Difference between revisions 12935838 and 12936422 on enwiki

This page is to list events of [[July 20]] before [[1950]].

===To 1300===
*[[514]] - [[Roman Catholic Church]]: [[Pope Hormisdas]] assumes the papacy.
===1300-1899===
*[[1304]] - [[Great Britain]]: [[Edward I of England]] takes the last rebel [[Fall of Stirling Castle|stronghold]] in the [[Wars of Scottish Independence]].
*[[1712]] - [[United Kingdom]]:  The [[Riot Act]] takes effect.
*[[1738]] - [[North America]]:  French explorer [[Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de la Vérendrye]] reaches the western shore of [[Lake Michigan]].
(contracted; show full)
*[[1949]] - [[Bulgaria]]:  Parliament elects [[Vassil Kolarov]] prime minister, replacing [[Georgi Dimitrov]].
*[[1949]] - [[United States]]:  [[Carmine DeSapio]] becomes leader of [[Tammany Hall]], the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] organization in [[New York City]].
*[[1949]] - [[Journalism]]:  Colonel [[Robert R. McCormick]] announces the purchase of the ''[[Washington Times-Herald]]'' by his paper, the ''[[Chicago Tribune]]''.

*[[1949]] - [[United States]]:  President [[Harry S. Truman]] signs a bill to enable [[urban renewal]] and [[slum clearance]].

===1950-1959===
*[[1950]] - [[Belgium]]: [[Politics of Belgium|Parliament]] authorizes king [[Leopold III of Belgium|Leopold III]] to return from exile in [[Austria]].
*[[1950]] - [[Korean War]]: [[North Korea]] attacks the temporary [[South Korea|South Korean]] capital, [[Taejon]].
*[[1950]] - [[United States]]:  Senator [[Millard Tydings]] ([[United States Democratic Party|D]]-[[Maryland]]) says Senator [[Joseph R. McCarthy]] ([[United States Republican Party|R]]-[[Wisconsin]]) had lied at a hearing and that his claims of [[Communists]] in the [[United States Department of State|State Department]] are a "fraud and a hoax".
*[[1950]] - [[Korean War]]:  ''The [[Daily Worker]]'', the official newspaper of the [[Communist Party USA|Communist Party]], editorializes that President [[Harry S. Truman]] is trying "to convert the Korean War into World War III."
*[[1950]] - [[Cold War]]:  In [[Philadelphia]], [[Harry Gold]] pleads guilty to spying for the [[Soviet Union]] by passing secrets from atomic scientist [[Klaus Fuchs]].
*[[1950]] - [[Indonesia]]:  A new federal system for the country's government is agreed on to take effect [[August 17]].
*[[1951]] - [[Middle East]]:  King [[Abdullah I of Jordan]] is assassinated while attending Friday prayers in [[Jerusalem]].
*[[1951]] - [[World War II]]: The [[United States]] invites fifty nations to [[San Francisco]] to consider a peace treaty with [[Japan]].
*[[1951]] - [[United States]]:  The [[Missouri River]] continues to flood in the [[Midwest]].
*[[1952]] - [[Middle East]]:  The [[Egypt|Egyptian]] prime minister, [[Hussein Sirry Pasha]] resigns.
*[[1952]] - [[Olympics]] - The [[1952 Summer Olympics|15th Olympic Games]] begin in [[Helsinki, Finland]].
*[[1952]] - [[New York State]] - A train on the [[Long Island Railroad]] strikes an automobile near [[Central Islip, New York|Central Islip]], killing seven.
*[[1953]] - [[Middle East]]: [[Israel]] and the [[Soviet Union]] resume diplomatic relations after five month lapse.
*[[1953]] - [[United Nations]]:  The [[United Nations Economic and Social Council]] votes to make [[UNICEF]] a permanent agency.
*[[1953]] - [[United States]]:  President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] presents his agenda to [[Congress of the United States|Congressional]] leaders.
*[[1953]] - [[Far East]]:  Eisenhower names [[Ellis O. Briggs]] ambassador to [[South Korea]].
