What happened on August 20? There are more than 264 events that were made this day in history. Here are the important historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

Interesting Facts & Myths About August 20

August 20 In HistoryAugust 20 is the 233rd day of the year 2024. There are 133 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday. This day falls under the 34th week of the year 2024.

On this day in Alamo, California 94507 sunrise will occur at 06:27 AM and sunset will occur at 07:55 PM (local time).

The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Leo. The modern birthstone for this month is Peridot while the mystical birthstone is Diamond.

According to the Chinese calendar, there are 162 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).

Birthday curiousity Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the March 31 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)

Historical Events For August 20

  • 20
    Agrippa Postumus, adoptive-son of the late Roman Emperor Augustus, is executed by his guards while in exile under mysterious circumstances
  • 636
    Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine away from the Byzantine Empire, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests and the rapid advance of Islam outside Arabia.
  • 917
    Battle of Acheloos: Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria decisively defeats a Byzantine army.
  • 1000
    The foundation of the Hungarian state by Saint Stephen. Today celebrated as a National Day in Hungary.
  • 1083
    Canonization of the first King of Hungary, Saint Stephen and his son Saint Emeric.
  • 1308
    Pope Clement V pardons Jacques de Molay, the last Grand Master of the Knights Templar, absolving him of charges of heresy.
  • 1391
    Konrad von Wallenrode becomes the 24th Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order.
  • 1672
    Former Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis are brutally murdered by an angry mob in The Hague.
  • 1710
    War of the Spanish Succession: a multinational army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg defeats the Spanish-Bourbon army commanded by the Marquis de Bay in the Battle of Saragossa.
  • 1775
    The Spanish establish the Presidio San Augustin del Tucson in the town that became Tucson, Arizona.
  • 1794
    Battle of Fallen Timbers – American troops force a confederacy of Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi warriors into a disorganized retreat.
  • 1858
    Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace’s same theory.
  • 1866
    President Andrew Johnson formally declares the American Civil War over.
  • 1882
    Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture debuts in Moscow.
  • 1910
    The Great Fire of 1910 (also commonly referred to as the Big Blowup or the Big Burn) occurred in northeast Washington, northern Idaho (the panhandle), and western Montana, burning approximately 3 e6acre.
  • 1914
    World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.
  • 1920
    The National Football League, (NFL), is founded in the United States.
  • 1920
    The first commercial radio station, 8MK (now WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
  • 1926
    Japan’s public broadcasting company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) is established.
  • 1938
    Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam – a record that still stands.
  • 1940
    British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes the fourth of his famous wartime speeches, containing the line “Never was so much owed by so many to so few”.
  • 1940
    In Mexico City exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded with an ice axe by Ramon Mercader. He dies the next day.
  • 1944
    World War II: 168 captured allied airmen, including Phil Lamason, accused by the Gestapo of being “terror fliers”, arrive at Buchenwald concentration camp.
  • 1944
    World War II: the Battle of Romania begins with a major Soviet offensive.
  • 1950
    Korean War: United Nations repel an offensive by North Korean divisions attempting to cross the Naktong River and assault the city of Taegu.
  • 1955
    In Morocco, a force of Berbers from the Atlas Mountains region of Algeria raid two rural settlements and kill 77 French nationals.
  • 1960
    Senegal breaks from the Mali Federation, declaring its independence.
  • 1975
    Viking Program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
  • 1977
    Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
  • 1986
    In Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. Postal employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers and then commits suicide.
  • 1988
    “Black Saturday” of the Yellowstone fire in Yellowstone National Park
  • 1988
    Iran–Iraq War: a cease-fire is agreed after almost eight years of war.
  • 1988
    Peru becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
  • 1988
    The Troubles: Eight British Army soldiers are killed and 28 wounded when their bus is hit by a Provisional Irish Republican Army roadside bomb in Northern Ireland (see Ballygawley bus bombing).
  • 1989
    The O-Bahn in Adelaide, the world’s longest guided busway, opens.
  • 1989
    The pleasure boat Marchioness sinks on the River Thames following a collision, 51 people are killed.
  • 1991
    Dissolution of the Soviet Union, August Coup: more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union’s parliament building protesting the coup aiming to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.
  • 1991
    Estonia, annexed by the Soviet Union in 1940, issues a decision on the re-establishment of independence on the basis of historical continuity of her pre-World War II statehood.
  • 1993
    After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, the Oslo Peace Accords are signed, followed by a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. the following month.
  • 1997
    Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people are killed and 15 kidnapped.
  • 1998
    The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government’s approval.
  • 1998
    U.S. embassy bombings: the United States launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
  • 2002
    A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein take over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.
  • 2008
    Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport. 146 people are killed in the crash, and 8 more die later. Only 18 people survive.

