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May 20
May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
Up to 1900
- 325 – First Council of Nicea: The First Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held.
- 526 – An earthquake in Syria and Antiochia kills 300,000 people.
- 685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
- 1202 – The Mediterranean Sea area and the Middle East are shaken by a strong earthquake, which is believed to have killed a million people.
- 1449 – The Battle of Alfarrobeira is fought, establishing the House of Braganza as the main Royal Family of Portugal.
- 1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol to look for a route westwards.
- 1498 – Portuguese seafarer Vasco da Gama arrives in Calicut, now Kozhikode, India.
- 1506 – Christopher Columbus dies, still believing he had reached Asia on his expeditions.
- 1520 – The massacre at the Festival of Toxcatl occurs during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
- 1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first Atlas.
- 1631 – The city of Magdeburg is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of the people who live there are massacred, as one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
- 1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony. The French troops win the battle on the next day.
- 1840 – York Minster is badly damaged by fire.
- 1861 – American Civil War: Kentucky declares its neutrality.
- 1862 – Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act.
- 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a US patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
- 1875 – Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 countries, leading to the creation of the International System of Units.
- 1882 – Germany, Italy and Austria–Hungary form a Triple Alliance.
- 1883 – Krakatau begins a series of eruptions that end really violently in August.
- 1884 – Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo becomes the King of the Zulu nation.
- 1891 – First public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.
- 1899 – The first traffic ticket in the US is handed out, to taxi driver Jacob German, who is arrested.
1901 – 2000
- 1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States, with Tomas Estrada Palma as its first President.
- 1927 – Treaty of Jeddah: The UK recognizes the sovereignty of Ibn Saud in the Kingdom of Hejaz and Nejd, which later becomes Saudi Arabia.
- 1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland, on a flight across the Atlantic Ocean. She lands in Ireland the next day.
- 1940 – Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at Auschwitz.
- 1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.
- 1948 – Chiang Kai–shek is elected the first President of the Republic of China.
- 1949 – In the US, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the forerunner of the National Security Agency, is established.
- 1956 – The US drops the first airborne hydrogen bomb on Bikini Atoll in the Marshall Islands.
- 1958 – Spain joins the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
- 1965 – PIA Flight 705, a Boeing 720, crashes on landing at Cairo International Airport in Egypt, killing 119 people.
- 1968 – Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War.
- 1969 – Vietnam War: End of the Battle of Hamburger Hill.
- 1980 – Voters in Quebec reject independence from Canada in a referendum, with 60% voting that way.
- 1983 – First publication of the discovery of the HIV virus that leads to AIDS, in the Science journal, by Luc Montagnier.
- 1989 – Authorities in China declare martial law, leading to the crushing of pro–democracy protests on Tiananmen Square two weeks later.
- 1990 – Romania holds its first elections following Communist rule.
- 1990 – The Hubble Space Telescope sends its first photograph to Earth.
From 2001
Births
Up to 1800
- 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, queen of John II of France (d. 1349)
- 1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
- 1554 – Paolo Bellasio, Italian composer (d. 1594)
- 1593 – Salomo Glassius, German theologian (d. 1656)
- 1660 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)
- 1663 – William Bradford, British–born printer (d. 1752)
- 1706 – Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
- 1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
- 1734 – Anton Jansa, Slovenian painter and beekeeper (d. 1773)
- 1737 – William Petty Fitzmaurice, British statesman (d. 1805)
- 1743 – Toussaint Louverture, Haitian revolutionary (d. 1803)
- 1759 – William Thornton, West Indian–born architect (d. 1828)
- 1764 – Johann Gottfried Schadow, Prussian sculptor and graphic artist (d. 1850)
- 1768 – Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
- 1776 – Simon Fraser, American–Canadian fur trader and explorer (d. 1862)
- 1780 – Bernardino Rivadavia, Argentine statesman (d. 1845)
- 1772 – Sir William Congreve, English inventor (d. 1828)
- 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
1801 – 1900
- 1802 – David Octavius Hill, Scottish artist and photographer (d. 1870)
- 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
- 1811 – Alfred Domett, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887)
- 1818 – William Fargo, American businessman and politician (d. 1881)
- 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1912)
- 1830 – Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)
- 1832 – Garretson W. Gibson, President of Liberia (d. 1910)
- 1838 – Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
- 1851 – Emil Berliner, German–born telephone and recording pioneer (d. 1929)
- 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
- 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
- 1882 – Wladyslaw Sikorski, Polish statesman (d. 1943)
- 1883 – King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
- 1883 – Jan Kaspar, Czech engineer and pilot (d. 1927)
- 1883 – Johnny Arthur, American actor (d. 1951)
- 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer (d. 1951)
- 1889 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (d. 1978)
- 1893 – Asmundur Sveinsson, Icelandic sculptor (d. 1972)
