sir eman

today is my birthday Wednesday, July 20, 2011 |

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.

Events

70 – First Jewish-Roman War: Siege of Jerusalem – Titus, son of emperor Vespasian, storms the Fortress of Antonia north of the Temple Mount. The Roman army is drawn into street fights with the Zealots.
911 – Rollo lays siege to Chartres.
1304 – Wars of Scottish Independence: Fall of Stirling Castle – King Edward I of England takes the stronghold using the War Wolf.
1402 – Ottoman-Timurid Wars: Battle of Ankara – Timur, ruler of Timurid Empire, defeats forces of the Ottoman Empire sultan Bayezid I.
1738 – Canadian explorer Pierre Gaultier de Varennes et de La Vérendrye reaches the western shore of Lake Michigan.
1807 – Nicéphore Niépce is awarded a patent by Napoleon Bonaparte for the Pyréolophore, the world's first internal combustion engine, after it successfully powered a boat upstream on the river Saône in France.
1810 – Citizens of Bogotá, New Granada declare independence from Spain.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Peachtree Creek – Near Atlanta, Georgia, Confederate forces led by General John Bell Hood unsuccessfully attack Union troopsunder General William T. Sherman.
1866 – Austro-Prussian War: Battle of Lissa – The Austrian Navy , led by Admiral Wilhelm von Tegetthoff, defeats the Italian Navy near the island of Vis in the Adriatic Sea.
1871 – British Columbia joins the confederation of Canada.
1885 – The Football Association legalizes professionalism in football under pressure from the British Football Association.
1903 – Ford Motor Company ships its first car.
1917 – World War I: The Corfu Declaration, which leads to the creation of the post-war Kingdom of Yugoslavia, is signed by the Yugoslav Committee and Kingdom of Serbia.
1922 – The League of Nations awards mandates of Togoland to France and Tanganyika to the United Kingdom.
1932 – In Washington, D.C., police fire tear gas on World War I veterans part of the Bonus Expeditionary Force who attempt to march to the White House.
1934 – Labor unrest in the U.S., as police in Minneapolis fire upon striking truck drivers, during the Minneapolis Teamsters Strike of 1934, killing two and wounding sixty-seven.
1934 – 1934 West Coast waterfront strike: In Seattle, police fire tear gas on and club 2,000 striking longshoremen. The governor of Oregon calls out the National Guard to break a strike on thePortland docks.
1935 – Switzerland: A Royal Dutch Airlines plane en route from Milan to Frankfurt crashes into a Swiss mountain, killing thirteen.
1936 – The Montreux Convention is signed in Switzerland, authorizing Turkey to fortify the Dardanelles and Bosphorus but guaranteeing free passage to ships of all nations in peacetime.
1938 – The United States Department of Justice files 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 – Denmark leaves the League of Nations.
1940 – California opens its first freeway, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.
1941 – Soviet leader Joseph Stalin consolidates the Commissariats of Home Affairs and National Security to form the NKVD and names Lavrenti Beria its chief.
1944 – World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt (known as the 20 July plot) led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.
1949 – Israel and Syria sign a truce to end their nineteen-month war.
1950 – Cold War: In Philadelphia, Harry Gold pleads guilty to spying for the Soviet Union by passing secrets from atomic scientist Klaus Fuchs.
1951 – King Abdullah I of Jordan is assassinated by a Palestinian while attending Friday prayers in Jerusalem.
1954 – Germany: Otto John, head of West Germany's secret service, defects to East Germany.
1960 – Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) elects Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister, the world's first elected female head of government.
1960 – The Polaris missile is successfully launched from a submarine, the USS George Washington, for the first time.
1961 – French military forces break the Tunisian siege of Bizerte.
1964 – Vietnam War: Viet Cong forces attack the capital of Dinh Tuong Province, Cai Be, killing 11 South Vietnamese military personnel and 40 civilians (30 of which are children).
1968 – The first Special Olympics is held.
1969 – Apollo Program: Apollo 11 successfully makes the first human-crewed landing on the Moon in the Sea of Tranquility. The first Moonwalk EVA follows almost 7 hours later.
