Birthdays in History on July 20

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC)

Macedonian king and military leader, born in Pella, Macedonia (modern Greece)

1304 Francesco Petrarch, Italian poet (Italia Mia), born in Arezzo, Tuscany (d. 1374)
1513 Gaspar Schetz, Dutch treasurer-general, born in Antwerp (d. 1580)
1519 Pope Innocent IX [Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti], 230th Catholic pope (1591), born in Bologna, Papal States (d. 1591)
1537 Arnaud d'Ossat, French diplomat and writer, born in Larroque-Magnoac, France (d. 1604)
1659 Hyacinthe Rigaud, French painter, born in Perpignan, France (d. 1743)
1663 Pierre Drevet, French engraver, born in Loire-sur-Rhône, Lyon (d. 1738)
1709 James Harris, English philosopher, born in Salisbury, Wiltshire (d. 1780)
1754 Antoine Destutt de Tracy, French Enlightenment philosopher, born in Paris (d. 1836)
1757 Garsevan Chavchavadze, Georgian diplomat and politician, born in Georgia (d. 1811)
1766 Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin & Kincardine, British diplomat, born in Broomhall, Fife, Scotland (d. 1841)
1774 Auguste Marmont, French marshal, born in Châtillon-sur-Seine, France (d. 1852)

Mahmud II (1785-1839)

30th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1808-39), born in Topkapı Palace, Istanbul, Ottoman Empire

1797 Paweł Edmund Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist, born in Glausche, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1873)
1804 Richard Owen, English zoologist (Dinosauria), born in Lancaster, England (d. 1892)
1806 John Sterling, Scottish writer, born in Isle of Bute, United Kingdom (d. 1844)
1811 James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin & Kincardine and Governor (Jamaica), born in London (d. 1863)
1816 William Bowman, English anatomist, born in Nantwich, Cheshire (d. 1892)

Gregor Mendel (1822-1884)

Austrian monk and geneticist (discoverer of laws of heredity), born in Heinzendorf, Austria

1824 Alexander Schimmelfennig, Prussian-American political revolutionary and Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Bromberg, Kingdom of Prussia (d. 1865)
1836 Thomas Allbutt, English physiologist (Diseases of the Heart), born in Dewsbury, Yorkshire (d. 1925)
1838 Augustin Daly, American playwright and theatrical manager, born in Plymouth, North Carolina (d. 1899)
1838 George Otto Trevelyan, British statesman and biographer (d. 1928)
1847 Max Liebermann, German impressionist painter
1849 Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City (d. 1918)
1852 Theo Heemskerk, Dutch lawyer and chairman of the Council of Ministers (Prime Minister), born in Amsterdam (d. 1932)
1853 Geo[rge] Poggenbeek, Dutch water colors painter
1858 Ivan Vucetic, Croatian anthropologist (d. 1925)
1860 Johannes Walter, German geologist (Denudation of the Wilderness)
1864 Erik Karlfeldt, Swedish poet (Nobel 1918-refused; 1931-posthumous)
1868 Miron Cristea, 1st Patriarch of All Romania (d. 1939)
1870 Vladimir D Nabokov, Russian jurist/minister of Justice (1918-19)
1873 Alberto Santos-Dumont, Brazilian aviator (d. 1932)
1876 Otto Blumenthal, German mathematician (d. 1944)
1877 Percy Dean, British naval lieutenant and politician who received the Victoria Cross for saving men during the raid of Zeebrugge, born in Blackburn, Lancashire, England (d. 1939)
1880 Hermann earl Keyserling, German philosopher/writer
1881 Leon de Smet, Flemish painter
1885 Gustave Charlier, Belgian literature historian/critic
1887 Willem H Drucker, Dutch lawyer
1890 George II, King of Greece (1922-1924, and 1935-1947), born in Tatoi, Greece (d. 1947)
1893 Alexander, King of Greece (1917-20), born at Tatoi Palace, Greece (d. 1920)
1893 Richard Billinger, Austria poet/writer (From Where I Came)
1895 László Moholy-Nagy, Hungarian painter, photographer, and sculptor (d. 1946)
1897 Tadeusz Reichstein, Swiss chemist (Nobel 1950)
1900 Gottfried von Haberler, Austrian economist
1900 Maurice Gilliams, Flemish writer/poet/essayist (Maria's Life)
1901 Vehbi Koc, indistrialist/philanthropist
1902 Dilys Powell, English writer (Descent from Parnassus)
1903 Jef van de Wiele, Belgian politician
1905 Molly Mary Nesta Keane, writer

