May 20

May 20 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Wednesday)

May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 225 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 325 – The First Council of Nicea – the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held.
• 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed Augusta is able to choose her successor for the Byzantine throne, after Zeno (late emperor) dies of dysentery.
• 526 – An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia.
• 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.
• 1217 – The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
• 1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.
• 1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
• 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
• 1521 – Battle of Pampeluna: Ignatius Loyola is seriously wounded.
• 1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas.
• 1609 – Shakespeare's sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
• 1631 – The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
• 1775 – Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence signed in Charlotte, North Carolina
• 1802 – By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution
• 1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
• 1840 – York Minster is badly damaged by fire
• 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
• 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church – in the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
• 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
• 1875 – Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
• 1882 – The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.
• 1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt. The volcano's final and most notable explosion occurs on August 26.
• 1884 – Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo becomes the king of the Zulu Nation.
• 1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.
• 1896 – The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd below resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
• 1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.
• 1908 – Budi Utomo organization is founded in Dutch East Indies, beginning the Indonesian National Awakening.
• 1916 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting (Boy with Baby Carriage).
• 1920 – Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.
• 1927 – Treaty of Jedda: the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• 1927 – At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. He touched down at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 22:22 the next day.
• 1932 – Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
• 1940 – Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.
• 1948 – Chiang Kai-shek elected to be the first President of the Republic of China.
• 1949 – In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
• 1956 – In Operation Redwing (shot Cherokee), the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean;
• 1965 – PIA Flight 705, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720 – 040 B, crashes while descending to land at Cairo International Airport, killing 119 of the 125 passengers and crew.
• 1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
• 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
• 1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
• 1985 – Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
• 1989 – The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
• 1990 – The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
• 1996 – Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
• 2002 – The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).

Births

• 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, wife 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)
• 1737 – William Petty Fitzmaurice, British statesman (d. 1805)
• 1759 – William Thornton, West Indian-born architect (d. 1828)
• 1768 – Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
• 1769 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
• 1772 – Sir William Congreve, English inventor (d. 1828)
• 1776 – Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer (d.1862)
• 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
• 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
• 1818 – William Fargo, American pioneer expressman, co-founder of Wells, Fargo & Co. (d. 1881)
• 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1912)
• 1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, American Confederate general (d. 1890)
• 1830 – Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)
• 1838 – Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
• 1851 – Emile Berliner, German-born recording pioneer (d. 1929)
• 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1917)
• 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (d. 1949)
• 1883 – King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
• 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish founder of Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
• 1889 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (d. 1978)
• 1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian Hindu sage, Jivanmukta (d. 1994)
• 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, British aircraft designer (d. 1937)
• 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (d. 1983)
• 1899 – Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)
• 1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
• 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Louis Daquin, French film director (d. 1980)
• 1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch writer (d. 1995)
• 1913 – William Hewlett, American engineer (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician (d. 1995)
• 1914 – Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (d. 1995)
• 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Peter Copley, British actor (d. 2008)
• 1916 – Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
• 1917 – Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer (d. 1967)
• 1917 – Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter pilot (d. 1983)
• 1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
• 1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish airman, Victoria Cross recipient
• 1920 – Betty Driver MBE, English singer and actress (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
• 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan reporter and politician (d. 1976)
• 1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress d. 2011
• 1925 – Chester Ludgin, American baritone (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Soviet engineer and aircraft designer (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
• 1926 – John Lucarotti, English-born Canadian TV writer (d. 1994)
• 1927 – Bud Grant, American football coach
• 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish Catholic cardinal
• 1927 – David Hedison, American actor
• 1929 – Ahmed Hamdi, Egyptian soldier, who fought in Yom Kippur(d. 1973)
• 1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician
• 1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)
• 1931 – Paul Evans, American furniture designer and sculptor (d. 1987)
• 1932 – Bob Florence, American jazz pianist, composer, arranger (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Constance Towers, American actress
• 1935 – José Mujica, President of Uruguay
• 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
• 1938 – Marinella, Greek singer and actress
• 1940 – Shorty Long, American musician (d. 1969)
• 1940 – Stan Mikita, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
• 1940 – Michel Vastel, French Canadian journalist, columnist and author (d. 2008)
• 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean Senior Minister
• 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor
• 1941 – Manuel Isaias Lopez, Mexican child psychiatrist
• 1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American Marine Corps sniper (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, ambassador from Canada
• 1942 – Jill Jackson, American singer (Paul & Paula)
• 1943 – Al Bano, Italian singer
• 1944 – Joe Cocker, British singer
• 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
• 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
• 1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian politician
• 1946 – Cher, American singer & actress
• 1946 – Robert Chua, Hong Kong TV Entrepreneur
• 1946 – Dave Despain, American racing commentator
• 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player (d. 2008)
• 1947 – Greg Dyke, British broadcast executive
• 1947 – John Corapi, American Catholic prelate
• 1949 – Robert Morin, French Canadian film director and screenwriter
• 1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1950 – Yvon Lambert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentine footballer
• 1951 – Thomas Akers, American astronaut
• 1951 – Mike Crapo, American politician
• 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
• 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian politician
• 1953 – Norbert Siegmann, German footballer
• 1954 – Guy Hoffman, American musician (Violent Femmes)
• 1954 – David Paterson, American politician
• 1954 – Cindy McCain, American businesswoman, wife of John McCain
• 1954 – Robert Van de Walle, Belgian judoka
• 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
• 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
• 1956 – Dean Butler, American actor
• 1956 – William Michaelian, American novelist and poet
• 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan
• 1958 – Ron Reagan, American talk show host
• 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer (The Go-Go's)
• 1959 – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (d. 1997)
• 1959 – Bronson Pinchot, American actor
• 1959 – Susan Cowsill, American musician
• 1960 – John Billingsley, American actor
• 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor
• 1961 – Clive Allen, English footballer
• 1962 – Mike Jeffries, American soccer coach
• 1963 – David Wells, American baseball player
• 1964 – Edin Osmanović, Football manager from Slovenia
• 1965 – Ted Allen, American television host
• 1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Dan Abrams, American TV reporter
• 1966 – Mindy Cohn, American actress
• 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian film director
• 1967 – Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
• 1967 – Ramzi Yousef, Kuwaiti-born Pakistani terrorist
• 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor
• 1968 – Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby union and rugby sevens footballer
• 1969 – Brian Gerard James ("Road Dogg" Jesse James), American professional wrestler
• 1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
• 1970 – Louis Theroux, British television presenter
• 1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech athlete
• 1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
• 1972 – Tina Hobley, British television actress
• 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper and actor
• 1973 – Elsa Lunghini, French singer and actress
• 1975 – Pascal Denis, Canadian figure skater
• 1975 – Isaac Gálvez, Spanish cyclist (d. 2006)
• 1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentine actor
• 1975 – Tahmoh Penikett, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Andrew Sega, American musician
• 1975 – Mark Zupan, American wheelchair rugby player and actor
• 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
• 1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
• 1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
• 1977 – Chad Muska, American professional skateboarder
• 1977 – Leonardo Noeren Franco, Argentine footballer
• 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1977 – Tiger Tyson, American pornographic actor
• 1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
• 1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech athlete
• 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician
• 1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
• 1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
• 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Morgan Knabe, Canadian swimmer
• 1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
• 1981 – Mark Winterbottom, Australian racing driver
• 1982 – Candace Bailey, American actress
• 1982 – Petr Čech, Czech footballer
• 1982 – Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
• 1983 – N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Indian film actor
• 1983 – Roger Huerta, American mixed martial artist
• 1984 – Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
• 1984 – Keith Grennan, American football player
• 1984 – Mauro, Brazilian footballer
• 1984 – Naturi Naughton, singer (3LW) and actress
• 1984 – Kenny Vasoli, American singer and bassist (The Starting Line)
• 1985 – Chris Froome, British cyclist
• 1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
• 1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
• 1986 – Jiřina Ptáčníková, Czech pole vaulter
• 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Dutch-Japanese footballer
• 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
• 1988 – Carla Humphries, Filipino actress
• 1988 – Yusuf Kasal, Turkish footballer
• 1991 – Mara Lopez, Filipino actress
• 1992 – Cate Campbell, Australian swimmer
• 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
• 1995 – Brandon Zibaka, English football player
• 1996 – Sydney Posey, Ruler of Florida

