Historical Events on July 20

  • 1848: The second and final day of the first Women’s Rights Convention happens in Seneca Falls, New York.
  • 1864: General John Bell Hood leads Confederate troops on an unsuccessful attack on Union forces led by General William T. Sherman at the Battle of Peachtree Creek during the American Civil War.
  • 1871: British Columbia joins with the Confederation of Canada.
  • 1903: The first automobile is shipped by Ford Motor Company.
  • 1917: The Kingdom of Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee sign the Corfu Declaration. This declaration will lead to the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
  • 1932: World War I veterans -members of the Bonus Expeditionary Force – have tear gas fired upon them by police as they attempt to march to the White House in Washington, D.C.
  • 1940: Denmark exits the League of Nations on this date.
  • 1940: The Arroyo Seco Parkway is opened in California.
  • 1944: Germany Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg attempts to assassinate Adolf Hitler but fails during World War 2.
  • 1954: The head of West Germany’s Secret Service – Otto John – defects to East Germany.
  • 1964: Cái Bè – the capital of Định Tường Province – is attacked by Viet Cong forces during the Vietnam War. 11 South Vietnamese military personnel, 10 adult civilians and 30 children are killed during the assault.
  • 1968: At Soldier Field in the city of Chicago, the first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held with 1,000 athletes participating.
  • 1969: Apollo 11 successful lands on the Moon. Americans Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong become the first humans to walk on the moon on July 21st.

Famous Birthdays on July 20

  • Polish-Swiss chemist and Nobel Prize laureate, Tadeusz Reichstein is born in 1897.
  • American baseball player and manager, Heinie Manush is born in 1901.
  • German physicist and Nobel Prize laureate, Gerd Binnig is born in 1947.
  • Mexican-American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Carlos Santana is born in 1947.
  • American actress Moira Harris is born in 1954.
  • American singer-songwriter and guitarist, Chris Cornell is born in 1964.