On This Day

July 1920 in History

Events in History

  • Jul 1 Sir Herbert Samuel takes over as high commissioner over Palestine, where Arab resistance to the British mandate continues
  • Jul 3 Java Technical School, Bandung, opens
  • Jul 3 Royal Air Force holds an air display at Hendon, England
  • Jul 4 The provisional government of Siberia's Maritime Province agrees to hand over parts of the strategic oil- and coal-rich Sakhalin Islands to Japan
  • Jul 11 East and West Prussia vote in a plebiscite to become part of Germany, though a slice of West Prussia will be handed to Poland to provide a 'Polish Corridor'
  • Jul 12 Lithuania and USSR sign peace treaty, Lithuania becomes independent republic
  • Jul 15 Ruth ties his record of 29 HRs in a season
  • Jul 16 Gen Amos Fries appointed 1st US army chemical warfare chief
  • Jul 21 Irish Nationalist and Loyalists engage in street fighting over the issue of Irish independence from Britain, though Loyalist are reinforced by 1500 British Auxiliaries and 5800 British troops
  • Jul 23 British East Africa renamed Kenya and becomes a British crown colony
  • Jul 27 Radio compass used for 1st time for aircraft navigation
  • Jul 29 1st transcontinental airmail flight from New York to San Francisco
  • Jul 29 Construction of the Link River Dam begins as part of the Klamath Reclamation Project, Oregon
  • Jul 29 Mexican rebel Pancho Villa surrenders

Birthdays in History

  • Jul 2 Eliseo Diego, Cuban poet, born in Havana, Cuba (d. 1994)
  • Jul 3 Louise Allbritton, American actress (The Egg and I, Stage Door, Got a Secret), born in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma (d. 1979)
  • Jul 4 Leona Helmsley, American real estate billionaire convicted of federal income tax evasion, born in Marbletown, New York (d. 2007)
  • Jul 5 Mary Louise Hancock, American politician and activist, born in Franklin, New Hampshire (d. 2017)
  • Jul 8 Godtfred Kirk Christiansen, Danish toy manufacturer (Lego Group), born in Billund, Denmark (d. 1995)
  • Jul 10 Owen Chamberlain, American physicist (antiproton, Nobel-1959), born in San Francisco, California (d. 2006)
  • Jul 12 Honoré Desmond Sharrer, American artist (Tribute to the American Working People), born in West Point, New York (d. 2009)

Pierre BertonPierre Berton (1920-2004)

Jul 12 Canadian author (War of 1812), born in Whitehorse, Yukon

Pierre Berton
  • Jul 13 Hans Blumenberg, philosopher
  • Jul 15 Eldon Rudd, American politician (Rep-R-AZ, 1977-87), born in Camp Verde, Arizona (d. 2002)
  • Jul 15 Ruthven Wade, British Air Chief marshal

Gordon GouldGordon Gould (1920-2005)

Jul 17 American physicist (inventor of the laser), born in NYC, New York

Gordon Gould
  • Jul 20 Elliot L Richardson, Attorney General (1973)/Sec of Defense (1973)
  • Jul 20 Jack Harman, British general
  • Jul 20 Jeffrey Petersen, British diplomat
  • Jul 21 Constant [Nieuwenhuys], Dutch painter (Uprising of Homo Ludens), and sculptor, born in Amsterdam, Netherlands (d. 2005)
  • Jul 22 Hugh Dundas, fighter pilot/businessman
  • Jul 22 Malcolm Hughes, British artist, born in Manchester, England (d. 1997)
  • Jul 23 Marcel Maeyer, Belgian sculptor and graphic artist, born in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium (d. 1993)
  • Jul 24 Alexander H. Cohen, Broadway producer (Beyond the Fringe), born in NYC, New York (d. 2000)
  • Jul 24 Bella Abzug "Battling Bella", American politician, feminist and activist (Rep-D-NY, 1970-74), born in New York City (d. 1998)
  • Jul 24 James Eric Storrar, English pilot (WWII - Operation Mosquito, destruction of Hitler's 'Eagle's Nest') and veterinarian, born in Ormskirk,, England (d. 1995)

Rosalind FranklinRosalind Franklin (1920-1958)

Jul 25 English chemist and co-discoverer of the structure of DNA, born in London [1]

Rosalind Franklin
  • Jul 27 James Munn, Scottish educationalist and commissioner (British University) (d. 2009)
  • Jul 29 Neville Jeffress, Australian founder of Media Monitors Australia (d. 2007)
  • Jul 31 James Esdras Faust, American religious leader, born in Delta, Utah (d. 2007)

Weddings in History

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Jul 5 Foreign Minister of the German Reich Joachim von Ribbentrop (27) weds Anna Elisabeth Henkell

Joachim von Ribbentrop

Deaths in History

  • Jul 2 William Louis Marshall, American general and engineer, dies at 74
  • Jul 3 William Crawford Gorgas, American physician and 22nd Surgeon-General of the U.S. Army (controlled yellow fever during building of the Panama Canal), dies at 65
  • Jul 5 Max Klinger, German graphic artist, painter and sculptor (Paraphrase on the Finding of a Glove), dies at 63
  • Jul 10 Eugénie de Montijo, Emperor of France (1853-71), dies at 94
  • Jul 10 Jackie Fisher, British admiral (b. 1841)
  • Jul 10 John A "Jacky" Kilverston, adm/designer (dreadnought), dies at 79
  • Jul 22 William Kissam Vanderbilt, member of the Vanderbilt family (b. 1849)
  • Jul 23 Conrad Kohrs, German-born cattle rancher in Montana, dies at 84

Historical Figures

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