/year

July 20 in history

222 sourced entries recorded on July 20, from 356 BCE to 2023 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 64July 18- 27 – Great Fire of Rome: A fire begins which destroyed three of fourteen of the administrative regions of Rome, more commonly known as the Palatine Hill, the Circus Maximus, and the Oppian hill. Also suffering severe damage were the Campus Martius and the Via Lata.source
  • 1023A partial solar eclipse, part of the Solar Saros 120 cycle, is visible to the natives of southern South America in what are now Brazil, Uruguay and Chile.source
  • 1101Robert Curthose lands at Portsmouth with an army in an effort to take the English throne from his younger brother, Henry I.source
  • 1263July 20–24 – Nahmanides, Spanish chief rabbi, defends the Talmud in an important debate (the Disputation of Barcelona) against Pablo Christiani, before James I of Aragon.source
  • 1279Siege of Algeciras: Castilian forces led by King Alfonso X ("the Wise") abandon the siege (begun in 1278), after their fleet (some 400 ships) is destroyed by the Marinids led by Sultan Abu Yaqub Yusuf an-Nasr. All prisoners are decapitated except the officers who are taken hostage. For the second time, the entire Castilian fleet is lost and Alfonso is forced to sign a new truce.source
  • 1300A fleet of 16 ships led by Jacques de Molay (Grand Master of the Knights Templar), Henry II of Cyprus (the last European King of Jerusalem), Amalric of Tyre, and an emissary of the Mongol leader Ghazan departs from the Cyprus port of Famagusta and begins a raid of Muslim-occupied cities in Egypt and Palestine before returning to Cyprus.source
  • 1307King Edward II travels from London, after he is proclaimed king and continues north into Scotland, where he receives homage from his Scottish supporters at Dumfries.source
  • 1369The kingdoms of England and Scotland sign a 14-year-truce.source
  • 1369In the continued conquest of Yuan dynasty China by the Ming dynasty, General Chang Yuchun captures the Yuan capital, Shangdu, forcing the Yuan Emperor Huizong to flee further northward.source
  • 1396Queen Margaret I of Denmark, Norway and Sweden publishes the Treaty of Kalmar, proposing the personal union of the three kingdoms of Denmark, Norway (with Iceland, Greenland, the Faroe Islands, Shetland and Orkney) and Sweden (including Finland and Åland).source
  • 1402Battle of Ankara: An invading Timurid Empire force defeats the Ottoman Sultan Bayezid I, who is captured. A period of interregnum begins in the Ottoman Empire, with the future Mehmed I as one of the leading claimants to the throne. After Serbia is freed from Ottoman rule, Stefan Lazarević is crowned Despot of Serbia.source
  • 1449News arrives at the imperial court of the Emperor Yingzong of China of a Mongol invasion from the north, led by the Khagan Esen Taishi. Yingzong orders the dispatch of 45,000 soldiers from the Beijing garrison, led by four generals, to advance to Datong and Xuanfu to guard the border.source
  • 1483The coronation of Hans, King of Denmark as crowned King of Norway is held at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.source
  • 1504Pope Julius II issues an order reforming the official coinage of the Papal States, raising the silver content of the carlino coin to four grams. In that the Pope was formerly Giuliano della Rovere, the new coin is called the giulio in his honor and features the coat of arms of the della Rovere family.source
  • 1507King Ferdinand II of Aragon returns to Valencia to resume his rule of his Spanish kingdom.source
  • 1514King Christian II is crowned King of Norway in Oslo. This coronation will be the last in Norway for 304 years until the crowning of King Karl III Johan in 1818.source
  • 1534Cambridge University Press is given a Royal Charter by Henry VIII of England, and becomes the first of the privileged presses.source
  • 1544Albert, Duke of Prussia signs a deed granting land for creation of the University of Königsberg.source
  • 1546Charles V, Holy Roman Emperor, imposes a Reichsacht declaring Schmalkadic leaders John Frederick I, Elector of Saxony and Philip I, Landgrave of Hesse to be outlaws, and directs Maurice, Duke of Saxony to enforce it.source
  • 1575July 20–26 – Rathlin Island Massacre: English adventurers Francis Drake and John Norreys, acting for the Earl of Essex, lead an expedition that culminates in the massacre of 500 of the clan MacDonnell in a surprise raid on Rathlin Island.source
