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

• 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.
• 1656 – Swedish forces under the command of King Charles X Gustav defeat the forces of the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth at the Battle of Warsaw.
• 1712 – The Riot Act takes effect in Great Britain.
• 1738 – North America: French explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
• 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.
• 1877 – Rioting in Baltimore, Maryland by Baltimore and Ohio Railroad workers is put down by the state militia, resulting in nine deaths.
• 1881 – Indian Wars:Sioux Chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford, North Dakota
• 1885 – The Football Association legalises professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.
• 1894 – The troops sent by Grover Cleveland to Chicago to end the Pullman Strike are recalled.
• 1898 – Spanish-American War: A boiler explodes on the USS Iowa off the coast of Santiago de Cuba.
• 1903 – Ford Motor Company ships its first car.
• 1907 – A train wreck on the Pere Marquette Railroad near Salem, Michigan kills thirty and injures seventy.
• 1916 – World War I: In Armenia, Russian troops capture Gumiskhanek.
• 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.
• 1918 – World War I: German troops cross the Marne.
• 1921 – Air mail service begins between New York City and San Francisco.
• 1921 – Congresswoman Alice Mary Robertson became the first woman to preside over the US House of Representatives.
• 1922 – The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
• 1924 – Teheran, Persia comes under martial law after the American vice-consul, Robert Imbrie, is killed by a religious mob enraged by rumors he had poisoned a fountain and killed several people.
• 1926 – A convention of the Methodist Church votes to allow women to become priests.
• 1928 – The government of Hungary issues a decree ordering Gypsies to end their nomadic ways, settle permanently in one place, and subject themselves to the same laws and taxes as other Hungarians.
• 1929 – Soviet troops attempt to cross the Amur River into Manchuria near Blagoveschensk as tensions mount between the Soviet Union and the Republic of China.
• 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.
• 1932 – Crowds in the capitals of Bolivia and Paraguay demand their governments declare war on the other after fighting on their border.
• 1933 – Vice-Chancellor of Germany Franz von Papen and Vatican Cardinal Eugenio Pacelli sign a concordat on behalf of their respective nations.
• 1933 – In London, 500,000 march against anti-Semitism.
• 1933 – Germany: Two-hundred Jewish merchants are arrested in Nuremberg and paraded through the streets.
• 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; Seattle police fire tear gas on and club 2,000 striking longshoremen, and 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 anti-trust law. The case would eventually result in a break-up of the industry in 1948.
• 1940 – Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
• 1940 – U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs the Hatch Act of 1939, limiting political activity by Federal government employees.
• 1941 – Soviet leader 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: The first unit of the Women's Army Corps begins training in Des Moines, Iowa.
• 1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt (known as the July 20 plot) led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
• 1944 – Franklin D. Roosevelt wins the Democratic Party nomination for the fourth and final time at the 1944 Democratic National Convention in Chicago, Illinois.
• 1944 – Fifty are hurt in rioting in front of the presidential palace in Mexico City.
• 1945 – The US Congress approves the Bretton Woods Agreement.
• 1946 – World War II: The US Congress's Pearl Harbor Committee says Franklin D. Roosevelt is completely blameless for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and calls for a unified command structure in the armed forces.
• 1947 – Police in Burma arrest former Prime Minister U Saw and 19 others on charges of assassinating Prime Minister U Aung San and seven members of his cabinet.
• 1947 – The Viceroy of India says the people of the North-West Frontier Province overwhelmingly voted the previous day to join Pakistan rather than India.
• 1948 – U.S. President Harry S. Truman issues a 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 – 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.
• 1953 – The United Nations Economic and Social Council votes to make UNICEF a permanent agency.
• 1954 – Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret service, defects to East Germany.
• 1954 – At Geneva, Switzerland, an armistice is signed that ends fighting in Vietnam and divides the country along the 17th parallel.