1969 – A cease fire is announced between Honduras and El Salvador, 6 days after the beginning of the "Football War"
1974 – Turkish occupation of Cyprus: Forces from Turkey invade Cyprus after a "coup d'etat", organised by the dictator of Greece, against president Makarios.
1976 – The American Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
1976 – Hank Aaron hits his 755th home run, the final home run of his career.
1977 – Johnstown is hit by a flash flood that kills eighty and causes $350 million in damage.
1977 – The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind control experiments.
1980 – The United Nations Security Council votes 14-0 that member states should not recognize Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
1982 – Hyde Park and Regents Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regents Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.
1985 – The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.
1989 – Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Daw Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.
1992 – Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.
1999 – Falun Gong is banned in the People's Republic of China, and a large scale crackdown of the practice is launched.
2000 – In Zimbabwe, Parliament opens its new session and seats opposition members for the first time in a decade.

Births

356 BC – Alexander the Great, Greek king of Macedonia and conqueror of Persia (d. 323 BC)
810 – Imam Bukhari, Muslim scholar and compiler of Hadith (d. 870)
1304 – Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (d. 1374)
1537 – Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer (d. 1604)
1620 – Nikolaes Heinsius, Dutch scholar (d. 1681)
1754 – Destutt de Tracy, French philosopher (d. 1836)
1757 – Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician (d. 1811)
1774 – Auguste Marmont, French marshal (d. 1852)
1797 – Sir Paul Edmund de Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist (d. 1873)
1804 – Richard Owen, English biologist (d. 1892)
1822 – Gregor Mendel, German scientist, father of modern genetics (d. 1884)
1838 – Augustin Daly, American playwright (d. 1899)
1838 – George Otto Trevelyan, British statesman and biographer (d. 1928)
1847 – Max Liebermann, German artist (d. 1935)
1849 – Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
1852 – Theo Heemskerk, Prime Minister of the Netherlands (d. 1932)
1858 – Ivan Vucetic, Croatian anthropologist (d. 1925)
1864 – Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer, Nobel Prize in Literature laureate (d. 1931)
1868 – Miron Cristea, 1st Patriarch of All Romania (d. 1939)
1873 – Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator (d. 1932)
1876 – Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (d. 1944)
1889 – Lord Reith, British broadcast executive (d. 1971)
1890 – King George II of Greece (d. 1947)
1893 – George Llewelyn-Davies, English Peter Pan character model (d. 1915)
1895 – László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer, and sculptor (d. 1946)
1896 – Eunice Sanborn, American supercentenarian (d. 2011)
1897 – Tadeus Reichstein, Polish-born chemist, Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine laureate (d. 1996)
1900 – Maurice Leyland, English cricketer (d. 1967)
1901 – Heinie Manush, American baseball player (d. 1971)
1902 – Jimmy Kennedy, Irish composer (d. 1984)
1909 – Jean Focas, Greco-French astronomer (d. 1969)
1909 – Eric Rowan, South African cricketer, Wisden COY 1952 (d. 1993)
1910 – Vilém Tauský, Czech conductor and composer (d. 2004)
1911 – Baqa Jilani, Indian cricketer (d. 1941)