  • 1592The Japanese capture the Korean capital Hanyang, causing Seonjo to request the assistance of Ming dynasty Chinese forces, who recapture the city a year later.source
  • 1607The second "False Dmitry", one of three people claiming to be Dmitry Ivanovich, son of the late Tsar Ivan the Terrible, appears at the Russian town of Starodub and persuades residents that he is the rightful heir to the Russian throne.source
  • 1613July 20 (July 30 N.S.) – The first American-grown tobacco, produced in the British colony of Virginia, arrives in England after being dispatched 22 days earlier by John Rolfe.source
  • 1618Pluto reaches its second most recent aphelion, according to sophisticated mathematical calculations. The next one occurs in 1866, and the following one will occur in 2113.source
  • 1627Eighty Years' War: Frederick Henry, Prince of Orange, begins the Siege of Grol, the last Spanish stronghold in the eastern Netherlands, and captures it after 30 days.source
  • 1629In Morocco, the city of Salé is bombarded by French Admiral Isaac de Razilly with a fleet composed of the ships Licorne, Saint-Louis, Griffon, Catherine, Hambourg, Sainte-Anne, Saint-Jean; his forces destroyed three corsair shipssource
  • 1638Scottish Covenanters meet at Muchalls Castle to compose a response to the 14 demands of the Bishops of Aberdeen.source
  • 1651At the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliamentarian New Model Army, under Major-General John Lambert, defeats a Scottish Covenanter army acting on behalf of Charles II, led by Sir John Brown of Fordell.source
  • 1651English Civil War: at the Battle of Inverkeithing in Scotland, the English Parliament's New Model Army defeats a Scottish army loyal to Charles II.source
  • 1655The Amsterdam Town Hall (the modern-day Royal Palace) is inaugurated.source
  • 1675July 16–24 – An envoy from Massachusetts attempts to negotiate with the Nipmuck tribe.source
  • 1703Sir Roger Mostyn, 3rd Baronet, marries Lady Essex Finch, daughter of the Earl of Nottingham.source
  • 1705The planet Mercury transits Jupiter, as seen by astronomers from Earth. The event happens again on October 4, 1708, but will not be seen again from Earth until October 27, 2088source
  • 1705Act of the Parliament of Scotland for the promotion of salmon, white and herring fishing.source
  • 1712Jesus College, Oxford, England, inherits the extensive library of its Principal Jonathan Edwards on his death.source
  • 1715Ottoman–Venetian War (1714–18): The fall of Nauplion, the capital of the Venetian "Kingdom of the Morea", seals the fate of the Peloponnese Peninsula, which is soon completely retaken by the Ottomans.source
  • 1743Lord Anson captures the Philippine galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga and its treasure of 1,313,843 Spanish dollars at Manila along with a treasure of 2 1/2 million dollars, and proceeds back toward Mexico, then returns to Britain in 1744source
  • 1743Lord Anson captures the Philippine galleon Nuestra Señora de Covadonga and its treasure of 1,313,843 Spanish dollars at Manila.source
  • 1764King George, on advice of the Privy Council, issues the Royal Determination of the disputed boundary between the colonial provinces of New York and New Hampshire. The King-in-Council "doth hereby order and declare the western banks of the river Connecticut from where it enters the province of Massachusetts Bay, as far north as the 45th degree of north latitude to be the boundary line between the two provinces of New Hampshire and New York."source
  • 1767Arthur Chichester, 5th Earl of Donegall, grants new leases for most of his property holdings in Belfast, obliging tenants to redevelop.source
  • 1769Recently appointed as the Governor of Spanish Louisiana, Irish-born soldier of fortune Alejandro O'Reilly sails into the French fort of La Balize with 21 Spanish ships, along with 2,056 soldiers, cannons and ammunition, and informs French Louisiana Governor Charles Philippe Aubry of his royal commission to take Louisiana on behalf of the King of Spain.source
  • 1779Tekle Giyorgis I begins the first of his five reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.source
