SomeFacts | July 20

On this day - July 20

70 — Siege of Jerusalem: Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the ...

792 — Kardam of Bulgaria defeats Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI at ...

911 — Rollo lays siege to Chartres.

1189 — Richard I of England officially invested as Duke of Normandy.

1230 — Treaty of San Germano is signed at San Germano between Holy ...

1398 — The Battle of Kellistown was fought on this day between the ...

1592 — During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces ...

1705 — A fire in Oulu, Finland almost completely destroyed the fourth ...

1715 — Seventh Ottoman–Venetian War: The Ottoman Empire captures ...

1738 — Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La ...

1799 — Tekle Giyorgis I begins his first of six reigns as Emperor of ...

1807 — Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon for the ...

1810 — Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from ...

1831 — Seneca and Shawnee people agree to relinquish their land in ...

1848 — The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New ...

1864 — American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek: Near Atlanta, ...

1866 — Austro-Prussian War: Battle of Lissa: The Austrian Navy, led ...

1871 — British Columbia joins the Canadian Confederation.

1885 — The Football Association legalizes professionalism in ...

1903 — The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.

1906 — In Finland, a new electoral law is ratified, guaranteeing the ...

1917 — World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the ...

1920 — The Greek Army takes control of Silivri after Greece is ...

1922 — The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France ...

1932 — In the Preußenschlag, German President Hindenburg places ...

1934 — West Coast waterfront strike: In Seattle, police fire tear gas ...

1934 — Labor unrest in the U.S.: Police in Minneapolis fire upon ...

1935 — Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan ...

1936 — The Montreux Convention is signed in Switzerland, authorizing ...

1938 — The United States Department of Justice files suit in New York ...

1940 — California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

1940 — Denmark leaves the League of Nations.

1941 — Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of ...

1944 — World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt ...

1949 — The Israel–Syria Mixed Armistice Commission brokers the last ...

1950 — After a month-long campaign, the majority of North ...

1950 — Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying ...

1951 — King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian ...

1954 — Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret ...

1960 — The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, ...

1961 — French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.

1964 — Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Định Tường ...

1968 — The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held ...

1969 — A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, ...

1969 — Apollo program: Apollo 11's crew successfully makes the ...

1974 — Turkish invasion of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus ...

1976 — The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.

1977 — Aeroflot Flight B-2 crashes after takeoff from Vitim Airport ...

1977 — The Johnstown flood of 1977 kills 84 people and causes ...

1977 — The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the ...

1981 — Somali Airlines Flight 40 crashes in Balad, Somalia, killing ...

1982 — Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings: The Provisional IRA ...

1985 — The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the ...

1989 — Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Aung San Suu ...

1992 — A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes during takeoff from Tbilisi ...

1992 — Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.

1997 — The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) ...

1999 — The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign ...

2005 — The Civil Marriage Act legalizes same-sex marriage in Canada.

2012 — Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) ...

2012 — James Holmes opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, ...

2013 — Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn ends with the ...

2013 — Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC ...

2015 — The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations ...

2015 — A huge explosion in the mostly Kurdish border town of Suruç, ...

2017 — O. J. Simpson is granted parole to be released from prison ...

2019 — Soyuz MS-13 is launched to the International Space Station on ...

2021 — American businessman Jeff Bezos flies to space aboard New ...