*[[1954]] - [[Germany]]:  [[Otto John]], head of [[West Germany]]'s secret service, defects to [[East Germany]].
*[[1954]] - [[United States]]:  Senator [[Joseph R. McCarthy]] accepts the resignation of his aide [[Roy Cohn]].
*[[1954]] - [[Southeast Asia]]:  At [[Geneva, Switzerland]], an [[armistice]] is signed that ends fighting in [[Vietnam]] and divides the country along the 17th [[parallel]].
*[[1955]] - [[Far East]]:  [[China]] shells [[Taiwan]]'s islands [[Quemoy]] and [[Matsu]].
*[[1955]] - [[Cold War]]:  The summit between leaders of the [[United States]], [[Soviet Union]], [[France]], and the [[United Kingdom]] continues at [[Geneva, Switzerland]].
*[[1955]] - [[Michigan]]:  The [[United Auto Workers]] is indicted under the [[Federal Corrupt Practices Act]] for its activities in [[Michigan]] in the [[1954]] elections.
*[[1955]] - [[United States]]:  The committee working on the merger of America's two largest labor federations, the [[American Federation of Labor]] and the [[Congress of Industrial Organizations]], agrees to call the combined organization the "[[AFL-CIO]]"
*[[1956]] - [[Middle East]]:   The [[Foreign and Commonwealth Office|British Foreign Office]] announces it was cancelling funding for [[Egypt]]'s [[Aswan High Dam]]
*[[1956]] - [[United States]]:  A nationwide [[civil defense]] drill, "Operation Alert", is held, simulating a Soviet nuclear strike on seventy-five American cities.  As part of the exercise, 10,000 bureaucrats and officials leave [[Washington, D.C.]], for bunkers around the capital.
*[[1956]] - [[Far East]]:  In [[Mukden]], [[Pu Yi]], the former Emperor of [[China]], testifies in the [[war crime|war crimes]] trials of twenty-two Japanese, the first time Pu Yi's whereabouts had been known since [[1946]].
*[[1956]] - [[Western Hemisphere]]:  United States President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] leaves for [[Panama]], where a summit of leaders of the hemisphere's nations is to be held.
*[[1957]] - [[United States]]:  President [[Dwight Eisenhower]] appoints a panel of federal officials to work with a committee of state governors on defining federal-state relations.
*[[1957]] - [[Freedom of the seas]]:  The [[Soviet Union]] closes [[Peter the Great Bay]], which provides access to [[Vladivostok]], to foreign ships.
*[[1958]] -[[Yugoslavia]]:  Twenty-six are dead in an explosion at a military base near [[Kokin Breg]].
*[[1958]] - [[Middle East]]: [[Jordan]] suspends diplomatic relations with the [[United Arab Republic]] after it recognized the new government of [[Iraq]].
*[[1958]] - [[United States]]: President [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] signs legislation to give federal employees a 10 percent raise.
*[[1958]] - [[Baseball]]: [[Jim Bunning]] of the [[Detroit Tigers]] pitches a no-hitter against the [[Boston Red Sox]].
*[[1959]] - [[Europe]]:  The [[Organization for European Economic Cooperation]] admits [[Spain]].
*[[1959]] - [[Africa]]:  [[Haile Selassie]], Emperor of [[Ethiopia]], arrives in [[Paris]] for a state visit with President [[Charles de Gaulle]].
*[[1959]] - [[Soviet Union]]:  Premier [[Nikita Khrushchev]] postpones his visit to [[Scandinavia]] citing anti-Soviet sentiment there.

===1960-1969===
*[[1960]] - [[Asia]]:  [[Ceylon]] elects [[Sirimavo Bandaranaike]] Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
*1960 - [[United States]]:  The [[Polaris missile]] is successfully launched from a submarine, the [[USS George Washington (SSBN-598)]], for the first time.
*1960 - [[United Nations]]:  [[Belgium]] defends its intervention in the [[Congo]] to the [[United Nations Security Council]].