• 1959 – The Organization for European Economic Cooperation admits Spain.
• 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.
• 1960 – Belgium defends its intervention in the Congo to the United Nations Security Council while the government of the Congo appeals to the Soviet Union to send troops to push back the Belgians. The governments of the United States and France and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization warn the Soviets to stay out of the dispute.
• 1960 – The head of the Physics Department at the Israel Institute of Technology, Kurt Sitte, is arrested for espionage.
• 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).
• 1965 – Turkish prime minister Suat Hayri Urguplu returns from a visit to Moscow and announces the Soviet Union will provide aid to his country.
• 1968 – Special Olympics founded.
• 1969 – Apollo Program: Apollo 11 successfully lands on the Moon 3:39 a.m. GMT 21st July.
• 1969 – A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, 6 days after the beginning of the "Football War"
• 1971 – The Soviet Union says it will support the People's Republic of China's admission to the United Nations
• 1973 – The US Senate passes the War Powers Act.
• 1973 – Vietnam War: In testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry Friedheim to the US Senate Committee on Armed Services, the US Defense Department admits it lied to US 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 – First coast-to-coast black-owned and operated radio network: The National Black Network (NBN) begins operations.
• 1974 – Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a "coup d' etat", organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios. 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.
• 1975 – India expels three reporters from The Times, The Daily Telegraph, and Newsweek because they refused to sign a pledge to abide by government censorship.
• 1976 – The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
• 1976 – Vietnam War: The U.S. military completes its troop withdrawal from Thailand.
• 1976 – Hank Aaron hits his 755th home run, the final home run of his career.
• 1977 – Johnstown 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 recognise 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.
• 1983 – The Israeli cabinet votes to withdraw troops from Beirut but to remain in southern Lebanon.
• 1984 – Officials of the Miss America pageant ask Vanessa Lynn Williams to quit after Penthouse publishes nude photos of her.
• 1985 – The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.
• 1986 – In South Africa, police fire tear gas into a church service for families of those held under the government's emergency decrees.
• 1987 – UN Security Council Resolution 598, condemning the Iran–Iraq War and demanding cease-fire, is unanimously adopted.
• 1989 – Photographer Robert Mapplethorpe's show opens at Washington, D.C.'s Project for the Arts after the Smithsonian Institution's Corcoran Gallery cancels it.
• 1989 – Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
• 1992 – Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
• 1992 – The first post-Soviet monetary reform in Latvia ended, as the Soviet rouble lost its status as legal tender.
• 1994 – Israel's Shimon Peres visits Jordan, the highest ranking Israeli official to do so
• 1994 – Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's Fragment Q1 hits Jupiter.
• 1996 – In Spain, an ETA bomb at an airport kills 35
• 1998 – Two hundred aid workers from CARE International, Doctors Without Borders and other aid groups leave Afghanistan on orders of the Taliban.
• 1999 – Falun Gong is banned in the People's Republic of China, and a large scale crackdown of the practice is launched.
• 1999 – Recovery, from 4.5km down in the Atlantic, of the Liberty Bell 7 space capsule, which sank after Virgil Grissom's July 21, 1961 suborbital flight.
• 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.
• 2000 – In Zimbabwe, Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members for the first time in a decade.
• 2000 – Carlos the Jackal sues France in the European Court of Human Rights for allegedly torturing him.
• 2001 – The London Stock Exchange Group plc which owns the London Stock Exchange, goes public.
• 2001 – Italy: The 27th Annual G8 summit opens in Genoa. An Italian protester in Genoa, Carlo Giuliani, is shot by police.
• 2002 – South America: A fire in a discotheque in Lima, Peru kills over twenty-five.
• 2003 – France: Sixteen people are injured after two bombs explode outside a tax office in Nice.
• 2005 – Canada becomes the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the bill C-38 receives its Royal Assent.
• 2006 – Ethiopian invasion of Somalia Ethiopian troops enter Somalian territory.

