October 20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
October 20 is the 294th day of the year (295th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 71 days remaining after October 20 until the end of the year.
[change] Births
- 1463 – Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (died 1512)
- 1469 – Guru Nanak Dev ji, The Founder of the Sikh religion.
- 1632 – Sir Christopher Wren, English architect (died 1723)
- 1677 – Stanislaw I Leszczynski, King of Poland (died 1766)
- 1759 – Chauncey Goodrich, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (died 1815)
- 1784 – Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1865)
- 1808 – Karl Andree, German geographer (died 1875)
- 1819 – The Báb, prophet founder of the Bábí Faith, precursor to the Bahá'í Faith (died 1850)
- 1822 – Thomas Hughes, novelist (died 1896)
- 1854 – Arthur Rimbaud, French poet (died 1891)
- 1858 – John Burns, English politician (died 1943)
- 1859 – John Dewey, American philosopher (died 1952)
- 1874 – Charles Ives, American composer (died 1954)
- 1882 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (died 1956)
- 1889 – Margaret Dumont, actress (died 1965)
- 1890 – Jelly Roll Morton, composer, musician (died 1941)
- 1891 – Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya (died 1978)
- 1891 – James Chadwick, English physicist (died 1974)
- 1893 – Charley Chase, early film comedian (died 1940)
- 1897 – Crown Prince Eun of Korea (died 1970)
- 1900 – Wayne Morse, Senator from Oregon (died 1974)
- 1904 – Anna Neagle, actress (died 1986)
- 1904 – Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian politician, founder of public healthcare in Canada (died 1986)
- 1905 – Frederic Dannay (Ellery Queen), mystery novelist (died 1982)
- 1907 – Arlene Francis, television personality (died 2001)
- 1909 – Adela Holban (Baiut, Maramures, Romania)
- 1913 – Grandpa Jones, country music performer (died 1998)
- 1918 – Robert Lochner, journalist, creator of Kennedy's "ish been oin bear-lee-ner" (died 2003)
- 1920 – Janet Jagan, American-born President of Guyana (died 2009)
- 1923 – Otfried Preussler, German children's author
- 1923 – Herschel Bernardi, actor (died 1986)
- 1925 – Art Buchwald, newspaper columnist
- 1928 – Joyce Brothers, psychologist, television personality
- 1931 – Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (died 1995)
- 1932 – Rosey Brown, American Pro Football Hall of Famer (died 2004)
- 1932 – William Christopher, actor
- 1934 – Empress Michiko of Japan
- 1934 – Eddie Harris, American jazz saxophonist (died 1996)
- 1934 – Timothy West, English actor
- 1935 – Jerry Orbach, American actor (Law & Order) (died 2004)
- 1937 – Juan Marichal, Dominican baseball player
- 1942 – Christian Nuesslein-Volhard, German biologist
- 1945 – Romeo Benetti, Italian footballer
- 1946 – Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian writer, won the 2004 Nobel Prize in Literature
- 1949 – Valeri Borzov, Ukrainian athlete
- 1950 – Tom Petty, American musician
- 1951 – Claudio Ranieri, Italian footballer and manager
- 1951 – Al Greenwood, American rock musician
- 1953 – Bill Nunn, American actor
- 1955 – Aaron Pryor, world boxing champion
- 1956 – Danny Boyle, British film director
- 1958 – Viggo Mortensen, American actor
- 1958 – Ivo Pogorelic, Croatian pianist
- 1960 – Konstantin Aseev, chess player (died 2004)
- 1961 – Ian Rush, Welsh footballer
- 1963 – Julie Payette, Canadian Astronaut
- 1965 – William Zabka, American actor
- 1966 – Stefan Raab, German entertainer
- 1966 – Allan Donald, South African cricketer
- 1966 – Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Jordanian militant and al-Qaeda member (died 2006)
- 1967 – Monica Ali, British author
- 1969 – Juan Gonzalez, baseball player
- 1971 – Dannii Minogue, Australian singer
- 1971 – Snoop Dogg, American rapper
- 1972 – Will Greenwood, English rugby player
- 1976 – Nicola Legrottaglie, Italian footballer
- 1977 – Elena Berezhnaya, figure skating star
- 1978 – Paul Wilson, Scottish musician (Snow Patrol)
- 1978 – Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
- 1979 – John Krasinski, American actor
- 1981 – Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1981 – Willis McGahee, American football player
- 1984 – Andrew Trimble, Northern Irish rugby player
- 1985 – Dominic McGuire, American basketball player
- 1986 – Priyanka Sharma, Indian actress
- 1988 – Risa Niigaki, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1994 – Morgan Featherstone, Australian model
[change] Deaths
- 1631 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1550)
- 1640 – John Ball, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1585)
- 1740 – Charles IV, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1685)
- 1896 – Felix Tisserand, French astronomer (b. 1845)
- 1900 – Naim Frasheri, Albanian poet (b. 1846)
- 1907 – Said Pasha Kurd, Kurdish statesman (b. 1834)
- 1935 – Arthur Henderson, Scottish politician (b. 1863)
- 1936 – Anne Sullivan, American teacher (b. 1866)
- 1964 – Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874)
- 1967 – Shigeru Yoshida, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)
- 1968 – Bud Flanagan, British wartime entertainer (b. 1896)
- 1977 – Cassie Gaines, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1948) (plane crash)
- 1977 – Steve Gaines, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1949) (plane crash)
- 1977 – Ronnie Van Zant, American musician (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1948) (plane crash)
- 1978 – Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish racing driver (b. 1948)
- 1984 – Paul Dirac, English physicist (b. 1902)
- 1984 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech doctor, won the 1947 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1896)
- 1987 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1903)
- 1994 – Sergei Bondarchuk, Russian actor and director (b. 1920)
- 1994 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Jack Lynch, Irish Taoiseach (b. 1917)
- 2008 – Soeur Emmanuelle, French-Belgian nun and humanitarian (b. 1908)
- 2010 – Farooq Leghari, President of Pakistan (b. 1940)
- 2010 – Bob Guccione, American publisher (b. 1930)
- 2011 – Muammar al-Gaddafi, colonel and military ruler of Libya (b. 1942)
[change] Events
- 1740 – Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
- 1803 – United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase
- 1827 – Battle of Navarino – a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is destroyed by an allied British, French, and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece. The most important result of this battle is the end of the Greek Liberation War and the affirmation of independence of modern Greece.
- 1883 – Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province was ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
- 1935 – The Long March ends
- 1944 – The Soviet army captures Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
- 1944 – Liquid natural gas leaks from storange tanks in Cleveland, Ohio, then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.
- 1947 – The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
- 1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
- 1971 – The Nepal stock exchange collapses.
- 1973 – The Saturday Night Massacre: President Nixon fires Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
- 1973 – The Sydney Opera House opens.
- 1973 – The Six Million Dollar Man premieres on ABC.
- 1977 – A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing several band members, including lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines.
- 1982 – St. Louis Cardinals defeat Milwaukee Brewers 6-3 to win 9th World Series Championship.
- 1986 – Yitzhak Shamir begins his second office term as Israel's prime minister.
- 1991 – A magnitude 6.8 earthquake in northern India kills around 1,000 people.
- 1991 – The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3469 homes and apartments, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
- 1999 – Abdurrahman Wahid is elected President of Indonesia.
- 2007 – South Africa wins the Rugby World Cup, defeating England in the final.
- 2011 – 2011 Libyan civil war: Forces loyal to the National Transitional Council take the city of Sirte, the last remaining pro-Gaddafi stronghold. Subsequently, Colonel Muammar al-Gaddafi is captured and killed.
