July 20, 1944

1944Mel Daniels, American basketball player and coach (died 2015)^[†]

Melvin Joe Daniels was an American professional basketball player. He played in the American Basketball Association (ABA) for the Minnesota Muskies, Indiana Pacers, and Memphis Sounds, and in the National Basketball Association for the New York Nets. One of the greatest players in ABA history, Daniels was a two-time ABA Most Valuable Player, three-time ABA Champion and a seven-time ABA All-Star. Daniels was the All-time ABA rebounding leader, and in 1997, he was named a unanimous selection to the ABA All-Time Team. Daniels was enshrined into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2012.

1944W. Cary Edwards, American politician (died 2010)^[†]

William Cary Edwards was a New Jersey politician who served as the Attorney General of New Jersey from 1986 to 1989.

1944Olivier de Kersauson, French sailor^[†]

Olivier de Kersauson de Pennendreff is a French sailor and sailing champion.

1944T. G. Sheppard, American country music singer-songwriter^[†]

William Neal Browder is an American country music singer, known professionally as T. G. Sheppard. He had 14 number-one hits on the US country charts between 1974 and 1986, including eight consecutive number ones between 1980 and 1982.

1944Ludwig Beck, German general (born 1880)^[†]

Ludwig August Theodor Beck was a German general who served as Chief of the German General Staff from 1933 to 1938. Beck was one of the main conspirators of the 20 July plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler.

1944Mildred Harris, American actress (born 1901)^[†]

Mildred Harris was an American stage, film, and vaudeville actress during the early part of the 20th century. She began her career in the film industry as a child actress at age 10. She was also the first wife of Charlie Chaplin.

1944World War II: Adolf Hitler survives an assassination attempt led by German Army Colonel Claus von Stauffenberg.^[†]

World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated, with many nations mobilising all resources in pursuit of total war. Tanks and aircraft played major roles, enabling the strategic bombing of cities and delivery of the first and only nuclear weapons ever used in war. World War II is the deadliest conflict in history, causing the death of 70 to 85 million people, more than half of whom were civilians. Millions died in genocides, including the Holocaust, and by massacres, starvation, and disease. After the Allied victory, Germany, Austria, Japan, and Korea were occupied, and German and Japanese leaders were tried for war crimes.