September 20
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 102 days remaining until the end of the year.
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Events [change]
- 331 BC – Alexander the Great crosses the Tigris on his way to conquering the Persians.
- 1187 – Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.
- 1260 – The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.
- 1459 – First documented mention of Bucharest.
- 1498 – An earthquake and tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in in Kamagura, Kanagawa, Japan. Since then, the Buddha statue has sat in open-air.
- 1519 – Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Spain with 270 crew members, of whom only 18 return home in 1522. Magellan is killed in the Philippines in 1521.
- 1697 – The Treaty of Rijswijk is signed by France, England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, ending the Nine Years' War.
- 1848 – The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.
- 1859 – For the electric oven, American George B. Simpson is given a US patent.
- 1860 – Future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (then the Prince of Wales), visits the United States.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga ends in Confederate victory.
- 1870 – The Unification of Italy is completed.
- 1881 – Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States. This is after the death of James Garfield the previous day, as a result of injuries from being shot on July 2 by Charles J. Guiteau.
- 1891 – The first gasoline-powered car in America debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts.
- 1909 – The British Parliament passes the South Africa Act of 1909, creating the Union of South Africa from the British colonies of Good Hope, Natal, Orange River and Transvaal.
- 1910 – The Ocean Liner SS France is launched.
- 1911 – The White Star line's RMS Olypmic collides with British warship HMS Hawke.
- 1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
- 1932 – Mahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike in prison in Pune, India.
- 1942 – Holocaust: In Letychev, Ukraine, the SS murders 3,000 Jews in two days.
- 1961 – Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
- 1962 – African American James Meredith is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.
- 1967 – The Ship RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched at Clydebank near Glasgow.
- 1971 – Hurricane Irene crosses the Caribbean Sea, through Nicaragua, to the Pacific Ocean to become Hurricane Olivia; This is the first time a hurricane is known to have crossed from the Caribbean to the Pacific.
- 1973 – Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match in Houston, Texas.
- 1977 – The Socialist Republic of Vietnam joins the UN.
- 1978 – Johannes Rau, future President of Germany, is chosen as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, a position he will hold for 20 years.
- 1979 – In the present-day Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, self-declared Emperor Bokassa I, is overthrown.
- 1982 – NFL players begin a 57-day strike.
- 1984 – A bomb attack targets the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
- 1990 – South Ossetia declares its independence from the Republic of Georgia.
- 2001 – George W. Bush declares War on Terror.
- 2003 – Voters in Latvia approve entry to the EU in a referendum.
- 2008 – A bomb attack at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad kills 54 people.
- 2011 – Former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani is assassinated.
Births [change]
- 524 – Kan B'alam I, ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque (d. 583)
- 1486 – Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII of England (d. 1502)
- 1503 – Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Polish scholar, humanist and theologian (d. 1572)
- 1593 – Gottfried Scheidt, German composer and organist (d. 1661)
- 1599 – Christian the Younger of Brunswick, German Protestant military leader (d. 1626)
- 1685 – Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, Italian Barocque composer and violinist (d. 1751)
- 1710 – Thomas Simpson, English mathematician (d. 1761)
- 1758 – Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Emperor of Haiti (d. 1806)
- 1778 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian naval officer and explorer (d. 1852)
- 1820 – John F. Reynolds, American general (d. 1863)
- 1830 – Yoshida Shoin, Japanese intellectual, teacher and revolutionary (d. 1859)
- 1831 – Kate Harrington, American teacher, writer and poet (d. 1917)
- 1833 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist (d. 1918)
- 1842 – James Dewar, Scottish chemist and physicist (d. 1923)
- 1843 – Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (d. 1865)
- 1851 – Henry Arthur Jones, English writer (d. 1929)
