Historical timeline for July 20

American businessman Jeff Bezos flies to space aboard New Shepard NS-16 operated by his private spaceflight company Blue Origin.

Soyuz MS-13 is launched to the International Space Station on the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing.

O. J. Simpson is granted parole to be released from prison after serving nine years of a 33-year sentence after being convicted of armed robbery in Las Vegas.

A huge explosion in the mostly Kurdish border town of Suruç, Turkey, targeting the Socialist Youth Associations Federation, kills at least 31 people and injures over 100.

The United States and Cuba resume full diplomatic relations after five decades.

Seventeen government soldiers are killed in an attack by FARC revolutionaries in the Colombian department of Arauca.

Syrian civil war: The Battle of Ras al-Ayn ends with the expulsion of Islamist forces from the city by the People's Protection Units (YPG).

James Holmes opened fire at a movie theater in Aurora, Colorado, killing 12 and injuring 70 others.

Syrian civil war: The People's Protection Units (YPG) capture the cities of Amuda and Efrîn without resistance.

The Civil Marriage Act legalizes same-sex marriage in Canada.

The Chinese Communist Party begins a persecution campaign against Falun Gong, arresting thousands nationwide.

The fully restored USS Constitution (a.k.a. Old Ironsides) celebrates its 200th birthday by setting sail for the first time in 116 years.

A Tupolev Tu-154 crashes during takeoff from Tbilisi International Airport, killing all 24 aboard and four more people on the ground.

Václav Havel resigns as president of Czechoslovakia.

Burma's ruling junta puts opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi under house arrest.

The government of Aruba passes legislation to secede from the Netherlands Antilles.

Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings: The Provisional IRA detonates two bombs in Hyde Park and Regent's Park in central London, killing eight soldiers, wounding forty-seven people, and leading to the deaths of seven horses.

Somali Airlines Flight 40 crashes in Balad, Somalia, killing 50 people.

Aeroflot Flight B-2 crashes after takeoff from Vitim Airport in the Sakha Republic, killing 39.

The Central Intelligence Agency releases documents under the Freedom of Information Act revealing it had engaged in mind-control experiments.