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Today in History
Today is Monday, July 20, the 201st day of 2026. There are 164 days left in the year.
Today in History:
On July 20, 1969, astronauts Neil Armstrong and Edwin "Buzz" Aldrin became the first men to walk on the moon after reaching its surface in their Apollo 11 lunar module.
Also on this date:
In 1917, America's World War I draft lottery began as Secretary of War Newton Baker, wearing a blindfold, reached into a glass bowl and pulled out a capsule containing the number 258 during a ceremony in the Senate office building.
In 1944, an attempt by a group of German officials to assassinate Adolf Hitler with a bomb in a briefcase failed as the explosion only wounded the Nazi leader.
In 1951, Jordan's King Abdullah I was assassinated in Jerusalem by a Palestinian gunman who was shot dead on the spot by security.
In 1976, America's Viking 1 robot spacecraft made a successful, first-ever landing on Mars.
In 1977, a flash flood hit Johnstown, Pennsylvania, killing more than 80 people and causing $350 million worth of damage.
In 1990, Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, one of the court's most liberal voices, announced he was stepping down.
In 1993, White House deputy counsel Vincent Foster Jr., 48, was found shot to death in a park near Washington, D.C.; it was ruled a suicide.
In 2006, the Senate voted 98-0 to renew the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act for another quarter-century.
In 2007, President George W. Bush signed an executive order prohibiting cruel and inhuman treatment, including humiliation or denigration of religious beliefs, in the detention and interrogation of terrorism suspects.
In 2012, gunman James Holmes opened fire inside a crowded movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, during a midnight showing of "The Dark Knight Rises," killing 12 people and wounding 70 others. (Holmes was later convicted of murder and attempted murder, and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
In 2015, the United States and Cuba restored full diplomatic relations after more than five decades of frosty relations rooted in the Cold War.
Today's Birthdays: Baseball Hall of Famer Tony Oliva is 88. Artist Judy Chicago is 87. Country singer T.G. Sheppard is 82. Singer Kim Carnes is 81. Rock musician Carlos Santana is 79. Author and commentator Thomas Friedman is 73. Rock musician Paul Cook (Sex Pistols) is 70. Actor Frank Whaley is 63. Conservationist and TV personality Terri Irwin is 62. Rock musician Stone Gossard (Pearl Jam) is 60. Actor Josh Holloway (TV: "Lost") is 57. Singer Vitamin C is 57. Actor Sandra Oh is 55. Hockey Hall of Famer Peter Forsberg is 53. Actor Omar Epps is 53. Basketball Hall of Famer Ray Allen is 51. Hockey Hall of Famer Pavel Datsyuk is 48. Actor Percy Daggs III is 44. Actor John Francis Daley is 41. Dancer-singer-actor Julianne Hough is 38. Former MLB pitcher Stephen Strasburg is 38.