  • 1793Scottish explorer Alexander Mackenzie's 1792–1793 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean reaches its goal at Bella Coola, British Columbia, making him the first known person to complete a transcontinental crossing of northern North America.source
  • 1793Stornoway-born explorer Alexander Mackenzie's 1792–1793 Peace River expedition to the Pacific Ocean reaches its goal at Bella Coola, British Columbia, making him the first known person to complete a transcontinental crossing of northern North America.source
  • 1794François Antoine Marie Constantin de Méan et de Beaurieux, prince-bishop of Liège, flees to Germany.source
  • 1798The Althing met at Þingvellir for the last time.The few who had attended returned home from Þingvellir due to poor conditions, and thus ended the governments tenure at the site, which had lasted since 930.source
  • 1807Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Emperor Napoleon for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powers a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.source
  • 1807Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powers a boat upstream on the river Saône.source
  • 1808Henry Crabb Robinson makes the first despatch from a specialist war reporter, to The Times newspaper.source
  • 1810First Republic of New Granada: Patria Boba: A junta of seven patriots, led by José Acevedo y Gómez, assemble in Bogotá in the Viceroyalty of New Granada (modern-day Colombia), to declare its independence from the Spanish Empire, the first South American nation to break away from Spain as the third oldest independent republic state after Haiti.source
  • 1813The Perseverance returns to Sydney.source
  • 1820Saint Cronan's Boys' National School opens in Bray, County Wicklow, Ireland under the title Bray Male School. Its notable pupils will include President of Ireland Cearbhall Ó Dálaigh.source
  • 1821Grass is sown for the first time in New Zealand, on land cleared from fern at Kerikeri.source
  • 1825A skirmish takes place between Dutch-Yogyakartan forces and Javanese rebels, triggering the Java War.source
  • 1830Greece grants citizenship to Romaniote Jews.source
  • 1833A mob in Jackson County, Missouri, destroys the printing office of the early Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints containing what becomes known as The Doctrine and Covenants.source
  • 1841The Mercantile Agency (ancestor of Dun & Bradstreet) is founded in New York City by Lewis Tappan.source
  • 1845Charles Sturt enters the Simpson Desert in central Australia.source
  • 1853The Jade Treaty is signed between Prussia and Oldenburg. Prussia is ceded territory which allows it to construct a major naval base at Wilhelmshavensource
  • 1860Battle of Milazzo: The forces of Giuseppe Garibaldi defeat royal Neapolitan forces near Messina, bringing nearly all of Sicily under Garibaldi's control.source
  • 1863August 14 - First Shimonoseki Campaignsource
  • 1864Battle of Peachtree Creek – Near Atlanta, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.source
  • 1866Austro-Prussian War: Naval Battle of Lissa – The Austrian fleet under Wilhelm von Tegetthoff defeats the Italian fleet of Carlo di Persano.source
  • 1866Arthur Macalister resigns as Premier of Queensland during a bank crisis, he resumes his post on 7 August as the crisis easedsource
  • 1868due to the death of Venancio Flores, the General Assembly declared a day of national mourning his day of death in 19 February 1869 and that day yearly. This would be held until 1914, when all the holidays of mournings were repealed.source
  • 1869The Innocents Abroad, by Mark Twain, goes on sale after printing by the American Publishing Company. It becomes Twain's bestselling work during his lifetime.source
  • 1869Children's Hospital Boston is founded by Dr. Francis Henry Brown and other Harvard Medical School graduates, as a 20-bed facility in the South End of Boston, Massachusetts.source
  • 1871British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.source
  • 1871C. W. Alcock proposes that "a Challenge Cup should be established in connection with the Association", giving birth to the FA Cup for Association football in England.source
  • 1877Arthur Kennedy becomes Governor of Queenslandsource
  • 1881American Indian Wars: Sioux chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana.source
  • 1881earthquake of magnitude 6.5 occurred in Gansu and Lanzhou.source