- 1895 – R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (d. 1937)
- 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillan, Spanish writer and economist (d. 1983)
1901 – 1925
- 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
- 1904 – Margery Allingham, English crime fiction writer (d. 1966)
- 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1989)
- 1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1908 – Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
- 1908 – Henry Bolte, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
- 1911 – Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1912 – Moses I. Finley, American–British historian (d. 1986)
- 1912 – Wilfrid Sellars, American philosopher (d. 1989)
- 1912 – Nereo Rocco, Italian footballer (d. 1979)
- 1913 – Teodoro Fernandez, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
- 1913 – William Hewlett, American engineer and computer manufacturer (d. 2001)
- 1915 – Peter Copley, British actor (d. 2008)
- 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician (d. 1981)
- 1916 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, writer and theologian (d. 2015)
- 1916 – Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete (d. 2006)
- 1916 – Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
- 1917 – Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
- 1917 – Tony Cliff, British activist (d. 2000)
- 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
- 1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
- 1920 – Betty Driver, English singer and actress (d. 2011)
- 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
- 1921 – Karl Dedecius, Polish–born German translator (d. 2016)
- 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player (d. 1998)
- 1923 – Israel Gutman, Israeli historian (d. 2013)
- 1924 – David Chavchavadze, American writer and former CIA officer (d. 2014)
- 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer and aircraft designer (d. 2001)
1926 – 1950
- 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
- 1927 – Bud Grant, American football coach
- 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (d. 2016)
- 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- 1935 – José Mujica, 40th President of Uruguay
- 1936 – Nickey Iyambo, Vice president of Namibia (d. 2019)
- 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
- 1938 – Glauco Sansovini, former Captain–Regent of San Marino (d. 2019)
- 1938 – Marinella, Greek singer and actress
- 1938 – Astrid Kirchherr, German photographer
- 1939 – Balu Mahendra, Indian movie director, screenwriter and actor (d. 2014)
- 1940 – Stan Mikita, Slovak–born hockey player (d. 2018)
- 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
- 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, former Prime Minister of Singapore
- 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor
- 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat
- 1943 – Al Bano, Italian singer
- 1944 – Joe Cocker, British singer (d. 2014)
- 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
- 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
- 1945 – Anton Zeilinger, Austrian quantum physicist
- 1945 – Wally Herger, American politician
- 1946 – Cher, American actress and singer
- 1946 – Robert Chua, Singaporean broadcaster
- 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, manager, coach and sportscaster (d. 2008)
- 1947 – Greg Dyke, British broadcast and football executive
- 1947 – Sky du Mont, Argentine–German actor
- 1948 – Jon Amiel, British–American director and producer
- 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentine footballer
- 1950 – Wei Jingsheng, Chinese activist
1951 – 1975
- 1951 – Thomas Akers, American astronaut
- 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
- 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian politician
- 1954 – Esko Aho, former Prime Minister of Finland
- 1954 – David Paterson, American politician, 55th Governor of New York
- 1954 – Cindy McCain, American businesswoman and wife of John McCain
- 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish movie composer
- 1955 – Anton Corbijn, Dutch photographer and movie director
- 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian writer
- 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, former Prime Minister of Japan
- 1958 – Ron Reagan, American dancer and talk show host
- 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer (The Go–Go's)
- 1959 – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian–American singer (d. 1997)
- 1959 – Bronson Pinchot, American actor
- 1960 – John Billingsley, American actor
- 1960 – Chuck Brodsky, American musician
- 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor
- 1961 – Clive Allen, English footballer
- 1961 – Anna Signeul, Swedish football coach
- 1962 – Mike Jeffries, American soccer coach
- 1964 – Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, British peer, brother of Diana, Princess of Wales
- 1966 – Mindy Cohn, American actress
- 1967 – Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
- 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1967 – Ramzi Yousef, Kuwaiti–Pakistani terrorist
- 1968 – Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby player and coach
- 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor
- 1970 – Louis Theroux, British television presenter
- 1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
- 1972 – Tina Hobley, British actress
- 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American singer and rapper
- 1973 – Elsa Lunghini, French singer–songwriter and actress
- 1973 – Juris Razgulajevs, Latvian figure skater
From 1976
- 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
- 1977 – Miriam Parrish, American actress
- 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1978 – Nils Schumann, German athlete
- 1979 – Rick Edwards, English television presenter
- 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician
- 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
- 1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- 1982 – Petr Cech, Czech footballer
- 1982 – Natalia Podolskaya, Belarussian singer