1912 – George Johnston, Australian journalist and novelist (d. 1970)
1914 – Charilaos Florakis, leader of the Communist Party of Greece (d. 2005)
1918 – Cindy Walker, American singer (d. 2006)
1919 – Sir Edmund Hillary, New Zealand mountaineer and explorer (d. 2008)
1920 – Elliot Richardson, American politician (d. 1999)
1922 – Alan Stephenson Boyd, American politician
1923 – Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
1924 – Thomas Berger, American novelist
1924 – Mort Garson, Canadian composer (d. 2008)
1925 – Jacques Delors, French President of the European Commission
1925 – Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and writer (d. 1961)
1926 – Lola Albright, American actress
1926 – Patricia Cutts, English actress (d. 1974)
1927 – Michael Gielen, Austrian conductor and composer
1928 – Peter Ind, British jazz double bass player
1929 – Mike Ilitch, American businessman and sports executive
1929 – Rajendra Kumar, Indian actor (d. 1999)
1930 – Giannis Agouris, Greek writer and journalist (d. 2006)
1930 – Chuck Daly, American basketball coach (d. 2009)
1930 – Sally Ann Howes, English-born singer and actress
1931 – Tony Marsh, English racing driver
1932 – Nam June Paik, Video artist (d. 2006)
1932 – Otto Schily, German politician
1932 – Ove Verner Hansen, Danish actor
1933 – Buddy Knox, American singer and songwriter (d. 1999)
1933 – Cormac McCarthy, American author
1933 – Rex Williams, English snooker player
1934 – Uwe Johnson, German writer (d. 1984)
1934 – Doug Padgett, English cricketer
1934 – Aliki Vougiouklaki, Greek actress (d. 1996)
1935 – Ted Rogers, English comedian (d. 2001)
1936 – Barbara Mikulski, American politician
1937 – Ken Ogata, Japanese actor (d. 2008)
1938 – Roger Hunt, English footballer
1938 – Tony Oliva, Cuban baseball player
1938 – Dame Diana Rigg, English actress
1938 – Natalie Wood, American actress (d. 1981)
1939 – Judy Chicago, American artist
1941 – Periklis Korovesis, Greek author and journalist
1941 – Kurt Raab, German actor (d. 1988)
1942 – Ron Bowden, Australian politician
1942 – Pete Hamilton, American race car driver
1942 – T. G. Sheppard, American country music singer
1943 – Chris Amon, New Zealand racing driver
1943 – Wendy Richard, English actress (d. 2009)
1943 – Adrian Păunescu, Romanian poet, journalist, and politician (d. 2010)
1944 – Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor
1945 – Kim Carnes, American singer and songwriter
1945 – Larry Craig, American politician
1945 – John Lodge, English musician (The Moody Blues)
1945 – Johnny Loughrey, Irish singer (d. 2005)
1945 – Bo Rein, American football coach (d. 1980)
1945 – Harrison Ellenshaw, American matte painter
1946 – Randal Kleiser, American film director
1947 – Gerd Binnig, German-born physicist, Nobel laureate
1947 – Carlos Santana, Mexican-born American guitarist
1948 – Muse Watson, American actor
1950 – Tantoo Cardinal, Canadian actress
1950 – Naseeruddin Shah, Indian actor
1951 – Jeff Rawle, English actor
1952 – Keiko Matsuzaka, Japanese actress
1953 – Dave Evans, Australian singer (AC/DC)
1953 – Thomas Friedman, American journalist
1953 – Marcia Hines, American-born Australian singer
1953 – Dan Shaughnessy, American sports writer
1954 – Moira Harris, American actress
1954 – Jay Jay French, guitarist for Twisted Sister
1954 – Larry Levan, American DJ (d. 1992)
1955 – Jem Finer, English musician and composer (The Pogues)
1956 – Paul Cook, English musician (The Sex Pistols)
1956 – Michael Gordon, American composer
1956 – Ryo Ishibashi, Japanese actor
1956 – Jim Prentice, Canadian politician
1957 – Nancy Cruzan, American figure in right-to-die case (d. 1990)
1957 – Donna Dixon, American actress