*1960 - [[Africa]]:  In [[Harare, Zimbabwe|Salisbury, Rhodesia]], 20,000 protest over police brutality.
*1960 - [[Middle East]]:  In [[Lebanon]], [[Saeb Salem]] is named Prime Minister.
*1960 - [[United States]]: The [[United States Department of the Treasury|Treasury Department]] reports the government had a budget surplus of $1,068,101,353 in the fiscal year that ended [[June 30]].
*[[1961]] - [[United States]]:  The [[United States House of Representatives]] rejects President [[John F. Kennedy]]'s proposal to reform the [[National Labor Relations Board]].
*1961 - [[United States]]:  President [[John F. Kennedy]] transfers authority for [[civil defense]] planning to the [[United States Department of Defense|Defense Department]].
*1961 - [[Middle East]]:  The [[Arab League]] admits [[Kuwait]] to membership.
*1961 - [[Africa]] - [[France|French]] military forces break the [[Tunisia|Tunisian]] [[siege]] of [[Bizerte]].
*[[1962]] - [[United States]]:  General [[Maxwell Taylor]] is named chairman of the U.S.[[Joint Chiefs of Staff]].
*1962 - [[South America]]:  [[Earthquake|Earthquakes]] in [[Colombia]] kill 40.
*1962 - [[Africa]]:  [[France]] and [[Tunisia]] restore diplomatic relations after one year break.
*[[1963]] - [[Pop culture]]:  [[Jan and Dean]]'s song "Surf City" hits number one.
*1963 - [[Africa]] - The [[United States]] announced suspension of aid to the [[Republic of the Congo]].
*1963 - [[Indonesia]] announces it will in the future refer to the [[Indian Ocean]] as the "Indonesian Ocean".
*[[1964]] - [[Vietnam War]] - [[Viet Cong]] forces attack the capital of [[Dinh Tuong Province]], [[Cai Be]], killing 11 [[South Vietnam]]ese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).  
*1964 - [[Space exploration]]:  [[NASA]] successfully tests the first electric [[rocket engine]] in [[California]].
*1964 - [[Caribbean]]: [[Cuba]]'s Premier [[Fidel Castro]] compares U.S. Senator and presidential candidate [[Barry M. Goldwater]] to [[Adolf Hitler]].
*[[1965]] - [[United States]]:  [[Lyndon B. Johnson]] nominates [[Abe Fortas]] to the [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]].
*1965 - [[Pop culture]]:  [[Columbia Records]] releases [[Bob Dylan]]'s groundbreaking single "Like a Rolling Stone" to radio stations.
*1965 - [[United States]]:  In [[Hayneville, Alabama]], two [[civil rights]] protesters, one a priest and the other a [[seminarian]], are shot by a deputy sheriff.  The seminarian died of his wounds.
*1965 - [[Greece]] - [[Elias Tsirimokos]] becomes prime minister.
*1965 - [[Turkey]] - Prime Minister [[Suat Hayri Urguplu]] returns from a visit to [[Moscow]] and announces the [[Soviet Union]] will provide aid to his country.
*1965 - [[United States]]:  [[Missouri]] experiences its greatest one-day rainfall as 18.18 inches (462 mm) fall near [[Edgerton, Missouri|Edgerton]].
*[[1966]] - [[United Kingdom]]: Prime Minister [[Harold Wilson]] announces budget cuts to combat [[inflation]] and calls for voluntary wage and [[price controls]].
*1966 - [[United States]]:  In [[Cleveland, Ohio]], the [[National Guard]] moves in after days of [[riot]]ing.
*[[1967]] - [[North America]]:  [[France|French]] President [[Charles de Gaulle]] arrives in [[St. Pierre and Miquelon]].
*[[1968]] - [[Mexico]]:  In [[Mexico City]], students protest for more student participation in the management of universities.
*[[1969]] - [[Apollo Program]]: [[Apollo 11]] lands on the [[Moon]] and [[Neil Armstrong|Neil A. Armstrong]] and [[Edwin Aldrin|Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin]] become the first [[human]]s to walk on its surface. 