Who Were Born On August 20?

  • 1517
    Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French church leader (d. 1586)
  • 1561
    Jacopo Peri, Italian composer (d. 1633)
  • 1625
    Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (d. 1709)
  • 1632
    Louis Bourdaloue, French Jesuit preacher (d. 1704)
  • 1710
    Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (d. 1761)
  • 1719
    Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1791)
  • 1719
    Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (d. 1783)
  • 1778
    Bernardo O'Higgins, South American revolutionary (d. 1842)
  • 1779
    Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (d. 1848)
  • 1833
    Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (d. 1901)
  • 1845
    St. Albert Chmielowski, Polish Catholic Saint (d. 1916)
  • 1847
    Andrew Greenwood, England cricketer (d. 1889)
  • 1847
    Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (d. 1912)
  • 1856
    Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, Sorbian writer (d. 1909)
  • 1860
    Raymond Poincaré, French statesman (d. 1934)
  • 1865
    Bernard Tancred, South African cricketer (d. 1911)
  • 1868
    Ellen Roosevelt, American tennis player (d. 1954)
  • 1873
    Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1950)
  • 1881
    Edgar Guest, English poet (d. 1959)
  • 1885
    Dino Campana, Italian poet (d. 1932)
  • 1886
    Paul Tillich, German-American theologian (d. 1965)
  • 1887
    Phan Khoi, Vietnamese intellectual (d. 1959)
  • 1890
    H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (d. 1937)
  • 1897
    Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian writer (d. 1970)
  • 1898
    Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (d. 1973)
  • 1901
    Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
  • 1905
    Jack Teagarden, American musician (d. 1964)
  • 1905
    Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (d. 1973)
  • 1906
    Charles Arnt, American actor d. 1990
  • 1907
    Alan Reed, original voice of Fred Flintstone. (d. 1977)
  • 1908
    Al Lopez, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
  • 1909
    Alby Roberts, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1978)
  • 1910
    Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1961)
  • 1913
    Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)
  • 1916
    Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian–German chess player (d. 1984)
  • 1918
    Jacqueline Susann, American novelist (d. 1974)
  • 1919
    Walter Bernstein, American screenwriter
  • 1921
    Jack Wilson, Australian cricketer (d. 1985)
  • 1923
    Jim Reeves, US country music singer (d. 1964)
  • 1924
    George Zuverink, American baseball player
  • 1926
    Nobby Wirkowski, American and Canadian football player and coach
  • 1927
    Geriatric1927, English video blogger
  • 1927
    Yootha Joyce, English actress (d. 1980)
  • 1929
    Kevin Heffernan, Gaelic footballer
  • 1930
    Mario Bernardi, Canadian conductor
  • 1930
    Peter Randall, British George Medal recipient (d. 2007)
  • 1931
    Don King, American boxing promoter
  • 1932
    Anthony Ainley, British actor (d. 2004)
  • 1932
    Atholl McKinnon, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
  • 1932
    Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist (d. 2009)
  • 1933
    George J. Mitchell, former United States Senator
  • 1934
    Armi Kuusela, Finnish beauty queen
  • 1934
    Tom Mangold, British journalist and author
  • 1935
    Ron Paul, US Congressman, 1988, 2008, and 2012 presidential candidate
  • 1936
    Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1937
    Andrei Konchalovsky, Russian film director
  • 1937
    El Fary, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2007)
  • 1937
    Jim Bowen, English comedian
  • 1937
    Stelvio Cipriani, Italian composer
  • 1938
    Alain Vivien, French politician
  • 1939
    Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor and politician (d. 2004)
  • 1940
    Rex Sellers, Australian cricketer
  • 1940
    Rubén Hinojosa, American politician
  • 1941
    Dave Brock, British musician and founder of Hawkwind
  • 1941
    Jo Ramirez, Mexican motor racing team manager and author
  • 1941
    Rich Brooks, American football coach
  • 1941
    Robin Oakley, British journalist
  • 1941
    Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia (d. 2006)
  • 1942
    Fred Norman, American baseball player
  • 1942
    Isaac Hayes, American singer, songwriter, and actor (d. 2008)
  • 1943
    Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor
  • 1944
    Graig Nettles, American baseball player
  • 1944
    Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1991)
