A Brief History
This article presents a chronological list of notable events that happened on July 20th. For each date below, please click on the date to be taken to an article covering that date’s event.
Digging Deeper
On July 20, 1304, the forces of King Edward I of England successfully took Stirling Castle during the First War of Scottish Independence.
On July 20, 1304, the forces of King Edward I of England successfully took Stirling Castle during the First War of Scottish Independence. (NOTE: The link in the date for this entry leads to a different article than the other mention to this same event above.)
On July 20, 1779, Tekle Giyorgis I (meaning “The Plant of Saint George”) became Emperor of Ethiopia, a member of the Solomonic dynasty of Ethiopia.
On July 20, 1807, the government of Napoleon Bonaparte granted a patent to Nicephore Niepce for a device he called the Pyreolophore, the first internal combustion engine (ICE).
On July 20, 1968, the first International Special Olympics for intellectually challenged people was held in Chicago’s Soldier Field.
On July 20, 1969, the promise by President John F. Kennedy that the USA would put men on the Moon came true when Apollo 11’s Lunar Module, the Eagle, landed on the surface of the Moon, with astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin.
On July 20, 1971, The Raiders held the top spot on the Rock and Roll charts with “Indian Reservation (The Lament of the Cherokee Reservation Indian).”
On July 20, 1997, the famous American warship, the USS Constitution, better known as “Old Ironsides,” celebrated 200 years of service by embarking on a cruise under her own sails for the first time in 116 years!
On July 20, 2012, Aurora, Colorado was the site of the third largest mass shooting in terms of number of casualties in United States history at the time, now the eighteenth largest, and the second-deadliest shooting in Colorado after the 1999 Columbine High School massacre.
On July 20, 2017, we eagerly awaited the mass release of the major motion picture, Dunkirk, the story of the evacuation of over 300,000 British troops from the Dunkirk beach in France in 1940.
On July 20, 2018, horror movie fans were treated to an opening of a major motion picture in the murder/suspense/slasher genre with the modern aspect of computer culture as the background.
Question for students (and subscribers): Which event that occurred on today’s date would you like to learn more about? Please let us know in the comments section below this article.
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Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Andrews, John and Matt Baker. Timeline of World History. Thunder Bay Press, 2020.
You can also watch video versions of this article on YouTube.
