This is a list of selected July 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Before doing so, please review the selected anniversaries guidelines. If your suggestion is potentially controversial or relates to a day currently or soon to appear on the Main Page, post it on the talk page instead.
Please note:
- Events listed on the Main Page are selected based on article quality and to provide a diverse range of topics, rather than solely on the importance or significance of the events.
- Only four or five events are featured each day; therefore, not all important or significant events can be included.
- An event is generally excluded if it is already the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error in content currently on the Main Page, see Wikipedia:Main Page/Errors. If a listed event is inaccurate, please first seek consensus and update the corresponding article before making changes here.
Staging area
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
Map of the Japanese capture of Pyongyang and the Korean and Chinese counter-attacks
Japanese landing on Busan, Korea
Buzz Aldrin's bootprint on the moon
Buzz Aldrin on the moon, with Neil Armstrong reflected in his helmet
Wilhelm von Tegetthoff
Viking 1 lander replica- Claus von Stauffenberg
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1402 – Forces under Timur defeated the Ottomans in the Battle of Ankara and captured Sultan Bayezid I. | unreferenced section |
| 1866 – Third Italian War of Independence: The Austrian Navy led by Wilhelm von Tegetthoff defeated a much larger Italian fleet at the Battle of Lissa on the Adriatic Sea near present-day Vis, Croatia. | needs more footnotes |
| 1927 – Five-year-old Michael became the last King of Romania upon the death of his grandfather Ferdinand. | featured on December 30 |
| 1951 – Abdullah I of Jordan was assassinated while visiting Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem by a Palestinian gunman who feared he might make peace with Israel. | appears on May 25 |
| 1969 – The Apollo 11 lunar module landed on the Sea of Tranquillity, where Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon six-and-a-half hours later. | POTD for 2014 |
| 1982 – Members of the Provisional Irish Republican Army detonated two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in London, killing eleven people and wounding over 50 others. | unreferenced section |
Eligible
- 1592 – During the first Japanese invasion of Korea, Japanese forces led by Toyotomi Hideyoshi captured Pyongyang, although they were ultimately unable to hold it.
- 1936 – The Montreux Convention Regarding the Regime of the Straits was signed in Montreux, Switzerland, allowing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
- 1944 – Adolf Hitler survived an assassination attempt by German Resistance member Claus von Stauffenberg, who hid a bomb inside a briefcase during a conference at the Wolfsschanze military headquarters in East Prussia.
- 1976 – The Viking 1 lander became the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission.
- 1992 – Czechoslovak President Václav Havel resigned, saying that he would not preside over the country's breakup.
- 1997 – After being fully restored, USS Constitution, one of the United States Navy's first ships, sailed under her own power for the first time in 116 years.
- 2001 – Twenty-three-year-old Italian anti-globalist Carlo Giuliani was shot dead by a police officer while protesting during the 27th G8 summit in Genoa, Italy.
- 2005 – The Civil Marriage Act received its Royal Assent, legalizing same-sex marriage in Canada.
- 2012 – Gunman James Eagan Holmes opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, US, killing 12 people and injuring 58 others.
Notes
- Neil Armstrong/Buzz Aldrin featured on July 21, so Apollo 11 should not be used in the same year
July 20: Friend's Day in Argentina and other Latin American countries; Independence Day in Colombia (1810)
- 1779 – Tekle Giyorgis I began the first of his six reigns as Emperor of Ethiopia.
- 1807 – French brothers Claude and Nicéphore Niépce received a patent for their Pyréolophore (diagram pictured), one of the world's first internal combustion engines.
- 1922 – The German protectorate of Togoland was divided into the League of Nations mandates of French Togoland and British Togoland.
- 1940 – The Arroyo Seco Parkway, one of the first freeways built in the United States, opened to traffic, connecting downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena, California.
- 1999 – The Chinese government began a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.