July 20, 1969 – A global audience watched on television as Apollo 11 Astronaut Neil Armstrong took his first step onto the moon. He remarked, “That’s one small step for man, one giant leap for mankind.”
July 23, 1934 – Bank robber John Dillinger (Public Enemy #1) is shot and killed by FBI agents while leaving the Biograph Movie Theater in Chicago.
July 24, 1911 – American archeologist Hiram Bingham gets his first look at the ruins of Machu Picchu, the ancient Inca settlement in Peru that is now one of the world’s top tourist destinations.
July 26, 1953 – Fidel Castro begins his “26th of July Movement” to topple the dictatorship of Cuba by Fulgencio Batista. He is eventually successful when Batista flees Cuba on New Year’s Day 1959.