Today in History - July 20

Major Space Milestones

  • 1969 - First Moon Landing: Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin walked on the Moon during the Apollo 11 mission.
  • 1976 - Viking 1 Lands on Mars: NASA’s Viking 1 made the first successful U.S. landing on Mars.

Moments of Peace & Conflict

  • 1968 - First Special Olympics: Held in Chicago with 1,000+ athletes with intellectual disabilities.
  • 1969 - Ceasefire in the Football War: Hostilities between Honduras and El Salvador paused.
  • 1974 - Turkey Invades Cyprus: In response to a Greek-backed coup.

Political & Military Upheavals

  • 1944 - Failed Plot to Kill Hitler: Claus von Stauffenberg’s attempt (Operation Valkyrie) fails.
  • 1951 - King Abdullah I Assassinated: The King of Jordan was killed in Jerusalem.
  • 1917 - WWI Draft Lottery Begins in U.S.: The first number drawn was 258.

Tragic Incidents

  • 1977 - Johnstown Flood: A flash flood killed 84 people in Pennsylvania.
  • 2012 - Aurora Shooting: A mass shooting during “The Dark Knight Rises” killed 12, injured 70.

Other Notable Moments

  • 1937 - Death of Guglielmo Marconi: Italian inventor of the radio passed away.
  • 1937 - Shri Krishna Sinha Becomes Premier of Bihar.
  • 1848 - Seneca Falls Convention (Day 2): Advocates adopted the Declaration of Sentiments.

Birthdays

  • 1919 - Sir Edmund Hillary: First Everest climber with Tenzing Norgay.
  • 1947 - Carlos Santana: Legendary Mexican-American guitarist.
  • 1978 - Elliott Yamin: American singer-songwriter.

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