===1970-1979=== 
*[[1970]] - [[Europe]]:  [[Finland]]'s President [[Urho Kaleva]] completes his state visit to the [[Soviet Union]].
*1970 - [[Middle East]]:  President [[Richard Nixon]] says he is asking for a three month truce in the [[Middle East]].
*1970 - [[Vietnam War]]: [[Richard Nixon]] says the United States will oppose a coalition government for [[Vietnam]] that includes the [[Communist Party]].
*1970 - [[Vietnam War]]: [[Saigon]] is shelled by the Communists
*1970 - [[United States]]: The [[Federal Trade Commission]] accuses [[McDonald's]] of fraud in a promotional contest.
*[[1971]] - [[United States]]: President [[Richard M. Nixon]] tells [[Taiwan]] it will continue to sell it arms.
*1971 - [[United States]]:  The [[United States Postal Service]] reaches an agreement with its [[labor unions]].
*1971 - [[United States]]:  President [[Richard M. Nixon]] appoints [[Rush Moody, Jr.]] to the [[Federal Power Commission]].
*1971 - [[Space exploration]]: President [[Richard M. Nixon]] declares the day "National Moon Walk Day" in honor of the [[Apollo 11]] landing this date in [[1969]].
*[[1972]] - [[Netherlands]]: The cabinet of Prime Minister [[Barend Biesheuvel]] resigns in a dispute over the budget.
*1972 - [[United States]]:  Senator [[George McGovern]] of [[South Dakota]] asks [[Lawrence O'Brien]] to become his campaign manager in his campaign for president.
*1972 - [[United States]]:  President [[Richard M. Nixon]] announces the transfer of twelve parcels of federal land to the states for use as parks.
*1972 - [[South America]]:  [[Uruguay]] is crippled by a [[general strike]] called to obtain wage increases in the face of high [[inflation]].
*1972 - [[Australia]]: Police in [[Canberra]] break up a protest by [[Aborigines]] in front of Parliament over land reform .
*[[1973]] - [[United States]]:  The [[United States Senate]] passes the [[War Powers Act]].
*1973 - [[Vietnam War]]: In testimony by Assistant Secretary of Defense [[Jerry Friedheim]] to the [[U.S. Senate Armed Services Committee]], the [[United States Defense Department]] admits it lied to [[Congress of the United States|U.S. Congress]] about bombing [[Cambodia]] .
*1973 - [[Greece]]: Seventy-three government officials and military officers are charged with conspiracy to overthrow the government.
*1973 - [[Kenya]]: [[Julius Kiano]], the government's Commerce and Industry Minister, tells Asian-owned businesses to close by the end of the year.
*1973 - [[Middle East]]:  [[Palestinian|Palestianian]] [[terrorist|terrorists]] hijack a [[Japan Airlines]] jet en route from [[Amsterdam]] to [[Japan]] and force it down in [[Dubai]].
*1973 - [[Indiana]]:  The state is found guilty of operating segregated schools by federal judge [[S. Hugh Dillin]], who orders the state to develop a desegregation plan for [[Indianapolis]]'s schools.
*[[1974]] - [[Cyprus_dispute#The_Turkish_occupation_of_Cyprus|Turkish occupation of Cyprus]]: Forces from [[Turkey]] invade [[Cyprus]] after Greek Cypriots' attempt at [[enosis]].  [[NATO]]'s Council praises the [[United States]] and the [[United Kingdom]] for attempts to settle the dispute.  [[Syria]] and [[Egypt]] put their militaries on alert.
*1974 - [[Connecticut]]:  The [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] state convention nominates [[Ella T. Grasso]] for[[Governor of Connecticut|governor]].
*1974 - [[Middle East]]:  [[Iraq]] announces plans to improve navigation on the [[Tigris]] and [[Euphrates]] rivers.
