July 20

Today in History
• 1031 - Henry I succeeds father Robert II as King of the Franks (1031-60)
• 1553 - John Dudley, Lord President of the Council under Edward VI, captured in Cambridge
• 1609 - Emperor Rudolf II grants Silezische protestants freedom of religion
• 1712 - The Riot Act takes effect in Great Britain
• 1801 - Elisha Brown, Jr. pressed a 1,235 pound cheese ball at his farm
• 1849 - Start of 1st Lancashire-Yorkshire clash at Hyde Park, Sheffield
• 1855 - 1st train from Rotterdam to Utrecht in Netherlands
• 1858 - Fee 1st charged to see a baseball game (50 cents ) (New York beats Brooklyn 22-18)


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Colombia Independence Day
• Crown Prince Haakon's Day
• International Chess Day
• Lempira Day
• National Moon Day
• National Pennsylvania Day
• Space Exploration Day
• Women's Union Establishment Day

Birthdays
• 356 - Alexander the Great, Macedonian king and military leader
• 1519 - Pope Innocent IX [Giovanni Antonio Facchinetti], 230th Catholic pope (1591)
• 1766 - Thomas Bruce, 7th earl of Elgin and Kincardine
• 1785 - Mahmud II, sultan of Turkey, 1808 - 1839, Westernizer/reformer
• 1797 - Pawel Edmund Strzelecki, Polish explorer and geologist
• 1811 - James Bruce, 8th Earl of Elgin and Kincardine and Governor (Jamaica)
• 1822 - Gregor Mendel, monk and geneticist (discoverer of laws of heredity)
• 1849 - Robert Anderson Van Wyck, Mayor of New York City