Mad Dog Coll (1908-1932)

Irish-American mob hitman, born in Gweedore, Ireland

1909 Jean Focas, Greco-French astronomer (d. 1969)
1910 Cicely Veronica Wedgwood, British historian (William the Silent)
1912 Frederick Ferrari, crazy Gang Member
1912 George Johnston, Australian journalist and novelist (d. 1970)
1912 John Dacie, hematologist
1912 Thijmen Kuijt, resistance fighter/co-found newspaper (The Typhoon)

Edmund Hillary (1919-2008)

New Zealand explorer and mountaineer who was 1st to scale Mount Everest with Tenzing Norgay, born in Auckland, New Zealand

1920 Elliot L Richardson, Attorney General (1973)/Sec of Defense (1973)
1920 Jack Harman, British general
1920 Jeffrey Petersen, British diplomat
1922 Alan Stephenson Boyd, American politician
1923 Stanisław Albinowski, Polish economist and journalist (d. 2005)
1924 Hans Lodeizen [Johannes A Frederik], Dutch poet (Inner Self)
1924 Thomas Berger, American novelist (Vital Parts, Little Big Man), born in Cincinnati, Ohio, (d. 2014)
1925 Frantz Fanon, West Indian psychiatrist and philosopher (The Wretched of the Earth), born in Martinique, France (d. 1961)
1925 Jacques Delors, French economist, and chairman European Committee (1985-95), born in Paris, France
1927 Anthony Cavendish, British MI 6 agent/banker
1927 Lyudmila Alexeyeva, Russian 'Grandmother of Russian Human Rights', born in Crimea, Russia (d. 2018)
1928 Charles David Ganao, Djambala, French Equatorial Africa, Prime Minister of the Republic of the Congo (1996-1997), (d. 2012)
1928 Jan Meyers, American politician (Rep-R-Kansas, 1985-97), born in Lincoln, Nebraska (d. 2019)
1928 Pavel Kohout, Czech and Austrian writer (Poor Murderer) and dissident, born in Prague
1930 Yuri Petrovich Artyukin, USSR, cosmonaut (Soyuz 14)

Marina Popovich (1931-2017)

Soviet Air Force colonel, engineer and test pilot (102 world records), born in Leonenki, Smolensk Oblast, USSR, birth date uncertain

1932 Otto Schily, German politician
1933 Cormac McCarthy, American author
1934 Ralph C RInzler, folklorist (Greenbriar Boys)
1934 Uwe Johnson, German writer
1935 Lord Peter Palumbo, English real estate developer/multi-millionaire
1936 Barbara Mikulski, American politician (Rep-D-MD, 1977-87, Senator-D-MD, 1986-2017), born in Baltimore, Maryland
1939 Jeanne Bice, American entrepreneur (Quacker Factory clothes), born in Fond Du Lac, Wisconsin (d. 2011)
1939 Judy Chicago [Judith Cohen], American artist (Dinner Party), born in Chicago, Illinois
1941 Vladimir Afanasiyevich Lyakhov, cosmonaut (Soyuz 32/34, T-9, TM-6)
1942 Ron Bowden, Australian politician
1944 Wim Van Drimmelen, Dutch sect Science Council of Government policy
1945 Larry Craig, American politician (Senator-R-Idaho 1991-2009, Rep-R-Idaho, 1981-91), born in Council, Idaho
1945 Paul Valéry [Ambroise Paul Toussaint Jules Valéry], French author, philosopher and poet (La Jeune Parque), born in Sète, Hérault (d. 1945)
1947 Gerd Binnig, Frankfurt, physicist (tunneling microscope-Nobel 1986)
1948 Richard H. Lehman, American politician (Rep-D-CA, 1983-95), born in Fresno, California
1950 William Schroeder, American student, killed by soldiers of the Ohio Army National Guard at Kent State University while protesting against US military, born in Cincinnati, Ohio (d. 1970)
1953 Thomas Friedman, American journalist
1956 Jim Prentice, Canadian politician, Premier of Alberta (2014-15), born in South Porcupine, Ontario (d. 2016)
1960 Katie Rabbet, Prince Andrew's former girlfriend, born in London, England
1964 Terri Irwin, American naturalist; widow of Steve Irwin
1965 Anthony Shriver, American activist for people with intellectual disabilities (founder of Best Buddies International), born in Boston, Massachusetts