1958 – Peter Fraßmann, German footballer
1958 – Mick MacNeil, Scottish musician (Simple Minds)
1958 – Billy Mays, American TV pitchman (d. 2009)
1959 – Radney Foster, Texas country music singer/songwriter
1960 – Claudio Langes, Italian racing driver
1962 – Carlos Alazraqui, American actor and comedian
1962 – Giovanna Amati, Italian racing driver
1962 – Lee Harris, English drummer (Talk Talk, .O.rang)
1963 – Frank Whaley, American actor
1964 – Chris Cornell, American musician (Soundgarden, Audioslave)
1964 – Terri Irwin, American naturalist; widow of Steve Irwin
1964 – Kool G Rap, American musician
1964 – Bernd Schneider, German racing driver
1964 – Dean Winters, American actor
1966 – Anton du Beke, British ballroom dancer
1966 – Stone Gossard, American musician (Pearl Jam, Mother Love Bone, Brad)
1966 – Enrique Peña Nieto, American politician
1967 – Reed Diamond, American actor
1967 – Courtney Taylor-Taylor, American musician (The Dandy Warhols)
1968 – Jimmy Carson, American ice hockey player
1968 – Michael Park, American actor
1968 – Julian Rhind-Tutt, English actor
1969 – Josh Holloway, American actor
1969 – Giovanni Lombardi, Italian cyclist
1969 – Tobi Vail, American musician (Bikini Kill, The Go Team, The Frumpies)
1969 – Vitamin C, American singer
1970 – Agot Isidro, Filipina actress
1971 – Ed Giddins, English cricketer
1971 – Charles Johnson, American baseball player
1971 – Sandra Oh, Korean Canadian actress
1971 – DJ Screw, American hip hop deejay (d. 2000)
1972 – Jozef Stümpel, Slovak ice hockey player
1972 – Erik Ullenhag, Swedish jurist and politician
1973 – Peter Forsberg, Swedish ice hockey player
1973 – Nixon McLean, West Indian cricketer
1973 – Omar Epps, American actor
1973 – Haakon, Crown Prince of Norway
1973 – Claudio Reyna, American soccer player
1973 – Mads Rieper, Danish footballer
1974 – Bengie Molina, Puerto Rican baseball player
1974 – Phofo, American musician
1974 – Simon Rex, American actor
1975 – Ray Allen, American basketball player
1975 – Judy Greer, American actress
1975 – Erik Hagen, Norwegian footballer
1975 – Birgitta Ohlsson, Swedish politician
1975 – Atiq-uz-Zaman, Pakistani cricketer
1975 – El Zorro, Mexican professional wrestler
1976 – Erica Hill, American news anchor
1976 – Debashish Mohanty, Indian cricketer
1976 – Andrew Stockdale, Australian musician (Wolfmother)
1976 – Alex Yoong, Malaysian racing driver
1977 – Kiki Musampa, Congolese footballer
1977 – Alessandro dos Santos, naturalized Japanese footballer
1978 – Pavel Datsyuk, Russian ice hockey player
1978 – Charlie Korsmo, American actor
1978 – Tamsyn Lewis, Australian athlete
1978 – Will Solomon, American basketball player
1978 – Elliott Yamin, American Idol contestant
1979 – Claudine Barretto, Filipino actress
1979 – Miklós Fehér, Hungarian footballer (d. 2004)
1979 – David Ortega, Spanish freestyle swimmer
1980 – Gisele Bündchen, Brazilian model
1980 – Mike Kennerty, American guitarist (The All-American Rejects)
1981 – Damien Delaney, Irish footballer
1981 – Thorsten Engelmann, German rower
1982 – Percy Daggs III, American actor
1984 – Alexi Casilla, Dominican baseball player
1984 – Matt Gilroy, American Hockey Player
1985 – John Francis Daley, American actor
1985 – David Mundy, Australian rules footballer
1985 – Emmanuel L. Estrellado, First Filipino Nobel Prize Winner in Physics
1988 – Julianne Hough, American ballroom dancer
1988 – Stephen Strasburg, American baseball player
1989 – Witwisit Hirunwongkul, Thai actor
1991 – William Tomlin, British actor
1997 – Billi Bruno, American actress
1999 – Princess Alexandra of Hanover

Deaths

985 – Pope Boniface VII
1031 – King Robert II of France (b. 972)
