Historical anniversaries/July 20

Events

• 1304 - Fall of Stirling Castle: Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence.
• 1810 - Colombia declares 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.
• 1871 - British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
• 1881 - Indian Wars: Sioux chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana.
• 1940 - Billboard magazine publishes its first "Music Popularity Chart."
• 1944 - Adolf Hitler survives the July 20 Plot an assassination attempt led by Claus von Stauffenberg.
• 1948 - Cold War: President Harry S. Truman issues the first peacetime military draft in the United States amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union.
• 1951 - King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
• 1960 - Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first female head of government.
• 1964 - Vietnam War - Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, Cai Be, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personell and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).
• 1969 - Apollo Program: Apollo 11 lands on the Moon and Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first humans to walk on its surface.
• 1974 - War of July 1974: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus.
• 1976 - Viking program: The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
• 1982 - The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding 47 people, and leading to the deaths of 7 horses.
• 1985 - The main ship wreck site of the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha (which sank in 1622) is found 40 miles off the coast of Key West, Florida by treasure hunters who soon begin to raise $400 million in coins and silver.
• 1992 - Vaclav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
• 1999 - Mercury program: Liberty Bell 7 is raised from the Atlantic Ocean.
• 2001 - Vanessa Legget is found in contempt by a Federal Court for refusing to release notes made for her book on the Doris Angleton murder.

Births

• 1304 - Francesco Petrarch, poet († 1374)
• 1847 - Max Liebermann, painter and graphic artist († 1935)
• 1890 - Theda Bara (Theodosia Burr Goodman), actress († 1955)
• 1894 - Errett Cord, automobile entrepreneur
• 1895 - László Moholy-Nagy, painter, photographer, sculptor († 1946)
• 1919 - Sir Edmund Hillary, mountain climber
• 1920 - Elliott Richardson, American politician († 1999)
• 1928 - Pavel Kohout, writer
• 1932 - Otto Schily, politician
• 1933 - Cormac McCarthy, author
• 1934 - Uwe Johnson, writer
• 1936 - Elizabeth Dole, American politician
• 1937 - Guglielmo Marconi, inventor
• 1938 - Natalie Wood, actress: From Here to Eternity, Rebel Without a Cause, West Side Story
• 1938 - Dame Diana Rigg, actress
• 1945 - Kim Carnes, singer
• 1946 - Randal Kleiser, film director
• 1947 - Carlos Santana, guitarist, singer
• 1973 - Haakon Magnus, Crown Prince of Norway
• 1973 - Peter Forsberg, Swedish NHL star

Deaths

• 1031 - Robert II, king of France
• 1870 - Jules Alfred Huot de Goncourt, Prix Goncourt
• 1903 - Pope Leo XIII
• 1908 - Demetrius Vikelas, Greek IOC president
• 1926 - Felix Edmundovich Dzerzhinskiy, head of the Soviet secret police
• 1937 - Guglielmo Marconi, radio inventor.
• 1945 - Paul Valéry, French author and poet
• 1951 - Friedrich Wilhelm Hohenzollern, Crown Prince of Germany
• 1951 - King Abdullah, King of Jordan
• 1973 - Bruce Lee, actor and martial artist
• 1993 - Vincent Foster Jr., White House deputy counsel
• 1997 - John Akii-Bua Ugandan hurdler
• 1997 - Carlo Giuliani Italian activist

Holidays and observances

• Colombia - Independence Day
• Japan - Marine Day (Umi-no-hi)
• Occupied North Cyprus - Peace and Freedom Day

July 19 - July 21 - June 20 - August 20 -- listing of all days

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