JULY 20 | Birthdays and Events
Famous Birthdays
People born on July 20
Billy Mays
Died: June 28, 2009
Advertisement salesman for products such as OxiClean, Orange Glo, and Kaboom.
Carlos Santana
Singer-songwriter, guitarist, and founding member of the rock band Santana.
Cormac McCarthy
Died: June 13, 2023
Author of All the Pretty Horses and No Country for Old Men.
Mike Ilitch
Died: February 10, 2017
Founder of Little Caesars.
Natalie Wood
Died: November 29, 1981
Award-winning American actress who co-starred in a Miracle on 34th Street, Rebel Without a Cause, and Splendor in the Grass, to name a few.
Verna Felton
Died: December 14, 1966
Voice actress who is known for voicing Disney characters of the Fairy Godmother in Cinderella, the Queen of Hearts in Alice in Wonderland, and Flora in Sleeping Beauty.
Historical Events on July 20
Events that occurred on July 20 throughout history
The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile from Detroit.
The Ford Motor Company ships its first automobile from Detroit. The Model A was sold for $850 and delivered three days later to a dentist named Ernest Pfennig in Chicago.
The first woman presides over the floor of U.S. House of Representatives.
Alice Mary Robertson becomes the first woman to preside over the floor of U.S. House of Representatives.
The first detachment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) began basic training.
The first detachment of the Women's Army Auxiliary Corps (WAAC) began basic training at Fort Des Moines, Iowa. The training was the first time women were allowed to serve in non-combat military roles and freeing men for the front lines.
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held in Chicago.
The first International Special Olympics Summer Games are held at Soldier Field in Chicago. Nearly 1,000 athletes with intellectual disabilities participate.
The first humans landed on the Moon.
Apollo 11's crew successfully makes the first human landing on the Moon. Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin become the first humans to walk on the Moon six and a half hours later.
NASA's Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars.
The Viking 1 lander successfully lands on Mars. The mission successful returned to earth and provided ground-level photographs of the Red Planets surface.
The CIA releases documents revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments.
The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments. The documents showed the CIA's use of techniques and drugs capable of manipulating human behavior, bypassing rational inhibitions, and extracting confessions.