1156 – Emperor Toba of Japan (b. 1103)
1160 – Peter Lombard, French theologian
1320 – King Oshin of Armenia (b. 1282)
1351 – Margaretha Ebner, German visionary (b. 1291)
1387 – Robert IV of Artois, Count of Eu (b. 1356)
1398 – Roger Mortimer, 4th Earl of March, English noble (b. 1374)
1453 – Enguerrand de Monstrelet, French chronicler
1454 – King John II of Castile (b. 1405)
1524 – Claude of France, wife of Louis XII of France (b. 1499)
1616 – Hugh O'Neill, 3rd Earl of Tyrone, Irish soldier
1704 – Peregrine White, first English child born to the Pilgrims in the New World (b. 1620)
1752 – Johann Christoph Pepusch, German composer (b. 1667)
1816 – Gavrila Romanovich Derzhavin, Russian poet (b. 1743)
1866 – Bernhard Riemann, German mathematician (b. 1826)
1897 – Jean Ingelow, English poet (b. 1820)
1901 – William Cosmo Monkhouse, English poet and critic (b. 1840)
1903 – Pope Leo XIII (b. 1810)
1908 – Demetrius Vikelas, Greek author (b. 1835)
1908 – Karl Bernhard Zoeppritz, German geophysicist (b. 1881)
1922 – Andrey Markov, Russian mathematician (b. 1856)
1923 – Francisco "Pancho" Villa, Mexican rebel (b. 1878)
1926 – Felix Dzerzhinsky, Soviet law enforcement official (b. 1877)
1927 – King Ferdinand of Romania (b. 1865)
1928 – Kostas Karyotakis, Greek poet (b. 1896)
1932 – René Bazin, French novelist (b. 1853)
1937 – Guglielmo Marconi, Italian inventor, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1874)
1941 – Lew Fields, American vaudeville performer (b. 1867)
1944 – Mildred Harris, American actress (b. 1901)
1944 – Ludwig Beck, German colonel general, part of July 20 Plot (b. 1880)
1945 – Paul Valéry, French author and poet (b. 1871)
1951 – King Abdullah I of Jordan (b. 1882)
1951 – Crown Prince Wilhelm of Germany, German prince (b. 1882)
1953 – Dumarsaid Estime, President of Haiti (b. 1900)
1953 – Jan Struther, British author (b. 1901)
1955 – Calouste Gulbenkian, Armenian businessman and philanthropist (b. 1869)
1956 – James Alexander Calder, Canadian politician (b. 1868)
1959 – William D. Leahy, American admiral (b. 1875)
1969 – Roy Hamilton, American singer (b. 1929)
1970 – Iain Macleod, English politician (b. 1913)
1973 – Bruce Lee, American actor and martial artist (b. 1940)
1973 – Robert Smithson, American land artist (b. 1938)
1976 – Joseph Rochefort, American Naval officer and cryptanalyst (b. 1900)
1977 – Gary Kellgren, American music producer (b. 1939)
1981 – Kostas Choumis, Greek-Romanian footballer (b. 1913)
1982 – Okot p'Bitek, Ugandan poet (b. 1931)
1983 – Frank Reynolds, American television news anchor (b. 1923)
1987 – Richard Egan, American actor (b. 1921)
1989 – Forrest H. Anderson, Governor of Montana (b. 1913)
1990 – Herbert Jenkins, American law enforcement official (b. 1907)
1993 – Vincent Foster Jr., White House deputy counsel (b. 1945)
1998 – June Byers, American professional wrestler (b. 1922)
1999 – Sandra Gould, American actress (b. 1916)
2000 – Gregory Hill American writer (b. 1941)
2001 – Carlo Giuliani, Italian anarchist (b. 1978)
2003 – Nicolas Freeling, English writer (b. 1927)
2004 – Adi Lady Lala Mara, Fijian chieftainess (b. 1931)
2004 – Scott Andrew Mink, American convicted murderer (b. 1963)
2005 – James Doohan, Canadian actor (b. 1920)
2005 – Finn Gustavsen, Norwegian politician (b. 1926)
2005 – Kayo Hatta, American film director (b. 1958)
2006 – Ted Grant, British Trotskyist (b. 1913)
2006 – Gérard Oury, French filmmaker (b. 1919)
2007 – Tammy Faye Messner (Bakker), American televangelist (b. 1942)
2008 – Artie Traum, American guitarist (b. 1943)
2009 – Ria Brieffies, Dutch singer (b. 1957)
2009 – Mark Rosenzweig, American brain researcher (b. 1922)