  • 1946
    Connie Chung, American journalist
  • 1946
    N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian businessman
  • 1946
    Ralf Hütter, German musician (Kraftwerk)
  • 1947
    Alan Lee, English conceptual artist
  • 1948
    John Noble, Australian actor
  • 1948
    Robert Plant, British Musician (Led Zeppelin)
  • 1949
    Alan Hardwick, English TV presenter
  • 1949
    Katiana Balanika, Greek actress and singer
  • 1949
    Nikolas Asimos, Greek composer and singer (d. 1988)
  • 1949
    Norman Featherstone, South African cricketer
  • 1949
    Patrick Kilpatrick, American actor
  • 1949
    Phil Lynott, Irish musician (d. 1986)
  • 1951
    Greg Bear, American author
  • 1952
    Doug Fieger, American musician (The Knack) (d. 2010)
  • 1952
    John Emburey, English cricketer
  • 1952
    John Hiatt, American musician
  • 1953
    Gerry Bertier, American wheelchair Olympian (d. 1981)
  • 1954
    Al Roker, American television personality
  • 1954
    Don Stark, American actor
  • 1954
    Quinn Buckner, American basketball player and coach
  • 1954
    Tawn Mastrey, American disc jockey (d. 2007)
  • 1955
    Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer and writer
  • 1956
    Alvin Greenidge, West Indian cricketer
  • 1956
    Joan Allen, American actress
  • 1957
    Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player
  • 1958
    John Stehr, American journalist
  • 1958
    Patricia Rozema, Canadian film director and screenwriter
  • 1961
    Greg Egan, Australian author
  • 1961
    Joe Pasquale, English comedian
  • 1962
    Dong-Wook Song, South Korean tennis player
  • 1962
    James Marsters, American actor
  • 1962
    Sophie Aldred, English actress
  • 1963
    Uwe Bialon, German footballer
  • 1965
    KRS-One, American rapper
  • 1966
    David Rees Snell, American actor (The Shield)
  • 1966
    Dimebag Darrell, American guitarist (Pantera and Damageplan) (d. 2004)
  • 1967
    Andy Benes, American baseball player
  • 1967
    Colin Cunningham, American actor
  • 1967
    Terri Poch, American yogini and professional wrestler
  • 1968
    Klas Ingesson, Swedish footballer
  • 1968
    Yuri Shiratori, Japanese voice actress and singer
  • 1969
    Billy Gardell, American actor and comedian
  • 1970
    Els Callens, Belgian tennis player
  • 1970
    Fred Durst, American singer (Limp Bizkit)
  • 1970
    John D. Carmack, American computer game programmer
  • 1971
    David Walliams, British comedian
  • 1971
    Jonathan Ke Quan, Vietnamese/American actor
  • 1971
    Steve Stone, English footballer
  • 1972
    Chaney Kley, American actor (d. 2007)
  • 1973
    Todd Helton, American baseball player
  • 1974
    Amy Adams, American actress
  • 1974
    Andy Strachan, Australian musician (The Living End)
  • 1974
    Big Moe, American rapper (d. 2007)
  • 1974
    Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist
  • 1974
    Misha Collins, American actor and producer
  • 1974
    Szabolcs Sáfár, Hungarian footballer
  • 1975
    Marcus Mastin, American author
  • 1976
    Chris Drury, American hockey player
  • 1977
    Felipe Contepomi, Argentine rugby player
  • 1977
    Ivar Ingimarsson, Icelandic footballer
  • 1977
    James Ormond, England cricketer
  • 1977
    Manuel Contepomi, Argentine rugby player
  • 1977
    Mayra Veronica, Cuban model and actress
  • 1977
    Wayne Brown, English footballer
  • 1979
    Cory Sullivan, American baseball player
  • 1979
    Haha, South Korean entertainer
  • 1979
    Jamie Cullum, British musician
  • 1980
    Corey Carrier, American actor
  • 1980
    Langhorne Slim, American country singer
  • 1980
    Rochelle Gadd, British actress
  • 1980
    Samuel Dumoulin, French cyclist
  • 1981
    Ben Barnes, English actor
  • 1981
    Bernard Mendy, French footballer
  • 1982
    Barney Rogers, Zimbabwean cricketer
  • 1982
    Cléber Luis Alberti, Brazilian footballer
  • 1982
    Joshua Kennedy, Australian footballer
  • 1982
    Youssouf Hersi, Ethiopian footballer
  • 1983
    Andrew Garfield, American actor
  • 1983
    Brian Schaefering, American football player
  • 1983
    Yuri Zhirkov, Russian footballer
  • 1984
    Mirai Moriyama, Japanese actor
  • 1984
    Tsokye Karchung, Bhutanese beauty queen, Miss Bhutan 2008
  • 1986
    Robert Clark, Canadian actor
  • 1987
    Cătălina Ponor, Romanian gymnast
  • 1987
    Kristína Peláková, Slovak singer
  • 1988
    Jerryd Bayless, American basketball player
  • 1990
    Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Dutch swimmer
  • 1991
    Marko Đoković, Serbian tennis player
  • 1992
    Demi Lovato, American actress and singer
  • 1992
    Matej Delač, Croatian footballer
  • 1995
    Liana Liberato, American actress

