July 20
Politics, Germany
An attempt is made by German officers to assassinate Adolf Hitler. Count Schenk von Stauffenberg, chief-of-staff to General Friedrich Fromm, plants a bomb near Hitler in a conference room at the Nazi leader's East Prussian headquarters at Rastenburg. The bomb explodes at 1242 hours, after von Stauffenberg has left. The bomb fails to kill Hitler and the conspiracy falls apart. Josef Goebbels, Nazi minister for propaganda, acts quickly to convince the Berlin garrison that Hitler is still alive by linking them by telephone. Fromm, to allay suspicions of his involvement in the plot, has von Stauffenberg shot in the evening. The failure of the plot results in the arrest, torture, and execution of dozens of suspects in the following months. Field Marshal Erwin Rommel is among the most notable of those senior military figures aware of the conspiracy.

July 21
Politics, Poland
The Soviet-backed Polish Committee of National Liberation is formed.

July 23
Italy, Tuscany
After taking the vital port of Livorno on the 19th, the US 34th Division enters the town of Pisa.

July 25
Western Front, France
Operation Cobra, the Allied breakout from Normandy, begins. Following a massive aerial bombardment, three infantry divisions of General J. Lawton Collins' US VII Corps open a breach in the German line between Marigny and St. Gilles, allowing the armor to get through. Within five days, the US spearhead reaches Avranches, turning the west flank of the German Front.

July 25-29
Pacific, Marianas
A Japanese counterattack against the US 3rd Marine Division on Guam is defeated. The Japanese lose 19,500 dead, while US fatalities number 1744. On the 24th, the US 4th Marine Division lands on the island of Tinian.

July 27-30
Eastern Front, Ukraine
The Soviet 1st Ukrainian Front liberates Lvov, and goes on to establish several bridgeheads on the Vistula River by the 30th.

July 30
Western Front, France
Avranches falls to the US VIII Corps.

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