July 20
Today is the 201st day of 2015. There are 164 days left in the year.
1810 - Colombia declared independence from Spain.
1861 - The Congress of the Confederate States began holding sessions in Richmond, Virginia.
1871 - British Columbia joined the confederation as a Canadian province.
1881 - Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull surrendered to federal troops.
1917 - The World War I draft lottery began.
1944 - Adolf Hitler was only slightly wounded when a bomb planted by would-be assassins exploded at the German leader's Rastenburg headquarters.
1944 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented fourth term at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1951 - King Abdullah I of Jordan was assassinated.
1954 - The Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into northern and southern entities.
1960 - Sirima Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) became the world's first female prime minister.
1969 - Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
1976 - America's Viking 1 spacecraft landed on Mars.
1977 - A flash flood hit Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 80 people and causing more than $350 million in damage after a levee burst.
1985 - Treasure hunters found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank off the coast of Key West, Florida in 1622 during a hurricane. The ship contained over $500 million worth of coins, gold, jewels and silver ingots.
1990 - A federal appeals court set aside Oliver North's Iran-Contra convictions.
1993 - White House deputy counsel Vince Foster was found shot to death in a park near Washington, D.C., in an apparent suicide.
1999 - After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule was recovered.
2007 - The Senate Judiciary Committee voted almost totally along party lines, 13-6, to approve Elena Kagan to be the Supreme Court's fourth female justice.
2012 - James Holmes opened fire inside a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises", killing 12 people. (Holmes has been found guilty on 165 counts, including murder and is awaiting sentencing.)
Birthdays
24 - Scout Willis (actress)
27 - Stephen Strasburg (baseball player)
27 - Julianne Hough (dancer)
35 - Gisele Bundchen (model)
40 - Ray Allen (basketball player)
40 - Judy Greer (actress)
42 - Omar Epps (actor)
42 - Peter Forsberg (hockey player)
44 - Sandra Oh (actress)
46 - Josh Holloway (actor)
68 - Carlos Santana (musician)
70 - Kim Carnes (singer)
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Today in Sports History - July 20
1947 - The NFL ruled that no professional team could sign a player who had any collegiate eligibility remaining.
1958 - The PGA Championship changed its format from match play to stroke play.
1958 - Jim Bunning of the Detroit Tigers no-hit the Boston Red Sox.
1968 - The first Special Olympics were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.
2002 - Ernie Els won a sudden death playoff to win the British Open.
2003 - Ben Curtis won the British Open.
2008 - Padraig Harrington became the first golfer in the last 50 years to successfully defend a British Open title.
2009 - Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was released from prison, ending a 23-month sentence on dog fighting charges.
2011 - Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets announced his retirement from basketball.
2011 - The LPGA added the Evian Masters as its fifth major championship, beginning in 2013.
2014 - Rory McIlroy won the British Open.
Today is the 201st day of 2015. There are 164 days left in the year.
1810 - Colombia declared independence from Spain.
1861 - The Congress of the Confederate States began holding sessions in Richmond, Virginia.
1871 - British Columbia joined the confederation as a Canadian province.
1881 - Sioux Indian leader Sitting Bull surrendered to federal troops.
1917 - The World War I draft lottery began.
1944 - Adolf Hitler was only slightly wounded when a bomb planted by would-be assassins exploded at the German leader's Rastenburg headquarters.
1944 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt was nominated for an unprecedented fourth term at the Democratic National Convention in Chicago.
1951 - King Abdullah I of Jordan was assassinated.
1954 - The Geneva Accords divided Vietnam into northern and southern entities.
1960 - Sirima Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon) became the world's first female prime minister.
1969 - Astronaut Neil Armstrong became the first man to walk on the moon.
1976 - America's Viking 1 spacecraft landed on Mars.
1977 - A flash flood hit Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing 80 people and causing more than $350 million in damage after a levee burst.
1985 - Treasure hunters found the Spanish galleon Nuestra Senora de Atocha, which sank off the coast of Key West, Florida in 1622 during a hurricane. The ship contained over $500 million worth of coins, gold, jewels and silver ingots.
1990 - A federal appeals court set aside Oliver North's Iran-Contra convictions.
1993 - White House deputy counsel Vince Foster was found shot to death in a park near Washington, D.C., in an apparent suicide.
1999 - After 38 years at the bottom of the Atlantic, astronaut Gus Grissom's Liberty Bell 7 Mercury capsule was recovered.
2007 - The Senate Judiciary Committee voted almost totally along party lines, 13-6, to approve Elena Kagan to be the Supreme Court's fourth female justice.
2012 - James Holmes opened fire inside a crowded theater in Aurora, Colorado during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises", killing 12 people. (Holmes has been found guilty on 165 counts, including murder and is awaiting sentencing.)
Birthdays
24 - Scout Willis (actress)
27 - Stephen Strasburg (baseball player)
27 - Julianne Hough (dancer)
35 - Gisele Bundchen (model)
40 - Ray Allen (basketball player)
40 - Judy Greer (actress)
42 - Omar Epps (actor)
42 - Peter Forsberg (hockey player)
44 - Sandra Oh (actress)
46 - Josh Holloway (actor)
68 - Carlos Santana (musician)
70 - Kim Carnes (singer)
===================================
Today in Sports History - July 20
1947 - The NFL ruled that no professional team could sign a player who had any collegiate eligibility remaining.
1958 - The PGA Championship changed its format from match play to stroke play.
1958 - Jim Bunning of the Detroit Tigers no-hit the Boston Red Sox.
1968 - The first Special Olympics were held at Soldier Field in Chicago.
2002 - Ernie Els won a sudden death playoff to win the British Open.
2003 - Ben Curtis won the British Open.
2008 - Padraig Harrington became the first golfer in the last 50 years to successfully defend a British Open title.
2009 - Former Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick was released from prison, ending a 23-month sentence on dog fighting charges.
2011 - Yao Ming of the Houston Rockets announced his retirement from basketball.
2011 - The LPGA added the Evian Masters as its fifth major championship, beginning in 2013.
2014 - Rory McIlroy won the British Open.