- 1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer and screenwriter
- 1983 – Oscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
- 1984 – Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
- 1985 – Chris Froome, British cyclist
- 1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
- 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Dutch–Japanese footballer
- 1987 – Taku Takeuchi, Japanese ski jumper
- 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
- 1988 – Miyu Nagase, Japanese singer and guitarist
- 1991 – Henrik Ojamaa, Estonian footballer
- 1992 – Cate Campbell, Australian swimmer
- 1992 – Vaclav Kadlec, Czech footballer
- 1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
- 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
Deaths
Up to 1950
- 685 – King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
- 1277 – Pope John XII (b. 1215)
- 1285 – John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)
- 1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
- 1449 – Infante Peter, Duke of Coimbra, Prince–regent of Portugal (b. 1392)
- 1503 – Lorenzo de' Medici, Italian banker, politician and patron of the arts (b. 1463)
- 1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian–Spanish seafarer (b. 1451)
- 1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
- 1622 – Osman II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1604)
- 1648 – Wladislaus IV of Poland (b. 1595)
- 1717 – John Trevor, English politician (b. 1637)
- 1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)
- 1841 – Joseph Blanco White, Spanish theologian and poet (b. 1775)
- 1873 – Georges–Etienne Cartier, Canadian politician (b. 1814)
- 1880 – Henry S. Foote, Governor of Mississippi (b. 1804)
- 1885 – Frederick Theodore Frelinghuysen, American politician, 29th United States Secretary of State (b. 1817)
- 1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist (b. 1819)
- 1903 – Gertrude Guillaume–Schack, German–Swiss activist (b. 1845)
- 1909 – Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
- 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, French stamp collector (b. 1850)
- 1925 – Joseph Howard, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1862)
- 1925 – Elias M. Ammons, 18th Governor of Colorado (b. 1860)
- 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer (b. 1871)
- 1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish aviation pioneer and engineer (b. 1871)
- 1947 – Philipp Lenard, German physicist (b. 1862)
- 1949 – Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens (b. 1891)
From 1951
- 1957 – Gilbert Murray, Australian philologist (b. 1866)
- 1961 – Josef Priller, German military aviator (b. 1915)
- 1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (b. 1936)
- 1973 – Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1938)
- 1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
- 1974 – Jean Daniélou, French cardinal (b. 1905)
- 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (b. 1903)
- 1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
- 1984 – Olafur Johannesson, Prime Minister of Iceland (b. 1913)
- 1989 – John Hicks, English economist (b. 1904)
- 1989 – Gilda Radner, American comedienne and actress (b. 1946)
- 1992 – Giovanni Colombo, Italian cardinal and Archbishop of Milan (b. 1902)
- 1996 – Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
- 2000 – Charles Antenen, Swiss footballer (b. 1929)
- 2000 – David Pearce, British professional boxer (b. 1959)
- 2000 – Jean–Pierre Rampal, French flautist (b. 1922)
- 2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian pianist and bandleader (b. 1920)
- 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
- 2005 – Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)
- 2007 – Stanley Miller, American biologist and chemist (b. 1930)
- 2008 – Hamilton Jordan, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
- 2009 – Lucy Gordon, British actress (b. 1980)
- 2010 – Walter Rudin, Austrian–born mathematician (b. 1921)
- 2011 – Randy Savage, American pro wrestler (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Abdelbaset al–Megrahi, Libyan intelligence officer, only person convicted of the 1988 Lockerbie bombing (b. 1952)
- 2012 – Robin Gibb, British singer and musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)
- 2012 – Eugene Polley, American inventor of the TV remote control (b. 1915)
- 2013 – Ray Manzarek, American musician and singer (The Doors) (b. 1939)
- 2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)
- 2014 – Arthur Gelb, American editor and writer (b. 1924)
- 2014 – Charles W. Robinson, American businessman and diplomat (b. 1919)
- 2015 – Sudha Shivpuri, Indian actress (b. 1937)
- 2015 – Bob Belden, American musician (b. 1956)
- 2016 – Patricia M. Derian, American activist (b. 1928)
- 2016 – Miguel de la Quadra–Salcedo, Spanish journalist and athlete (b. 1932)
- 2016 – Wheelock Whitney, Jr., American businessman (b. 1926)
- 2016 – Gert Bals, Dutch footballer (b. 1936)
- 2016 – Brandon Grove, Jr., American diplomat (b. 1929)
- 2017 – Albert Bouvet, French cyclist (b. 1930)
- 2017 – Syed Abdullah Khalid, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1942)
- 2017 – Joy Corning, American politician (b. 1932)
- 2017 – Emile Degelin, Belgian film director (b. 1926)
- 2017 – Alexander Alexandrovich Volkov, Russian politician (b. 1951)
- 2018 – Jaroslav Brabec, Czech shot putter (b. 1949)
- 2018 – Bill Gold, American movie poster artist (b. 1921)
- 2018 – Richard N. Goodwin, American speechwriter (b. 1931)
- 2018 – Koo Bon–moo, South Korean business executive (b. 1945)
- 2018 – Patricia Morison, American actress (b. 1915)
- 2018 – Rolf Sand, Norwegian actor (b. 1920)
- 2019 – Sandy D'Alemberte, American lawyer, professor and politician (b. 1933)
- 2019 – Niki Lauda, Austrian racing driver (b. 1949)
- 2019 – Miguel Montes Busto, Spanish footballer (b. 1939)
- 2019 – John Moore, Baron Moore of Lower Marsh, British politician (b. 1939)
- 2019 – Charles C. Pattillo, American Air Force Lieutenant General (b. 1924)
- 2019 – Ronnie Virgets, American writer and reporter (b. 1942)
Observances
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