  • 1881July 14–20 – The London Social Revolutionary Congress is held; delegates include Marie Le Compte, Peter Kropotkin, Errico Malatesta, Saverio Merlino, Louise Michel, Nikolai Tchaikovsky and Émile Gautier.source
  • 1885The Chinese Immigration Act of 1885 was enacted. The act imposed a $50 head tax on Chinese immigrants, with the exceptions of diplomats, government representatives, tourists, merchants, "men of science", and students. The act came after a big wave of Chinese immigrants going to Canada.source
  • 1885The Football Association recognises professional players in England.source
  • 1885The trial of Louis Riel begins in Regina, District of Assiniboiasource
  • 1886Thor Larsen, gymnast and Olympic silver medallistsource
  • 1899Park Row Building in New York City is completed. It is the world's tallest building until 1908.source
  • 1899The opening of Badu Station in Taihoku Prefecture.source
  • 1899A rabid dog attacks a group of children in Pontarddulais. In August, eight of them are sent to the Pasteur Institute in Paris to be inoculated.source
  • 1906In the Grand Duchy of Finland, a new electoral law is ratified, guaranteeing full women's suffrage, the first in modern Europe. Women can also stand in national elections.source
  • 1908July 13–25 – The 1908 Summer Olympics are held in London. (Originally scheduled to be in Rome, but changed due to the Mount Vesuvius eruption of 1906. Figure skating events are held in London from October 28–29.)source
  • 1917(July 7, O.S.) – Alexander Kerensky becomes premier of the Russian Provisional Government, replacing Prince Georgy Lvov.source
  • 1917The Parliament of Finland, with a Social Democratic majority, passes a "Sovereignty Act", declaring itself, as the representative of the Finnish people, sovereign over the Grand Duchy of Finland. The Russian Provisional Government does not recognize the act, as it would have devolved Russian sovereignty over Finland, formerly exercised by the Russian Emperor as Grand Duke of Finland, and alter the relationship between Finland and Russia into a real union, with Russia solely responsible for the defence and foreign relations of an independent Finland.source
  • 1917The Corfu Declaration, which enables the establishment of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and the Kingdom of Serbia.source
  • 1920The United Kingdom cedes its brief control of the key Black Sea port of Batum to the Democratic Republic of Georgia.source
  • 1922The German protectorate of Togoland is divided into the League of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.source
  • 1925July 10–21 – Scopes trial: in a staged test case (the "Monkey Trial") in Dayton, Tennessee, United States, John T. Scopes, a young high school science teacher (technically arrested on May 5 and indicted on May 25) is accused of assigning a reading from a (state-mandated) textbook on Darwinian evolution in violation of a Tennessee state law, the "Butler Act". He is found guilty and fined $100, though the verdict is later overturned on a technicality. The trial makes explicit the fundamentalist–modernist controversy within the Presbyterian Church in the United States of America, with William Jennings Bryan (who dies on July 26) being challenged by the liberal Clarence Darrow.source
  • 1930Louis Chiron wins the 1930 Belgian Grand Prix at Spa–Francorchamps.source
  • 1931A violent tornado strikes the city of Lublin, Poland.source
  • 1932The Preußenschlag in Germany. The political coup gives Franz von Papen control of Prussia, the most powerful state in Germany, and is a major blow to German democracy.source
  • 1933Reichskonkordat: Vatican state secretary Eugenio Pacelli (later Pope Pius XII) signs an accord with Germany.source
  • 1933New airline Aerolloyd Iguassu goes into operation, with flights between Curitiba and São Paulo.source
  • 1936The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits is signed in Montreux, allowing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus, but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.source
  • 1936Romania signs the Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits governing the Bosporus and Dardanelles.source
  • 1936Montreux Convention signed.source
  • 1937The Geibeltbad Pirna water sports facility is opened in Dresden, Germany.source
  • 1937The Geibeltbad Pirna is opened in Dresden, Germany.source