Deaths

• 685 – King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
• 1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
• 1285 – John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)
• 1444 – Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
• 1503 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian banker, politician and patron of the arts (b. 1463)
• 1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (b. 1451)
• 1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
• 1622 – Osman II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1604)
• 1648 – King Wladislaus IV of Poland (b. 1595)
• 1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (b. 1612)
• 1713 – Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
• 1717 – John Trevor, British statesman (b. 1637)
• 1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)
• 1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)
• 1782 – William Emerson, British mathematician (b. 1701)
• 1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)
• 1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1732)
• 1825 – Papaflessas, Greek priest and government official (b. 1788)
• 1834 – Gilbert du Motier, French statesman (b. 1757)
• 1841 – Joseph Blanco White, British theologian (b. 1775)
• 1873 – Sir George-Étienne Cartier, French-Canadian statesman (b. 1814)
• 1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse (b. 1814)
• 1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
• 1909 – Ernest Hogan, American comedian and musician, one of the creators of ragtime (b. 1859)
• 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian philatelist (b. 1850)
• 1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
• 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)
• 1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish inventor (b. 1871)
• 1947 – Philipp Lenard, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)
• 1947 – Georgios Siantos, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1890)
• 1949 – Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
• 1949 – Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens (b. 1891)
• 1956 – Max Beerbohm, English theatre critic (b. 1872)
• 1961 – Josef "Pips" Priller, German flying ace (b. 1915)
• 1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (The Drifters) (b. 1936)
• 1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet (b. 1904)
• 1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
• 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
• 1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan Christian-Democrat Party politician (b. 1924)
• 1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan National Party politician (b. 1934)
• 1989 – John Hicks, English economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Roger Keith Coleman, American convict (b. 1958)
• 1996 – Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
• 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player (b. 1970)
• 2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian musician (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)
• 2005 – William Seawell, U.S. Army Brigadier General (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American White House Chief of Staff under President Carter (b. 1944)
• 2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect (b.1924)
• 2009 – Lucy Gordon, British model and actress (b. 1980)
• 2011 – Randy Savage, American Pro-Wrestler (b. 1952)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abercius and Helena
  • Aurea of Ostia
  • Austregisilus
  • Baudilus
  • Bernardino of Siena
  • Ivo of Chartres
  • Lucifer of Cagliari
  • Sanctan
  • May 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
• Emancipation Day (Florida)
• European Maritime Day (European Council)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cuba from the United States in 1902.
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002.
• Indonesian National Awakening (Indonesia)
• National Day (Cameroon)
• World Metrology Day

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

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