*1974 - [[California]]:  Reconsidering its decision in June to create [[nude beach|nude beaches]], the [[Los Angeles]] city council votes to ban nudity on all public beaches after a public outcry.
*[[1975]] - [[Africa]]:  In [[Angola]], [[cease fire]] in the country between the government and [[UNITA]] rebels is broken only hours after it begins.
*1975 - [[South Asia]]: [[India]] expels three reporters from ''[[The Times]]'', ''[[The Daily Telegraph]]'', and ''[[Newsweek]]'' because they refused to sign a pledge to abide by government censorship.
*1975 - [[Florida]]:  Three employees of [[Mel Fisher]] drown near [[Key West, Florida|Key West]] as part of efforts to find the Spanish galleon ''[[Nuestra Señora de Atocha]]''.
*1975 - [[United States]]:  The [[United States Postal Service]] reaches an agreement with its unions.
*[[1976]] - [[Viking program]]: The [[Viking 1]] lander successfully lands on [[Mars (planet)|Mars]]. 
* 1976 - [[Vietnam War]]:  The United States military completes its troop withdrawal from [[Thailand]].
*[[1977]] - [[United States]]:  [[Leon Jaworksi]] agrees to be the [[House Ethics Committee]]'s special counsel in its probe of the [[Koreagate]] scandal.
*1977 - [[Pennsylvania]]:  [[Johnstown, Pennsylvania|Johnstown]] is hit by a [[flash flood]] that kills eighty and causes $350 million in damage.
*1977 - [[United States]]:  The [[Central Intelligence Agency]] releases documents under the [[Freedom of Information Act]] revealing it had engaged in [[mind control]] experiments.
*[[1978]] - [[Middle East]]:  Israel's [[Knesset|parliament]] exempts religious women from military service.
*1978 - [[Watergate]]:  Former U.S. Attorney General [[John Mitchell]] is released on [[parole]].
*1978 - [[Africa]]:  The [[Organization of African Unity]] continues its annual meeting in [[Khartoum, Sudan]].
*[[1979]] - [[Swimming]]:  [[Diana Nyad]] swims the sixty miles from the [[Bahamas]] to [[Florida]].
*1979 - [[Far East]]:  [[United States|American]] President [[Jimmy Carter]] says troop withdrawals from [[South Korea]] will cease and the remainder will stay for at least two years.

===1980-1989===
*[[1980]] - [[Middle East]]:  [[Takieddih Solh]] is named [[Lebanon]]'s new prime minister.
*1980 - [[Middle East]]:  The [[United Nations Security Council]] votes 14-0 that member states should not recognize [[Jerusalem]] as the capital of [[Israel]].
*1980 - [[United States]]:  The [[United States Air Force|Air Force]] reveals it has a [[stealth]] plane.
*[[1981]] - [[Middle East]]:  The [[United States]] suspends sales of [[F-16]] fighter jets to [[Israel]].
*[[1982]] - [[United Kingdom]]:  The [[Provisional IRA]] detonates two [[bomb]]s in [[Hyde Park, London|Hyde Park]] and [[Regents Park]] in central [[London]], killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.
*[[1982]] - [[United Kingdom]]:  Prime Minister [[Margaret Thatcher]] faces an angry [[House of Commons]] when she refuses to answer questions about [[Geoffrey Arthur Prince]], an employee of [[GCHQ]] accused of spying for the [[Soviet Union]].
*[[1983]] - [[United States]]:  The [[United States House of Representatives]] censures two of its members, [[Gerry Studds]] ([[United States Democratic Party|D]]-[[Massachusetts]]) and [[Daniel B. Crane]] ([[United States Republican Party|R]])-[[Illinois]], for having sex with congressional pages.
*1983 - [[Middle East]]:  The [[Israel|Israeli]] cabinet votes to withdraw troops from [[Beirut]] but to remain in southern [[Lebanon]].
*[[1984]] - [[United States]]:  Officials of the [[Miss America]] pageant ask [[Vanessa Williams]] to quit after ''[[Penthouse]]'' published nude photos of her.
