Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/March 20
This is a list of selected March 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
March 20: Purim ends at sundown (Judaism, 2011); Nowruz in Iran, Central Asia, and Zoroastrianism (2011); Independence Day in Tunisia (1956)
- 235 – Maximinus Thrax succeeded to the throne of the Roman Empire, the first of the so-called barracks emperors who gained power by virtue of his command of the army.
- 1602 – The Dutch East India Company was established.
- 1923 –The Arts Club of Chicago hosted the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the U.S.
- 1944 – World War II: Four thousand U.S. Marines made a landing on Emirau Island in the Bismarck Archipelago to develop an airbase as part of Operation Cartwheel.
- 1987 – The antiretroviral drug zidovudine (AZT) (chemical structure pictured) became the first antiviral medication approved for use against HIV and AIDS.