What Happened Today in History on July 20

Alexander III (Alexander the Great) was born in Pella, the capital of the Kingdom of Macedonia, on the sixth day of the ancient Greek month of Hekatombaion, which probably corresponds to July 20, 356 BC (although the exact date is uncertain).

The Bulgarian Khan Asparukh defeats the Byzantine Emperor Constantine IV at the Battle of Ongal. A decisive loss for the Byzantines that led to the recognition of the First Bulgarian Empire.

Colombia, officially the Republic of Colombia, declares Independence from Spain. Colombia is located  primarily located in South America with insular regions in North America. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Caribbean Sea to the north, Venezuela to the east and northeast, Brazil to the southeast, Peru and Ecuador to the south and southwest, the Pacific Ocean to the west, and Panama to the northwest.

Six prominent and politically powerful Wyoming cattlemen lynched and hanged Jim Averell and Ella Watson, the woman they called Cattle Kate. They had both been wrongly accused of cattle rustling. The lynching rocked the nation as the shocking story traveled quickly across the country. The men who killed Watson and Averell never went to trial. The grand jury was made of 16 people, seven of whom were cattlemen and could not find two key witnesses. Expand +

An attempt to kill Hitler led by Claus von Stauffenberg fails. Stauffenberg planted a bomb in a briefcase at Hitler's Wolf's Lair headquarters. Hitler survived with only minor injuries, this was a significant attempt to overthrow the Nazi regime. Adolf Hitler was the target of at least 42 known assassination attempts while he was in power. Many of the other assassination attempts included  poisoning, bombs, shootings, and even plans to use snipers or tanks. More

German military leaders attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler and take control of the government. Their plot fails. More

President Harry S. Truman signs a proclamation that reinstituted the military draft in the United States. This action, taken during a period of increasing Cold War tensions with the Soviet Union, required nearly 10 million men between the age of 18 and 26 to register for military service within two months and it officially formalized Military Selective Service Act, also known as the Selective Service Act of 1948.  Expand +

Apollo 11 American astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin land the Apollo 11 mission Lunar Module “Eagle” in the Sea of Tranquility and become the first humans to walk on the moon, while Michael Collins remained in lunar orbit. Expand +

Viking 1 Lands on Mars' on the western slope of Chryse Planitia (the Plains of Gold). Viking 1 found a place in history when it became the first U.S. mission to land a spacecraft safely on the surface of Mars and return images of the surface. More