*[[1985]] - [[Oceanography]]:  The main [[ship wreck]] site of the [[Spain | Spanish]] galleon ''[[Nuestra Señora de Atocha]]'' (which sank in [[1622]]) is found 40 miles off the coast of [[Key West, Florida]] by treasure hunters who soon begin to raise $400 million in [[coin]]s and [[silver]].
*1985 - [[Africa]]:  The [[Organization of African Unity]] ends its annual meeting in [[Addis Ababa, Ethiopia]] by declaring that most of the continent's nations are on the brink of economic collapse and blames the developed world for the situation.
*1985 - [[South Africa]]:  The government declares a state of emergency because of unrest in the black townships.
*1985 - [[Austria]]: 120 [[Poland|Polish]] pilgrims on their way to [[Rome]] ask for [[political asylum]].
*1985- [[Caribbean]]:  The government of [[Aruba]] passes legislation to secede from the [[Netherlands Antilles]].
*[[1986]] - [[South Africa]]:  Police fire [[tear gas]] into a church service for families of those held under the government's emergency decrees.  Near [[Johannesburg]], [[AFL-CIO]] chief [[Lane Kirkland]] is detained by police.
*1986 - [[Massachusetts]]:  In [[Cambridge, Massachusetts|Cambridge]], [[Gerald Amirault]] of the [[Fell Acres]] Day School is convicted of [[child molestation|molesting]] nine children. 
*1986 - [[Pennsylvania]]:  [[Municipal employee|Municipal employees]] in [[Philadelphia]] vote to return to work after a twenty day strike.
*[[1987]] - [[Europe]]:  [[Morocco]] announces it will apply for membership in the [[European Community]].
*1987 - [[Middle East]]:  The [[United Nations Security Council]] demands a [[ceasefire]] in the [[Iran-Iraq War]].
*1987 - [[Arizon]]:  A recall drive is begun against Governor [[Evan Mecham]].
*1987 - [[United States]]:  President [[Ronald Reagan]] appoints [[Larry Kramer]], co-founder of [[Gay Men's Health Crisis]], to a federal panel on [[AIDS]].
*[[1988]] - [[United States]]:  The [[United States Democratic Party|Democrats]] nominate Governor [[Michael Dukakis]] of [[Massachusetts]] for President.
*1988 - [[Cold War]]:  The [[United States Department of State]] rejects a [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] offer to dismantle the [[Krasnoyarsk]] radar in exchange for concessions regarding the [[ABM Treaty]].
*[[1989]] - [[Space exploration]]:  President [[George H.W. Bush]] calls for a manned mission to [[Mars (planet)|Mars]] .
*1989 - [[Art]]:  [[Photographer]] [[Robert Mapplethorpe]]'s show opens at [[Washington, D.C.]]'s Project for the Arts after the [[Smithsonian Institution]]'s [[Corcoran Gallery]] cancelled it.

===1990-1999===
*[[1990]] - [[Caribbean]]:  [[Haiti]] asks the [[United States]] to send observers to monitor its upcoming elections.
*1990 - [[United Kingdom]]:  A [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] bomb explodes at the [[International Stock Exchange]].
*1990 - [[United States]]:  [[Supreme Court of the United States|Supreme Court]] Justice [[William Brennan]] announces his retirement from the Court.
*1990 - [[Iran Contra]]:  All of Colonel [[Oliver North]]'s convictions for perjury and other offenses are overturned by an appeals court.
*[[1991]] - [[Europe]]:  The [[United States Department of Defense]] begins airlifting supplies to [[Albania]]
*[[1992]] - [[Czechoslovakia]]:  [[Václav Havel]] resigns as president. 
*1992 - [[Poland]]:  4,000 [[copper]] miners go on strike
*1992 - [[Georgia (country)|Georgia]]: A [[TU-154]] cargo plane crashes in the suburbs of [[Tbilisi]], killing forty.
*[[1993]] - [[United States]]:  President [[Bill Clinton]] nominates Judge [[Louis Freeh]] to be director of the [[Federal Bureau of Investigation]].