  • 1940August 4 – Scheduled dates for the 1940 Summer Olympics in Helsinki, Finland, cancelled in November 1939 due to WWII (originally allocated to Tokyo, Japan).source
  • 1944The annular solar eclipse of July 20, 1944 is visible in Africa, Indian Ocean, Asia, Pacific Ocean and Australia, and is the 35th solar eclipse of Solar Saros 135.source
  • 1946King Zahir Shah holds a speech at the opening of the sixth session of the National Council, discussing, among other things, Afghan foreign policy. While the section regarding the Soviet Union did not have anything objectionable to the Soviet ambassador, it was noted to be less cordial than the sections about Britain and America.source
  • 1948President Harry S. Truman issues the second peacetime military draft in the United States, amid increasing tensions with the Soviet Union (the first peacetime draft occurred in 1940 under President Roosevelt)source
  • 1948Eugene Dennis, William Z. Foster and ten other Communist Party USA leaders are arrested and charged under the Alien Registration Act.source
  • 1950July 14–21 – Korean War: Battle of Taejon – North Korean forces capture the city held by the U.S. 24th Infantry Division, but the delay allows establishment of the Pusan Perimeter.source
  • 1950Air Battle of South Korea: After a month-long campaign, the majority of North Korea's People's Air Force is destroyed by anti-communist forces.source
  • 1955July 18–23 – Geneva Summit between the United States, Soviet Union, United Kingdom and France.source
  • 1960Ceylon elects Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike as its Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government (she takes office the following day).source
  • 1964The National Movement of the Revolution is established in the Republic of the Congo, becoming the country's sole legal political party.source
  • 1967Chilean poet Pablo Neruda receives the first Viareggio-Versile prize.source
  • 1968The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.source
  • 19691969 Tour de France: Belgian Eddy Merckx wins the cycle race for the first time.source
  • 1969Apollo program Moon landing: At 3:17 pm ET (20:17 UTC) Apollo 11's Lunar Module Eagle lands on the Moon's surface. At 10:56 pm ET (02:56 UTC July 21), an estimated 650 million people worldwide, the largest television audience for a live broadcast at this time, watch in awe as Neil Armstrong takes his first historic steps on the surface.source
  • 1971A first McDonald's fast food outlet open in Japan at Ginza, Tokyo.source
  • 1972The Stop at Two policy is unveiled to encourage people to have smaller families.source
  • 1973France resumes nuclear bomb tests in Mururoa Atoll, over the protests of Australia and New Zealand.source
  • 1974The Turkish invasion of Cyprus occurs.source
  • 1974The Turkish invasion of Cyprus was launched.source
  • 1974The establishment of TKK Fried Chicken.source
  • 1975opening of Expo '75 in Okinawa.source
  • 1976Viking program: The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.source
  • 1976July 16–20 – Albert Spaggiari and his gang break into the vault of the Société Generale Bank in Nice, France.source
  • 1976American criminal Gary Gilmore is arrested for murdering two men in Utah.source
  • 1977July 19–20 – Flooding in Johnstown, Pennsylvania, caused by massive rainfall, kills over 75 people and causes billions of dollars in damage.source
  • 1981July 16–21 – England become the first team this century to win a cricket Test match after the follow-on when they beat Australia by 18 runs at Headingley cricket ground, Leeds, England.source
  • 1983The government of Poland announces the end of martial law and amnesty for political prisoners.source
  • 1985Apartheid: State President of South Africa, P. W. Botha, declares a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts of South Africa amid growing civil unrest in black townships.source
  • 1985P.W. Botha declares a state of emergency in 36 magisterial districts.source
  • 1994July 16–22 – Fragments of Comet Shoemaker–Levy 9 impact the planet Jupiter.source
  • 1995In Hill v. Church of Scientology of Toronto the Supreme Court upholds Canada's largest ever libel award.source
  • 1999Mercury program: Liberty Bell 7 – piloted by Gus Grissom in 1961 – is raised from the Atlantic Ocean.source
  • 1999Falun Gong is banned in the People's Republic of China under Jiang Zemin.source
  • 2000July 11–25 – A summit meeting takes place at Camp David between United States president Bill Clinton, Israeli prime minister Ehud Barak and Palestinian Authority chairman Yasser Arafat, ending without an agreement.source
  • 2001July 20–22 – The 27th G8 summit takes place in Genoa, Italy. Massive demonstrations, drawing an estimated 200,000 people, are held against the meeting by members of the anti-globalization movement. One demonstrator, Carlo Giuliani, is killed by a policeman, and several others are injured.source
  • 2002The Machakos Protocol is signed during the Second Sudanese Civil War, establishing a framework for peace talks and possible independence of South Sudan.source
  • 2004Ehsan Haddadi wins gold with a 62.14m discus throw.source
  • 2005Saudi Arabian long-time ambassador to USA, prince Bandar bin Sultan, resigns for "personal reasons".source
  • 2011Riots erupt in the country against the president Bingu wa Mutharika.source
  • 2011Goran Hadžić is detained in Serbia, becoming the last of 161 people indicted by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.source
  • 2011July 14–23 – Two frontal systems enter south-central Chile causing great snowfalls that leaves thousand of people isolated.source
  • 2011The United Nations declares a famine in southern Somalia, the first in over 30 years.source
  • 2014Monty Python Live (Mostly) closes in London, ending the famous British comedy group Monty Python, active since 1969.source
  • 2015Cuba and the United States end 54 years of hostility between the nations, reestablish full diplomatic relations.source
  • 2018Prime Minister, Narendra Modi wins a no confidence motion in the Lok Sabha moved by the opposition.source
  • 2020Krisztián Forró elected as new leader of SMK, member party of MKÖ-MKS.source
  • 2023August 20 – The 2023 FIFA Women's World Cup is held in Australia and New Zealand. In the final, Spain wins 1–0 against England.source

Births

  • 356 BCEJuly 20/21 – Alexander the Great, King of Macedonia (died 323 BC).source
  • 682Taichō, Japanese Buddhist monk (died 767)source
  • 1304Francesco Petrarca, Italian historian and poet (died 1374)source
  • 1313John Tiptoft, English nobleman and chancellor (died 1367)source
  • 1346Margaret, Countess of Pembroke, English princess, daughter of King Edward III of England (died 1361)source
  • 1485Giovanni Battista Ramusio, Italian geographer (died 1557)source
  • 1517Peter Ernst I von Mansfeld-Vorderort, Governor of the Habsburg Netherlands (died 1604)source
  • 1529Henry Sidney, lord deputy of Ireland (died 1586)source
  • 1537Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (died 1604)source
  • 1537Arnaud d'Ossat, prolific French diplomat and cardinal. (d.1604)source
  • 1581Isidoro Bianchi, Italian painter (died 1662)source
  • 1583Alban Roe, English Benedictine martyr (died 1642)source
  • 1591Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher (died 1643)source
  • 1601Robert Wallop, English politician (died 1667)source
  • 1638Ulrik Frederik Gyldenløve, leading Norwegian general during the Scanian War (died 1704)source
  • 1649William Bentinck, 1st Earl of Portland (died 1709)source
  • 1656Johann Bernhard Fischer von Erlach, Austrian architect (died 1723)source
  • 1673John Dalrymple, 2nd Earl of Stair, Scottish soldier and diplomat (died 1747)source
  • 1700Henri-Louis Duhamel du Monceau, French physician (died 1782)source
  • 1738Darejan Dadiani, Georgian queen consort (died 1807)source
  • 1744Joshua Clayton, American politician (died 1798)source
  • 1785Mahmud II, Ottoman sultan (died 1839)source
  • 1797Paweł Edmund Strzeleckisource
  • 1804Richard Owen, English anatomist, paleontologist, and zoologist (died 1892)source
  • 1822Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist (died 1884)source
  • 1830Clements Markham, English explorer (died 1916)source
  • 1847Max Liebermann, German painter, printmaker (died 1935)source
  • 1847Jose Maria Quijano Wallis (Died 1922)source
  • 1873Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviation pioneer (died 1932)source
  • 1873Alberto Santos-Dumontsource
  • 1894Wiley Rutledge, Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the United States (died 1949)source
  • 1966Enrique Peña Nieto, President of Mexico (2012–2018), Governor of the State of Mexico (2005–2011)source
  • 1977Anoulack Chanthivong, Australian politiciansource

Deaths

  • 384Pope Timothy I of Alexandriasource
  • 833July 20 or 834 – Ansegisus, Frankish abbotsource
  • 834July 20 or 833 – Ansegisus, Frankish abbotsource
  • 834Ansegisus, Frankish abbot and advisor of former emperor Charlemagne, dies at Fontenelle Abbey in Normandy (or 833).source
  • 940Ibn Muqla, Abbasid vizier and calligraphersource
  • 985Anti-Pope Boniface VII dies under suspicious circumstances at Rome. He is succeeded by John XV as the 137th pope of the Catholic Church.source
  • 985Boniface VII, antipope of the Catholic Churchsource
  • 1031King Robert II (the Pious) dies at Melun, after a 35-year reign. He is succeeded by his 23-year-old son, Henry I, who becomes the sole ruler of France. Henry's mother, Queen dowager Constance of Arles, prefers her third son, Robert, as heir to the throne and, with the help of Count Odo II, begins a war against Henry.source
  • 1031Robert II (the Pious), king of France (born 972)source
  • 1039Conrad II ("the Younger"), duke of Carinthiasource
  • 1128Al-Ma'mun al-Bata'ihi, Fatimid vizier (born c. 1086)source
  • 1156Toba, Japanese emperor (born 1103)source
  • 1176Yoshika, Japanese empress (born 1141)source
  • 1296Jalal ud din Firuz Khalji dies, and his nephew and son-in-law Ala-Ud-Din-Khalji comes to the throne of the Delhi Sultanate in Hindustan, becoming the most powerful ruler of his dynasty.source
  • 1332Thomas Randolph, 1st Earl of Moray, regent of Scotlandsource
  • 1387Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu (poisoned) (born 1356)source
  • 1398Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, heir to the throne of England (born 1374)source
  • 1398Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March dies at the Battle of Kells in the war against the Leinster Irish.source
  • 1454King John II of Castile (born 1405)source
  • 1514György Dózsa, Transylvanian peasant revolt leader (born 1470)source
  • 1524Claude of France, queen consort of Francis I of France (born 1499)source
  • 1524Claude of France, Queen of France, the first wife of Francis I (born 1499).source
  • 1547Beatus Rhenanus, German humanist and religious reformer (born 1485)source
  • 1600William More, English courtier (born 1520)source
  • 1609Federico Zuccari, Italian painter (born 1543)source
  • 1616The death of Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, in exile in Rome, ends the Flight of the Earls from Ireland.source
  • 1616Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, Irish soldier (born 1540)source
  • 1616Hugh O'Neill, 2nd Earl of Tyrone, led the resistance during the Nine Years War (born c 1540).source
  • 1704Peregrine White, first English child born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (born 1620)source
  • 1782Karl Joseph von Firmian, Austrian nobleman and Plenipotentiary of Lombardy (born 1716)source
  • 1833Ninian Edwards, American politician, Governor of and Senator from Illinois (born 1775)source
  • 1866Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (born 1826)source
  • 1877Federico Errázuriz Zañartu (born 1825)source
  • 1903Pope Leo XIII, Italian Roman Catholic Pope (born 1810)source
  • 1923Pancho Villa, Mexican revolutionary (assassinated) (born 1878)source
  • 1927King Ferdinand (born 1865).source
  • 1937Guglielmo Marconi, Italian-born American inventor (born 1874)source
  • 1944WWII: Adolf Hitler survives the 20 July plot to assassinate him led by Claus von Stauffenberg; he and his fellow conspirators in this and Operation Valkyrie are executed the following day.source
  • 1946Gil Montilla, Filipino politician (born 1876)source
  • 1951King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem. He is succeeded by his son, King Talal.source
  • 1959William D. Leahy, American admiral (born 1875)source
  • 1973Bruce Lee, Chinese-American martial artist and actor (born 1940)source
  • 1976In connection with the investigation into the Niehous kidnapping, DISIP agents detain Jorge Rodríguez, who dies in custody five days later due to torture. Octavio Lepage, the Minister of Internal Affairs at the time, expresses regret over the incident and initiates comprehensive investigations.source
  • 20122012 Aurora theater shooting: 12 people are killed and 58 are injured in a mass shooting at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado. The shooter, James Holmes, opens fire on a crowd during a screening of The Dark Knight Rises.source