July 20

Saturday 20, 2002:

Human Rights Watch releases a report stating that Sudanese government documents confirm support for the Arab Janjaweed militia in their campaign of ethnic cleansing against African Muslims in Darfur.

Friday 20, 2001:

The 27th G8 summit summit opens in Genoa. An Italian protester in Genoa, Carlo Giuliani, is shot by police.

Thursday 20, 2000:

The leaders of Salt Lake City's bid to win the 2002 Winter Olympics are indicted by a federal grand jury for bribery, fraud, and racketeering.

Monday 20, 1992:

Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9's Fragment Q1 hits Jupiter.

Wednesday 20, 1988:

Iran Contra: All of Colonel Oliver North's convictions for perjury and other offenses are overturned by an appeals court.

Friday 20, 1984:

The United Nations Security Council demands a ceasefire in the Iran-Iraq War.

Monday 20, 1981:

The United States suspends sales of F-16 fighter jets to Israel.

Sunday 20, 1980:

The United States Air Force reveals it has a stealth plane.

Friday 20, 1979:

Diana Nyad swims the sixty miles from the Bahamas to Florida.

Tuesday 20, 1976:

The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments.

Saturday 20, 1974:

Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after Greek Cypriots' attempt at enosis. NATO's Council praises the United States and the United Kingdom for attempts to settle the dispute. Syria and Egypt put their militaries on alert.

Friday 20, 1973:

Indiana is found guilty of operating segregated schools by federal judge S. Hugh Dillin, who orders the state to develop a desegregation plan for Indianapolis's schools.

Thursday 20, 1972:

The cabinet of Prime Minister of the Netherlands Barend Biesheuvel resign in a dispute over the budget.

Sunday 20, 1969:

Project Apollo: Apollo 11 lands on the Moon and Neil A. Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin become the first humans to walk on its surface.

Monday 20, 1959:

Elias Tsirimokos becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

Saturday 20, 1957:

The Soviet Union closes Peter the Great Bay, which provides access to Vladivostok, to foreign ships.

Tuesday 20, 1954:

United States Senator Joseph R. McCarthy accepts the resignation of his aide Roy Cohn.

Monday 20, 1953:

The United Nations Economic and Social Council votes to make UNICEF a permanent agency.

Sunday 20, 1952:

The 15th Olympic Games begin in Helsinki, Finland.

Friday 20, 1951:

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

Thursday 20, 1950:

In Belgium, Parliament authorizes king Léopold III to return from exile in Austria.

Wednesday 20, 1949:

Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen month war.

Tuesday 20, 1948:

In New York City, twelve leaders of the Communist Party USA are indicted under the Smith Act including William Z. Foster and Gus Hall.

Sunday 20, 1947:

Pope Pius XII canonizes a French saint, Blessed Louis-Marie Gregnon de Montort.

Saturday 20, 1946:

The U.S. Congress's Pearl Harbor Committee says Franklin D. Roosevelt was completely blameless for the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and calls for a unified command structure in the armed forces.

Friday 20, 1945:

The U.S. Congress approves the Bretton Woods Agreement.

Thursday 20, 1944:

The United States Democratic Party nominates Franklin D. Roosevelt for a fourth term as president.

Tuesday 20, 1943:

World War II: Axis leaders Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini confer in northern Italy

Monday 20, 1942:

World War II: Red Army troops take bridgeheads over the Don River near Voronezh.

Sunday 20, 1941:

Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrenti Beria its chief.

Saturday 20, 1940:

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill limiting political activity by Federal employees, the Hatch Act.

Monday 20, 1936:

The Montreux Convention is signed in Montreux, Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.

Thursday 20, 1933:

In Germany, two-hundred Jewish merchants are arrested in Nuremberg and paraded through the streets.

Wednesday 20, 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.

Wednesday 20, 1927:

Michael I becomes King of Romania at age five upon the death of his grandfather Ferdinand I.

Monday 20, 1925:

In Cleveland, Tennessee, Clarence Darrow questions William Jennings Bryan in the Scopes Monkey Trial during a session held out of doors about the literal truth of the Bible.

Thursday 20, 1922:

The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.

Wednesday 20, 1921:

Air mail service begins between New York City and San Francisco.

Tuesday 20, 1920:

The funeral of Empress Eugenie of France is held in St. Michael's Abbey near Farnborough, England.

Friday 20, 1917:

In the United States, the first military draft numbers are drawn for World War I.

Monday 20, 1914:

Russia: Czar Nicholas II welcomes France's President Raymond Poincaré.

Wednesday 20, 1898:

Felipe Agoncillo in Hong Kong writes a letter to Apolinario Mabini expressing his apprehension regarding the supposed "alliance" between the Americans and the Filipinos.

Monday 20, 1885:

The Football Association legalises professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.

Wednesday 20, 1881:

Sioux Chief Sitting Bull leads the last of his fugitive people in surrender to United States troops at Fort Buford in Montana

Saturday 20, 1872:

The United States Patent Office awards the first patent for wireless telegraphy to Mahlon Loomis.

Thursday 20, 1871:

British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.

Friday 20, 1866:

The Austrian navy, led by Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, defeats the Italian navy near the island of Vis.

Wednesday 20, 1864:

Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troops under General William T. Sherman.

Saturday 20, 1861:

American Civil War: The Congress of the Confederate States of America begins sitting in Richmond, Virginia.

Friday 20, 1810:

History of Colombia: Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.

Sunday 20, 1738:

French explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.

Sunday 20, 1304:

Edward I of England takes the last rebel stronghold in the Wars of Scottish Independence.

Friday 20, 514:

Pope Hormisdas assumes the papacy.

Wednesday 20, 2005:

Canada becomes the fourth country in the world to legalize same-sex marriage, after the bill C-38 received its Royal Assent. See Same-sex marriage in Canada

More on July, 20

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