*1993 - [[United Kingdom]]:  20,000 policemen gather at [[Wembley Stadium]] in [[London]] to protest pay reforms.
*[[1994]] - [[Middle East]]:  [[Israel]]'s [[Shimon Peres]] visits [[Jordan]], the highest ranking Israeli official to do so
*1994 - [[Astronomy]]:  [[Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9]]'s Fragment Q1 hits [[Jupiter (planet)|Jupiter]].
*[[1995]] - [[United States]]:  The Regents of the [[University of California]] vote to end all [[affirmative action]] in the UC system by [[1997]].
*[[1996]] - [[Spain]]:  An [[ETA]] bomb at an [[airport]] kills 35
*[[1997]] - [[United Kingdom]]:  A [[Provisional Irish Republican Army]] truce takes effect.
*1997 - [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]]:  The [[Serb Democratic Party]] forces President [[Biljana Plavsic|Biljana Plavšić]] to resign.
*[[1998]] - [[Afghanistan]]:  200 aid workers from [[CARE International]], [[Doctors Without Borders]] and other aid groups  leave the country on orders of the [[Taliban]].
*[[1999]] - [[Mercury program]]: [[Mercury 4|Liberty Bell 7]] is raised from the [[Atlantic Ocean]].
*1999 - [[Europe]]:  The [[European Parliament]] elects [[Nichole Fontaine]] its president.
*1999 - [[United States]]:  Officials of the [[Public Broadcasting System]] admit in testimony to [[Congress of the United States|Congress]] that its stations gave donor lists to the [[United States Democratic Party|Democratic]] party and Democratic candidates.

===2000-2099===
*[[2000]] - [[Olympics]]:  The leaders of [[Salt Lake City]]'s [[2002 Winter Olympic bid scandal|bid]] to win the [[2002 Winter Olympics]] are indicted by a federal [[grand jury]] for [[bribery]], [[fraud]], and [[racketeering]].
*2000 - [[Africa]]:  In [[Zimbabwe]], Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members for the first time in a decade.
*2000 - [[Europe]]:  [[Carlos the Jackal]] sues [[France]] in the [[European Court of Human Rights]] for allegedly torturing him.
*2000 - [[United States]]:  The [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] votes to ease the [[Cuban trade embargo|trade embargo]] and travel restrictions on [[Cuba]].
*2000 - [[Japan]]:  American President [[Bill Clinton]] arrives in [[Okinawa]] for the [[G8]] summit and pledges to the islanders that the United States will reduce the impact American military bases have on their lives.
*2000 - [[World War II]]:  The [[Commission on Fine Arts]] approves the [[World War II Memorial]]'s design and location on the Mall in [[Washington, D.C.]].
*[[2001]] - [[United States]]:  [[Vanessa Legget]] is found in contempt by a Federal Court for refusing to release notes made for her book on the [[Doris Angleton]] murder.
*2001 - [[United Kingdom]]:  The [[London Stock Exchange]] goes public.
*[[2002]] - [[Italy]]: The 27th Annual [[G8]] summit opens in [[Genoa]].  An Italian protester in Genoa, [[Carlo Giuliani]], is shot by police.
*2002 - [[United States]]:  The [[United States Senate]] confirms [[Roger L. Gregory]] as the first black to sit on the [[United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit]].
*2002 - [[South America]]:  A fire in a [[discotheque]] in [[Lima, Peru]] kills over twenty-five.
*[[2003]] - [[Liberia]]: Fighting between militias controlled by the country's president, [[Charles Taylor]], and rebels continues in [[Monrovia]].
*2003 - [[Middle East]]: [[Israel]]i Prime Minister [[Ariel Sharon]] meets with [[Mahmoud Abbas]] in [[Jerusalem]].
*2003 - [[United Kingdom]]:  [[Richard Sambrook]], the Director of [[BBC]] [[News]] reveals that [[David Kelly|Dr. David Kelly]] was the source of claims that [[Downing Street]] had "sexed up" the [[September Dossier]], aka the [[Dodgy Dossier]].