- 1853 – Rama V, King of Siam (d. 1910)
- 1860 – James Gillett, 22nd Governor of California (d. 1937)
- 1861 – Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress (d. 1955)
- 1872 – Maurice Gamelin, French army general (d. 1958)
- 1873 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (d. 1949)
- 1873 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian racing driver (d. 1944)
- 1875 – Matthias Erzberger, German publicist and politician (d. 1921)
- 1878 – Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968)
- 1884 – Maxwell Perkins, American editor and publisher (d. 1947)
- 1885 – Jelly Roll Morton, American jazz pianist (d. 1941)
- 1889 – Charles Reidpath, American city planner and athlete (d. 1975)
- 1893 – Hans Scharoun, German architect (d. 1972)
- 1897 – Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, President of Brazil (d. 1967)
- 1899 – Leo Strauss, German-born philosopher (d. 1973)
- 1914 – Kenneth More, English actor (d. 1982)
- 1916 – Malik Meraj Khalid, Pakistani politician (d. 2003)
- 1917 – Red Auerbach, American basketball coach (d. 2006)
- 1920 – Alberto de Lacerda, Portuguese poet (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand (d. 1946)
- 1925 – James Bernard, English film composer (d. 2001)
- 1925 – Bobby Nunn, American singer (d. 1986)
- 1927 – John Dankworth, British jazz musician (d. 2010)
- 1928 – Donald Hall, American poet
- 1929 – Anne Meara, American comic and actress
- 1934 – Sophia Loren, Italian actress
- 1935 – Walter Eschweiler, German football referee
- 1937 – Birgitta Dahl, Swedish politician
- 1937 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (d. 2005)
- 1940 – Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan
- 1943 – Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria (d. 1998)
- 1948 – George R. R. Martin, American writer, screenwriter and producer
- 1948 – Chuck Panozzo, American musician
- 1948 – John Panozzo, American musician (d. 1996)
- 1952 – Manuel Zelaya, former President of Honduras
- 1962 – Jim Al-Khalili, British physicist, author and broadcaster
- 1969 – Richard Witschge, Dutch footballer
- 1971 – Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
- 1972 – Victor Ponta, Prime Minister of Romania
- 1975 – Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombian race car driver
- 1975 – Asia Argento, Italian actress
- 1977 – Namie Amuro, Japanese pop singer
- 1979 – Dan Gillespie Sells, British musician (The Feeling)
- 1980 – Robert Koren, Slovenian footballer
- 1980 – Igor Vori, Croatian handball player
- 1981 – Feliciano Lopez, Spanish tennis player
- 1982 – Aaron Burkart, German rally driver
- 1983 – Freya Murray, Scottish athlete
- 1984 – Brian Joubert, French figure skater
- 1990 – John Tavares, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1990 – Phillip Phillips, American Idol winner
- 1991 – Spencer Locke, American actress
- 1992 – Safura Alizadeh, Azerbaijani singer
- 1995 – Laura Dekker, Dutch sailor
- 1995 – Sammi Hanratty, American actress
Deaths [change]
- 1384 – King Louis of Naples (b. 1339)
- 1460 – Gilles Binchois, Flemish composer (b. 1400)
- 1590 – Lodovico Agostini, Italian composer (b. 1534)
- 1630 – Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (b. 1586)
- 1793 – Fletcher Christian, English mutineer (b. 1764)
- 1840 – Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, Paraguayan politician (b. 1766)
- 1863 – Jacob Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1785)
- 1898 – Theodor Fontane, German writer (b. 1819)
- 1908 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (b. 1844)
- 1947 – Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City (b. 1882)
- 1948 – Husain Salaahudin, Maldivian scholar, poet and writer (b. 1881)
- 1957 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (b. 1865)
- 1970 – Alexandros Othonaios, Greek general and Prime Minister (b. 1879)
- 1971 – Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet (b. 1900)
- 1973 – Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)
- 1975 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer (b. 1887)
- 1979 – Ludvik Svoboda, Czechoslovakian politician (b. 1895)
- 1993 – Erich Hartmann, German pilot and fighter ace (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1913)
- 1999 – Raisa Gorbachova, wife of Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1932)
- 2003 – Gordon Mitchell, American actor (b. 1923)
- 2003 – Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwean politician (b. 1922)
- 2004 – Brian Clough, English football manager (b. 1935)
- 2005 – Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (b. 1908)
- 2006 – Sven Nykvist, Swedish cameraman and director (b. 1922)
- 2010 – Fud Leclerc, Belgian singer (b. 1924)
- 2011 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, President of Afghanistan (b. 1940)
Observances [change]
- National Youth Day (Thailand)
