July 20 Holidays

Moon Day marks July 20, 1969, when Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin became the first humans to walk on the Moon — while Michael Collins orbited above in the command module — in what NASA described as humanity’s greatest technological achievement. International Chess Day was established by FIDE in 1966 to mark July 20, 1924, when the World Chess Federation was founded in Paris during the Olympic Games, coinciding with the game’s documented 1,500-year history in India and Persia. Colombia Independence Day marks July 20, 1810, when Bogotá’s creole elite staged a confrontation that triggered a declaration of independence from Spain — the date celebrated as Colombia’s founding moment. National Lollipop Day marks the invention of the modern lollipop, credited to George Smith of New Haven, Connecticut, who trademarked the name “Lolly Pop” in 1931 after creating the stick-candy in 1908. A bootprint on the Moon, a 64-square board, a Colombian flag, and a stick.