*2003 - [[South Korea]]: [[United Kingdom|British]] Prime Minister [[Tony Blair]] arrives in [[Seoul]] to meet with President [[Roh Moo Hyun]] and faces questions from the press about the death of [[David Kelly]].  
*2003 - [[France]]:  Sixteen people are injured after two [[bomb|bombs]] explode outside a tax office in [[Nice]].
*2003- [[Africa]]:  Former [[Uganda|Ugandan]] [[dictator]] [[Idi Amin]] is in a [[coma]] at a [[hospital]] in [[Jeddah]], [[Saudi Arabia]], as Uganda refused permission for him to return home.
*2003- [[Golf]]:  Rookie [[Ben Curtis]], ranked 396th in the world wins the [[British Open (golf)|British Open]].  He is the first golfer to win a major golf tournament in his first attempt in more than ninety years.
*2003- [[Africa]]:  Fourteen people - a [[United States|US]] family of twelve who had chartered the plane and the [[South Africa]]n crew of two - die when their light plane crashes into [[Mount Kenya]] after taking off from [[Nairobi]] for [[Buffalo Springs National Reserve]] in northern [[Kenya]]. 
*[[2004]] - [[Middle East]]: [[Palestinian]] lawmaker [[Nabil Amr]] is shot in the [[West Bank]].
*2004 - [[Middle East]]: The [[United Nations Security Council]] votes to demand [[Israel]] cease construction on its wall through the [[West Bank]].
*2004 - [[Iraq War]]: [[Angelo de la Cruz]], a [[Philippines|Fillipino]] truck driver taken hostage in [[Iraq]], is released.
*2004 - [[United Kingdom]]: The [[House of Commons]] debates the Butler report on pre-[[Iraq War]] intelligence.
*2004 - [[Canada]]: Prime Minister [[Paul Martin]] appoints his new [[Cabinet of Canada|cabinet]].
*2004 - [[United States]]:  Former [[National Security Advisor]] [[Sandy Berger]] resigns as an advisor to Senator [[John Kerry]]'s presidential campaign after it was revealed he stole classified documents from the [[National Archives and Records Administration|National Archives]].
*2004 - [[United States]]:  [[PETA]] releases a video of gross [[cruelty to animals|cruelty]] to chickens taken at [[Pilgrim's Pride]], one of [[KFC]]'s suppliers in [[West Virginia]], and the company pledged to investigate the claims. 
*2004 - [[Middle East]]:  [[Ahmed Qurei]], Prime Minister of the [[Palestinian Authority]], agrees to withdraw his resignation, three days after tendering it.
*2004 - [[Iraq War]]:  [[Human Rights Watch]] releases a report stating that [[Sudan|Sudanese]]government documents confirm support for the [[Arab]] [[Janjaweed]] militia in their campaign of [[ethnic cleansing]] against [[African]] [[Muslim]]s in [[Darfur]].
*2004 - [[United States]]:  The [[United States House of Representatives|House of Representatives]] votes to override a proposal by the [[Financial Accounting Standards Board]] that would require publicly traded companies to record all forms of share-based payments to employees, including [[stock option]]s, as expenses.
*2004 - [[Business]]:  The [[EU]] approves a 50-50 merger between [[BMG]] and [[Sony]].
*2004 - [[Theatre]]:  [[Jennifer Laura Thompson]] replaces [[Kristin Chenoweth]] in the [[Broadway]] show [[Wicked (musical)|Wicked]].⏎
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==References==
*''Facts on File Yearbook'', various years
*Facts on File's ''Day by Day'' series
*''Encyclopaedia Brittanica Yearbook'', various years
*[http://www.imdb.com/OnThisDay?day=20&month=July Internet Movie Database July 20 in Movie History page]
*''The [[New York Times]],'' July 21st issues of various years
*[http://www.nytimes.com/learning/general/onthisday/index.html ''The New York Times'' On This Day site]