✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 201st day of the year

July 20

A look at July 20 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Petrarch and Kim Carnes, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2015

    Suruç bombing

    A 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.

    2015 suicide attack in
  2. 2015

    United States

    The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations after five decades.

    Country primarily in North
  3. 2012

    James Holmes (mass murderer)

    James Holmes opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 70 others.

    American mass murderer (born
  4. 1997

    USS Constitution

    The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) celebrates its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

    1797 heavy frigate of
  5. 1977

    Johnstown flood of 1977

    The Johnstown flood of 1977 kills 84 people and causes millions of dollars in damages.

    Natural disaster in Pennsylvania
  6. 1976

    Viking 1

    The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.

    Robotic spacecraft sent to
  7. 1951

    Abdullah I of Jordan

    King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.

    Ruler of Jordan from
  8. 1940

    California

    California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

    U.S. state
  9. 1917

    World War I

    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.

    1914–1918 global conflict
  10. 1906

    Finland

    In 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.

    Country in northern Europe
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Famous birthday twins

Born on July 20

Petrarch

b. 1304

Italian poet and scholar

Kim Carnes

b. 1945

American singer-songwriter

Anne Hutchinson

b. 1591

English Puritan preacher

Edmund Hillary

b. 1919

New Zealand mountaineer and explorer

Gregor Mendel

b. 1822

Austro-German monk, geneticist and botanist

Sandra Oh

b. 1971

Canadian actress

Billy Mays

b. 1958

American salesman

Otto Schily

b. 1932

German lawyer and politician, German Minister of the Interior

Deaths

  • 2017Chester Bennington, American singer
  • 1973Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist
  • 1951Abdullah I of Jordan, king of Jordan
  • 1937Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist and engineer, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1903Pope Leo XIII, pope of the Catholic Church
  • 1866Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician and academic

Holidays & observances

  • —Birthday of Crown Prince Haakon Magnus (Norway)
  • —Christian feast day: Ansegisus
  • —Christian feast day: Apollinaris of Ravenna
  • —Christian feast day: Aurelius
  • —Christian feast day: Ealhswith (or Elswith)
  • —Christian feast day: Elijah
  • —Christian feast day: Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • —Christian feast day: Giuseppe Beotti

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