Every
Year |
July 20 is the 201st day of the year (202nd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 164 days remaining until the end of the year. |
| 1807 |
Nicéphore Niépce was 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. |
| 1871 |
British Columbia joined the confederation of Canada. |
| 1903 |
The Ford Motor Company shipped its first automobile. |
| 1922 |
The League of Nations awarded mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom. |
| 1938 |
The United States Department of Justice filed 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. |
| 1940 |
California opened its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway. |
| 1960 |
Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elected Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world’s first elected female head of government. |
| 1960 |
The Polaris missile was successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time. |
| 1969 |
Apollo program: Apollo 11’s crew successfully made 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. |
| 1969 |
A cease fire was announced between Honduras and El Salvador, six days after the beginning of the “Football War”. |
| 1976 |
The American Viking 1 lander successfully landed on Mars. |
| 1977 |
The Central Intelligence Agency released documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments. |
| 1997 |
The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) celebrated its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years. |
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