Births

• 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 Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)
• 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 – John 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)
• 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)
• 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
• 1929 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman and sports executive
• 1929 – Rajendra Kumar, Indian actor (d. 1999)
• 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, Korean-born artist (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Otto Schily, German politician
• 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 – Dame Diana Rigg, English actress
• 1938 – Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
• 1939 – Judy Chicago, American artist
• 1940 – Tony Oliva, Cuban baseball player
• 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)
• 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)
• 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
• 1955 – Jem Finer, English musician and composer (The Pogues)
• 1956 – Paul Cook, English musician (The Sex Pistols)
• 1956 – Jim Prentice, Canadian politician
• 1957 – Nancy Cruzan, American figure in right-to-die case (d. 1990)
• 1957 – Donna Dixon, American actress
• 1958 – Mick MacNeil, Scottish musician (Simple Minds)
• 1958 – Billy Mays, American pitchman (d. 2009)
• 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 – Stone Gossard, American musician (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad)
• 1966 – Enrique Peña Nieto, Governor of the State of Mexico (2005-present)
• 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
• 1969 – Josh Holloway, American actor
• 1969 – Giovanni Lombardi, Italian cyclist
• 1969 – Tobi Vail, American musician (Bikini Kill, The Go Team, The Frumpies)
• 1969 – Vitamin C, American singer
• 1970 – Agot Isidro, Filipina actress
• 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
• 1973 – Peter Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1973 – Nixon McLean, West Indian cricketer
• 1973 – Omar Epps, American actor
• 1973 – Haakon Magnus, 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 – Miklos Feher, Hungarian football player (d. 2004)
• 1979 – David Ortega, Spanish freestyle and backstroke 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
• 1985 – John Francis Daley, American actor
• 1985 – David Mundy, Australian Rules footballer
• 1988 – Julianne Hough, American ballroom dancer
• 1988 – Stephen Strasburg, American baseball player
• 1989 – Witwisit Hirunwongkul, Thai actor
• 1990 – Jeffrey Morgan College Football Player
• 1991 – William Tomlin, British actor
• 1999 – Princess Alexandra of Hanover, Monegasque royalty

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 (poisoned) (b. 1356)
• 1398 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir to the throne of England (b. 1374)
• 1453 – Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French chronicler
• 1454 – King John II of Castile (b. 1405)
• 1524 – Claude of France, wife of Louis XII of France (b. 1499)
• 1616 – Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, Irish soldier
• 1704 – Peregrine White, first English child born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (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, president of the International Olympic Committee (b. 1835)
• 1922 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (b. 1856)
• 1923 – Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Mexican Rebel (b. 1878)
• 1926 – Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinskiy, head of the Soviet secret police (b. 1877)
• 1927 – King Ferdinand 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)
• 1945 – Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
• 1951 – King Abdullah I of Jordan (b. 1882)
• 1951 – Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern, Crown Prince of Germany (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Dumarsaid Estime, President of Haiti (b. 1900)
• 1953 – Jan Struther, British author (b. 1901)
• 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, Conservative Party Politician and Chancellor of Exchequer at time of his death (b. 1913)
• 1973 – Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
• 1973 – Robert Smithson, American land artist (b. 1938)
• 1977 – Gary Kellgren, American music producer (b. 1939)
• 1982 – Okot p'Bitek, Ugandan poet (b. 1931)
• 1983 – Frank Reynolds, American television news anchor (b. 1923)
• 1987 – Richard Egan, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1990 – Herbert Jenkins, Atlanta's longest serving police chief (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 (also known as Malaclypse the Younger,) American writer (b. 1941)
• 2001 – Carlo Giuliani, Italian anarchist (b. 1978)
• 2003 – Nicolas Freeling, English writer (b. 1927)
• 2004 – Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fiji chieftainess, wife of Kamisese Mara (b. 1931)
• 2005 – James Doohan, Canadian-born 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

• Scotland – beginning of the Glasgow Fair
• Colombia – Independence Day
• Argentina – Día del Amigo (Friendship Day)
• St. Elias, Prophet
• St. Aurelius, bishop of Carthage
• Saint Thorlac, bishop, confessor (Translation), Norway
• St. Margaret the Virgin

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: July 20

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada