July 20

July 20 in recent years

2024 (Saturday)

2023 (Thursday)

2022 (Wednesday)

2021 (Tuesday)

2020 (Monday)

2019 (Saturday)

2018 (Friday)

2017 (Thursday)

2016 (Wednesday)

2015 (Monday)

July 20 is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 164 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 70 – Siege of Jerusalem – Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
• 911 – Rollo lays siege to Chartres.
• 1189 – Richard I of England officially invested as Duke of Normandy.
• 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.
• 1592 – During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Pyongyang, although they were ultimately unable to hold it.
• 1738 – Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
• 1799 – Tekle Giyorgis I begins his first of five reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.
• 1807 – Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.
• 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.
• 1885 – The Football Association legalizes professionalism in association football under pressure from the British Football Association.
• 1903 – The Ford Motor Company ships its first car.
• 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.
• 1922 – The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1934 – 1934 West Coast waterfront strike: In Seattle, Washington, police fire tear gas on and club 2,000 striking longshoremen. 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, New York against the motion picture industry charging violations of the Sherman Antitrust Act in regards to the studio system. The case would eventually result in a break-up of the industry in 1948.
• 1940 – Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
• 1940 – California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
• 1941 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrenti Beria its chief.
• 1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
• 1949 – Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.
• 1950 – Cold War: In Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 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.
• 1954 – Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret service, defects to East Germany.
• 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.
• 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).
• 1968 – The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, Ill, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.
• 1969 – Apollo program: Apollo 11's crew successfully makes the first landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon later that day (Eastern Time Zone).
• 1969 – A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the "Football War".
• 1974 – Morning begins the landing was rebuked Enterprise Attila I, which will be the beachhead of the Turkish invasion of Cyprus and will be completed one month after the phase II Attila
• 1976 – The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
• 1977 – Johnstown, Pennsylvania 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.
• 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.
• 1985 – The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.
• 1989 – Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
• 1992 – Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
• 1997 – The fully restored USS Constitution (aka Old Ironsides) celebrates its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.
• 1999 – The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.
• 2012 – A gunman identified as James Eagan Holmes, opens fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.
• 2013 – Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca.

Births

• 356 BC – Alexander the Great, Macedonian king (d. 323 BC)
• 682 – Taichō, Japanese Buddhist monk (d. 767)
• 810 – Imam Bukhari, Muslim scholar and compiler of Hadith (d. 870)
• 1304 – Petrarch, Italian poet and scholar (d. 1374)
• 1537 – Arnaud d'Ossat, French cardinal (d. 1604)
• 1620 – Nikolaes Heinsius the Elder, Dutch poet and scholar (d. 1681)
• 1754 – Antoine Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher (d. 1836)
• 1757 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian politician and diplomat (d. 1811)
• 1762 – Jakob Haibel, Austrian tenor and composer (d. 1826)
• 1774 – Auguste de Marmont, French general (d. 1852)
• 1797 – Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, Polish geologist and explorer (d. 1873)
• 1804 – Richard Owen, English biologist, anatomist, and paleontologist (d. 1892)
• 1822 – Gregor Mendel, Czech geneticist (d. 1884)
• 1838 – Augustin Daly, American playwright and manager (d. 1899)
• 1838 – Sir George Trevelyan, 2nd Baronet, English politician, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (d. 1928)
• 1847 – Max Liebermann, German painter (d. 1935)
• 1849 – Robert Anderson Van Wyck, American politician, 91st Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
• 1852 – Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and politician, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1932)
• 1858 – Juan Vucetich, Croatian- Argentinian anthropologist (d. 1925)
• 1864 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish poet, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1931)
• 1868 – Miron Cristea, Hungarian-Romanian cleric and politician, 38th Prime Minister of Romania (d. 1939)
• 1873 – Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian pilot (d. 1932)
• 1876 – Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (d. 1944)
• 1889 – John Reith, 1st Baron Reith, Scottish broadcaster, co-founded BBC (d. 1971)
• 1890 – George II of Greece (d. 1947)
• 1893 – George Llewelyn Davies, English soldier (d. 1915)
• 1895 – László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer, and sculptor (d. 1946)
• 1896 – Eunice Sanborn, American super-centenarian (d. 2011)
• 1897 – Tadeus Reichstein, Polish chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1996)
• 1900 – Maurice Leyland, English cricketer and coach (d. 1967)
• 1901 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player and manager (d. 1971)
• 1902 – Jimmy Kennedy, Irish songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1909 – Jean Focas, Greek-French astronomer (d. 1969)
• 1909 – Eric Rowan, South African cricketer (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Vilém Tauský, Czech-English conductor and composer (d. 2004)
• 1911 – Baqa Jilani, Indian cricketer (d. 1941)
• 1911 – José Zabala-Santos, Filipino cartoonist (d. 1985)
• 1912 – George Johnston, Australian journalist and author (d. 1970)
• 1914 – Dobri Dobrev, Bulgarian philanthropist
• 1914 – Charilaos Florakis, Greek politician (d. 2005)
• 1914 – Ersilio Tonini, Italian cardinal (d. 2013)
• 1918 – Cindy Walker, American singer-songwriter and dancer (d. 2006)
• 1919 – Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (d. 2008)
• 1920 – Elliot Richardson, American lieutenant and politician, 11th United States Secretary of Defense (d. 1999)
• 1921 – Henri Alleg, English-French journalist (d. 2013)
• 1922 – Alan Stephenson Boyd, American lawyer and politician
• 1923 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
• 1924 – Thomas Berger, American author
• 1924 – Mort Garson, Canadian-American songwriter and composer (d. 2008)
• 1925 – Lola Albright, American actress and singer
• 1925 – Jacques Delors, French economist and politician, 8th President of the European Commission
• 1925 – Frantz Fanon, French–Algerian psychiatrist (d. 1961)
• 1926 – Patricia Cutts, English actress (d. 1974)
• 1927 – Barbara Bergmann, American feminist economist
• 1927 – Michael Gielen, Austrian conductor and composer
• 1927 – Ian P. Howard, English-Canadian psychologist (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Józef Czyrek, Polish politician, Minister of Foreign Affairs for Poland (d. 2013)
• 1928 – Peter Ind, English bassist and producer
• 1929 – Hazel Hawke, Australian wife of Bob Hawke (d. 2013)
• 1929 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman, co-founded Little Caesars
• 1929 – Rajendra Kumar, Pakistani-Indian actor and producer (d. 1999)
• 1930 – Giannis Agouris, Greek journalist and author (d. 2006)
• 1930 – Chuck Daly, American basketball player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1930 – William H. Goetzmann, American historian and author (d. 2010)
• 1930 – Sally Ann Howes, English-American singer and actress
• 1931 – Tony Marsh, English race car driver (d. 2009)
• 1932 – Dick Giordano, American illustrator (d. 2010)
• 1932 – Ove Verner Hansen, Danish opera singer and actor
• 1932 – Nam June Paik, South Korean-American director (d. 2006)
• 1932 – Otto Schily, German politician
• 1933 – Buddy Knox, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1999)
• 1933 – Cormac McCarthy, American author
• 1933 – Rex Williams, English snooker player
• 1934 – Uwe Johnson, German scholar (d. 1984)
• 1934 – Doug Padgett, English cricketer and manager
• 1934 – Aliki Vougiouklaki, Greek actress (d. 1996)
• 1935 – Ted Rogers, English comedian and television host (d. 2001)
• 1936 – Alistair MacLeod, Canadian author and academic (d. 2014)
• 1936 – Barbara Mikulski, American politician
• 1937 – Dick Hafer, American illustrator (d. 2003)
• 1937 – Ken Ogata, Japanese actor (d. 2008)
• 1938 – Roger Hunt, English footballer
• 1938 – Tony Oliva, Cuban-American baseball player
• 1938 – Diana Rigg, English actress and singer
• 1938 – Natalie Wood, American actress and singer (d. 1981)
• 1939 – Judy Chicago, American painter and sculptor
• 1941 – Don Chuy, American football player (d. 2014)
• 1941 – Periklis Korovesis, Greek author and journalist
• 1941 – Kurt Raab, German actor, screenwriter, and production designer (d. 1988)
• 1942 – Ron Bowden, Australian politician
• 1942 – Pete Hamilton, American race car racer
• 1942 – Stephenie McMillan, English set decorator (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Chris Amon, New Zealand race car driver
• 1943 – Carolyne Barry, American dancer and actress
• 1943 – Adrian Păunescu, Romanian poet, journalist, and politician (d. 2010)
• 1943 – Wendy Richard, English actress (d. 2009)
• 1944 – Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor
• 1944 – Francis Ray, American author (d. 2013)
• 1945 – Kim Carnes, American singer-songwriter
• 1945 – Larry Craig, American politician
• 1945 – Harrison Ellenshaw, American special effects artist
• 1945 – John Lodge, English singer-songwriter, bass player, and producer (The Moody Blues)
• 1945 – Johnny Loughrey, Irish singer-songwriter (d. 2005)
• 1945 – Bo Rein, American football player and coach (d. 1980)
• 1946 – Randal Kleiser, American actor, director, and producer
• 1947 – Gerd Binnig, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1947 – Carlos Santana, Mexican-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Santana)
• 1948 – Muse Watson, American actor
• 1950 – Tantoo Cardinal, Canadian actress
• 1950 – Naseeruddin Shah, Indian actor
• 1951 – Jeff Rawle, English actor and screenwriter
• 1951 – Phyllis Smith, American actress
• 1952 – Keiko Matsuzaka, Japanese actress
• 1953 – Dave Evans, Welsh-Australian singer-songwriter (AC/DC and Rabbit)
• 1953 – Thomas Friedman, American journalist
• 1953 – Marcia Hines, American-Australian singer and actress
• 1953 – Dan Shaughnessy, American journalist
• 1954 – Moira Harris, American actress
• 1954 – Jay Jay French, American guitarist and producer (Twisted Sister)
• 1954 – Larry Levan, American DJ and producer (d. 1992)
• 1955 – René-Daniel Dubois, Canadian actor and playwright
• 1955 – Jem Finer, English banjo player and songwriter (The Pogues)
• 1956 – Paul Cook, English drummer (Sex Pistols, The Professionals, Chiefs of Relief, and Man Raze)
• 1956 – Michael Gordon, American composer
• 1956 – Ryo Ishibashi, Japanese actor
• 1956 – Jim Prentice, Canadian lawyer and politician
• 1956 – Barbara Risman, American sociologist
• 1957 – Donna Dixon, American actress
• 1958 – Peter Fraßmann, German footballer
• 1958 – Mick MacNeil, Scottish keyboard player and songwriter (Simple Minds)
• 1958 – Billy Mays, American salesman (d. 2009)
• 1959 – Radney Foster, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (Foster & Lloyd)
• 1960 – Claudio Langes, Italian race car driver
• 1960 – Prvoslav Vujčić, Serbian Canadian poet
• 1961 – Óscar Elías Biscet, Cuban doctor and activist, founded the Lawton Foundation
• 1962 – Carlos Alazraqui, American actor, screenwriter, and producer
• 1962 – Giovanna Amati, Italian race car driver
• 1962 – Lee Harris, English drummer (Talk Talk and .O.rang)
• 1963 – Frank Whaley, American actor, director, and screenwriter
• 1963 – Alexander Zhulin, Russian ice dancer
• 1964 – Chris Cornell, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (Soundgarden, Audioslave, Temple of the Dog, and Center for Disease Control Boys)
• 1964 – Terri Irwin, American-Australian zoologist and author
• 1964 – Kool G Rap, American rapper and producer (Juice Crew)
• 1964 – Bernd Schneider, German race car driver
• 1964 – Dean Winters, American actor
• 1965 – Jess Walter, American author
• 1966 – Anton du Beke, English dancer
• 1966 – Stone Gossard, American singer-songwriter and musician (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad, Temple of the Dog, and Green River)
• 1966 – Agot Isidro, Filipino actress
• 1966 – Enrique Peña Nieto, Mexican politician, 57th President of Mexico
• 1967 – Reed Diamond, American actor
• 1967 – Indra, Swedish singer
• 1967 – Courtney Taylor-Taylor, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Dandy Warhols)
• 1968 – Jimmy Carson, American ice hockey player
• 1968 – Michael Park, American actor
• 1968 – Julian Rhind-Tutt, English actor
• 1968 – Carlos Saldanha, Brazilian-American director, screenwriter, and voice actor
• 1969 – Josh Holloway, American actor
• 1969 – Kreso Kovacec, German footballer
• 1969 – Giovanni Lombardi, Italian cyclist
• 1969 – Tobi Vail, American singer and guitarist (Bikini Kill, The Go Team, The Frumpies, Some Velvet Sidewalk, and The Old Haunts)
• 1971 – Ed Giddins, English cricketer
• 1971 – Charles Johnson, American baseball player
• 1971 – Sandra Oh, Canadian actress
• 1971 – DJ Screw, American rapper and DJ (Screwed Up Click) (d. 2000)
• 1972 – Vitamin C, American singer-songwriter, dancer, and actress
• 1972 – Jozef Stümpel, Slovak ice hockey player
• 1972 – Erik Ullenhag, Swedish jurist and politician
• 1973 – Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
• 1973 – Omar Epps, American actor, rapper, and producer
• 1973 – Peter Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
• 1973 – Nixon McLean, Caribbean cricketer
• 1973 – Roberto Orci, Mexican-American screenwriter and producer
• 1973 – Claudio Reyna, American soccer player
• 1973 – Mads Rieper, Danish footballer
• 1974 – Bengie Molina, Puerto Rican-American baseball player and coach
• 1974 – Simon Rex, American actor and rapper
• 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
• 1976 – Erica Hill, American journalist
• 1976 – Debashish Mohanty, Indian cricketer and coach
• 1976 – Andrew Stockdale, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist (Wolfmother)
• 1976 – Alex Yoong, Malaysian race car driver
• 1977 – Kiki Musampa, Congolese footballer
• 1977 – Yves Niaré, French shot putter (d. 2012)
• 1977 – Alessandro Santos, Brazilian-Japanese footballer
• 1977 – Alex P. Dela Cruz, Filipino Cartoonist, artist, painter, graphic designer
• 1978 – Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Charlie Korsmo, American actor and lawyer
• 1978 – Tamsyn Manou, Australian runner
• 1978 – Andrus Murumets, Estonian strongman
• 1978 – Chris Sligh, American singer-songwriter and producer (Half Past Forever)
• 1978 – Will Solomon, American basketball player
• 1978 – Elliott Yamin, American singer-songwriter
• 1978 – Ieva Zunda, Latvian runner
• 1979 – Claudine Barretto, Filipino actress
• 1979 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (d. 2004)
• 1979 – David Ortega, Spanish swimmer
• 1979 – Charlotte Hatherley, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (Ash and Nightnurse)
• 1980 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian model and actress
• 1980 – Tes Bramble, English-born Montserratian footballer
• 1981 – Lowkey, American rapper and producer
• 1981 – Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
• 1981 – Thorsten Engelmann, German rower
• 1982 – Percy Daggs III, American actor
• 1982 – Antoine Vermette, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1984 – Alexi Casilla, Dominican baseball player
• 1984 – Matt Gilroy, American ice hockey player
• 1985 – Solenn Heussaff, French-Filipino actress, singer, and fashion designer
• 1985 – John Francis Daley, American actor and screenwriter
• 1985 – David Mundy, Australian footballer
• 1985 – Anastasia Perraki, Greek model
• 1987 – Niall McGinn, Irish footballer
• 1988 – Julianne Hough, American singer-songwriter, actress, and dancer
• 1988 – Stephen Strasburg, American baseball player
• 1989 – Javier Cortés, Mexican footballer
• 1989 – Witwisit Hiranyawongkul, Thai actor and singer
• 1989 – Cristian Pasquato, Italian footballer
• 1991 – Philipp Reiter, German mountaineer and runner
• 1991 – Andrew Shaw, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1999 – Princess Alexandra of Hanover

Deaths

• 940 – Ibn Muqla, Iraqi politician (b. 885)
• 985 – Antipope Boniface VII (b. 930)
• 1031 – Robert II of France (b. 972)
• 1156 – Emperor Toba of Japan (b. 1103)
• 1320 – Oshin, King of Armenia (b. 1282)
• 1387 – Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu (b. 1356)
• 1398 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, Welsh politician (b. 1374)
• 1453 – Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French author (b. 1400)
• 1454 – John II of Castile (b. 1405)
• 1524 – Claude of France (b. 1499)
• 1616 – Hugh O'Neill, Earl of Tyrone, Irish soldier (b. 1550)
• 1704 – Peregrine White, English-American farmer and soldier (b. 1620)
• 1752 – Johann Christoph Pepusch, German-English composer (b. 1667)
• 1816 – Gavrila 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 (b. 1835)
• 1908 – Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz, German geophysicist (b. 1881)
• 1922 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (b. 1856)
• 1923 – Pancho Villa, Mexican general (b. 1878)
• 1926 – Felix Dzerzhinsky, Russian politician (b. 1877)
• 1927 – Ferdinand I of Romania (b. 1865)
• 1928 – Kostas Karyotakis, Greek poet (b. 1896)
• 1932 – René Bazin, French author (b. 1853)
• 1937 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1874)
• 1941 – Lew Fields, American actor and producer (b. 1867)
• 1944 – Ludwig Beck, German general (b. 1880)
• 1944 – Mildred Harris, American actress (b. 1901)
• 1945 – Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
• 1951 – Abdullah I of Jordan (b. 1882)
• 1951 – Wilhelm, German Crown Prince (b. 1882)
• 1953 – Dumarsais Estimé, Haitian politician, 33rd President of Haiti (b. 1900)
• 1953 – Jan Struther, English author (b. 1901)
• 1955 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1869)
• 1956 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
• 1959 – William D. Leahy, American admiral and diplomat, United States Ambassador to France (b. 1875)
• 1968 – Bray Hammond, American author (b. 1886)
• 1969 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (b. 1929)
• 1970 – Iain Macleod, English politician, Chancellor of the Exchequer (b. 1913)
• 1972 – Geeta Dutt, Indian singer (b. 1930)
• 1973 – Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
• 1973 – Robert Smithson, American photographer and sculptor (b. 1938)
• 1974 – Allen Jenkins, American actor (b. 1900)
• 1976 – Joseph Rochefort, American captain and cryptanalyst (b. 1900)
• 1977 – Gary Kellgren, American record producer, co-founded Record Plant (b. 1939)
• 1981 – Kostas Choumis, Greek-Romanian footballer (b. 1913)
• 1982 – Okot p'Bitek, Ugandan poet (b. 1931)
• 1983 – Frank Reynolds, American journalist (b. 1923)
• 1987 – Richard Egan, American actor (b. 1921)
• 1989 – Forrest H. Anderson, American judge and politician, 17th Governor of Montana (b. 1913)
• 1990 – Herbert Turner Jenkins, American police officer (b. 1907)
• 1993 – Vince Foster, American lawyer, Deputy White House Counsel (b. 1945)
• 1998 – June Byers, American wrestler (b. 1922)
• 1999 – Sandra Gould, American actress (b. 1916)
• 2000 – Malaclypse the Younger American author (b. 1941)
• 2001 – Carlo Giuliani, Italian activist (b. 1978)
• 2002 – Michalis Kritikopoulos Greek footballer (b. 1946)
• 2003 – Lauri Aus, Estonian cyclist (b. 1970)
• 2003 – Nicolas Freeling, English author (b. 1927)
• 2004 – Lala Mara, Fijian politician (b. 1931)
• 2004 – Valdemaras Martinkėnas, Lithuanian football player and coach (b. 1965)
• 2004 – Scott Andrew Mink, American murderer (b. 1963)
• 2005 – James Doohan, Canadian actor (b. 1920)
• 2005 – Finn Gustavsen, Norwegian politician (b. 1926)
• 2005 – Kayo Hatta, American director and cinematographer (b. 1958)
• 2006 – Ted Grant, South African-English theorist and activist (b. 1913)
• 2006 – Gérard Oury, French actor, director, and producer (b. 1919)
• 2007 – Tammy Faye Messner, American talk show host, singer, and author (b. 1942)
• 2008 – Artie Traum, American guitarist, songwriter, and producer (b. 1943)
• 2009 – Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (Dolly Dots) (b. 1957)
• 2009 – Mark Rosenzweig, American psychologist (b. 1922)
• 2011 – Lucian Freud, German-English painter (b. 1922)
• 2012 – Alastair Burnet, English journalist (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Andrew Davidson, 2nd Viscount Davidson, English politician (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Jack Davis, American hurdler (b. 1930)
• 2012 – Goldie Rogers, Canadian wrestler (b. 1950)
• 2012 – Hisham Ikhtiyar, Syrian general (b. 1941)
• 2012 – Sherman Pendergarst, American mixed martial artist (b. 1966)
• 2012 – José Hermano Saraiva, Portuguese historian and jurist (b. 1919)
• 2012 – Simon Ward, English actor (b. 1941)
• 2013 – Efstathios Alexandris, Greek lawyer and politician (b. 1921)
• 2013 – Pierre Fabre, French pharmacist, founded Laboratoires Pierre Fabre (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Khurshed Alam Khan, Indian politician, 2nd Governor of Goa (b. 1919)
• 2013 – Mark Mahowald, American mathematician (b. 1931)
• 2013 – Augustus Rowe, Canadian physician and politician (b. 1920)
• 2013 – David Spenser, Sri Lankan-English actor (b. 1934)
• 2013 – Helen Thomas, American journalist and author (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Apollinaris of Ravenna
  • Aurelius
  • Elijah
  • Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Amelia Bloomer, Sojourner Truth, and Harriet Ross Tubman (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Margaret the Virgin
  • Thorlac (relic translation)
  • Wilgefortis (cult suppressed)
  • July 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Friend's Day (Argentina, Uruguay, Brazil)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence declaration of Colombia from Spain in 1810.

External links

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