History Events on July 20

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

#Central_Intelligence_Agency

Labor unrest in the U.S.: Police in Minneapolis fire upon striking truck drivers, during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934, killing two and wounding sixty-seven.

#Minneapolis

Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.

#Sri_Lanka

Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.

#Pierre_Gaultier_de_Varennes,_sieur_de_La_Vérendrye

The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.

#Persecution_of_Falun_Gong

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.

#World_War_I

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.

#Austro-Prussian_War

Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.

#Bogotá

French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.

#Tunisia

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

#League_of_Nations

Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca.

#2013_Colombian_clashes

Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.

#Cold_War

Richard I of England officially invested as Duke of Normandy.

#Richard_I_of_England

Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara: Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.

#Battle_of_Ankara

The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile.

#Ford_Motor_Company

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.

#Battle_of_Peachtree_Creek

Apollo program: Apollo 11's crew successfully makes the first manned landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. Americans Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.

#Apollo_program

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

#Abdullah_I_of_Jordan

Kardam of Bulgaria defeats Byzantine Emperor Constantine VI at the Battle of Marcellae.

#Kardam_of_Bulgaria

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

#Soviet_Union

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

#USS_Constitution

Denmark leaves the League of Nations.

#League_of_Nations

The Greek Army takes control of Silivri after Greece is awarded the city by the Paris Peace Conference; by 1923 Greece effectively lost control to the Turks.

#Silivri

World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.

#World_War_II

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

#Johnstown_flood_of_1977

British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.

#British_Columbia

The first Women's Rights Convention in Seneca Falls, New York, a two-day event, concludes.

#Seneca_Falls_Convention

In the Preußenschlag ("Prussian coup"), German President Paul von Hindenburg dissolves the government of Prussia

#Preußenschlag

The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.

#Viking_1

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

#Civil_Marriage_Act

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

#United_States

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.

#Nicéphore_Niépce

The Battle of Kellistown was fought on this day between the forces of the English led by Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March against the O'Byrnes and O'Tooles under the command of Art Óg mac Murchadha Caomhánach, the most powerful Chieftain in Leinster.

#English_people

California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.

#California

O. J. Simpson is granted parole to be released from prison after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence after being convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas.

#O._J._Simpson

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

#United_States_Department_of_Justice

Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret service, defects to East Germany.

#Otto_John

Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.

#Václav_Havel

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

#Tekle_Giyorgis_I

Turkish invasion of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a coup d'état, organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.

#Turkish_invasion_of_Cyprus

A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the "Football War".

#Honduras

West Coast waterfront strike: In Seattle, 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.

#1934_West_Coast_waterfront_strike

Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of ??nh T??ng Province, Cái Bè, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of whom are children).

#Vietnam_War

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

#Israel

The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.

#Aruba

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.

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

Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.

The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago, with about 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities.

The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.

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.

Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.

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

Seneca and Shawnee people agree to relinquish their land in western Ohio for 60,000 acres west of the Mississippi River.

During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Pyongyang, although they were ultimately unable to hold it.

Treaty of San Germano is signed at San Germano between Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II and Pope Gregory IX. A Dominican named Guala is responsible for the negotiations.

Rollo lays siege to Chartres.

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.