 1981Somali Airlines Flight 40 crashes in Balad, Somalia, killing 50 people.Africa
53. 1982Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.Europe
54. 1985The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.Europe
55. 1989Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.Asia
56. 1992Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.Europe
57. 1992A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes during takeoff from Tbilisi International Airport, killing all 24 aboard and four more people on the ground.Europe
58. 1997The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) celebrates its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.Europe
59. 1999The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.Asia
60. 2005The Civil Marriage Act legalizes same-sex marriage in Canada.North America
61. 2012James Holmes opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 70 others.North America
62. 2012Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) capture the cities of Amuda and Efrîn without resistance.Middle East
63. 2013Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca.Latin America
64. 2013Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn ends with the expulsion of Islamist forces from the city by the People's Protection Units (YPG).Middle East
65. 2015The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations after five decades.North AmericaLatin America
66. 2015A huge explosion in the mostly Kurdish border town of Suruç, Turkey, targeting the Socialist Youth Associations Federation, kills at least 31 people and injures over 100.Middle East
67. 2017O. J. Simpson is granted parole to be released from prison after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence after being convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas.North America
68. 2019Soyuz MS-13 is launched to the International Space Station on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.Europe
69. 2021American businessman Jeff Bezos flies to space aboard New Shepard NS-16 operated by his private spaceflight company Blue Origin.North America

Source: Wikipedia "July 20" / CC BY-SA 4.0