Who Died On August 20?

  • 20
    Agrippa Postumus, youngest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder, grandson and adoptive-son of Roman Emperor Augustus (b. 12 BC)
  • 535
    Mochta of Louth, disciple of St. Patrick
  • 917
    Constantine Lips, Byzantine Admiral
  • 984
    Pope John XIV
  • 1384
    Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life (b. 1340)
  • 1572
    Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (b. 1502)
  • 1580
    Jeronymo Osorio, Portuguese historian (b. 1506)
  • 1611
    Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (b. 1548)
  • 1639
    Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (b. 1597)
  • 1643
    Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher (b. 1591)
  • 1648
    Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (b. 1583)
  • 1672
    Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1623)
  • 1672
    Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1625)
  • 1680
    William Bedloe, English informer (b. 1650)
  • 1701
    Charles Sedley, English playwright (b. 1639)
  • 1707
    Nicolas Gigault, French organist and composer (b. 1627)
  • 1773
    Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (b. 1701)
  • 1823
    Pope Pius VII (b. 1740)
  • 1825
    William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1753)
  • 1854
    Shiranui Dakuemon, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 8th Yokozuna (b. 1801)
  • 1887
    Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860)
  • 1912
    William Booth, English founder of the Salvation Army (b. 1829)
  • 1914
    Pope Pius X (b. 1835)
  • 1915
    Paul Ehrlich, German scientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1854)
  • 1917
    Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1835)
  • 1919
    Greg MacGregor, England cricketer (b. 1869)
  • 1930
    Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (b. 1851)
  • 1961
    Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
  • 1963
    Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer (b. 1879)
  • 1965
    Jonathan Myrick Daniels, American activist (b. 1939)
  • 1971
    Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951)
  • 1979
    Christian Dotremont, Belgian painter and writer (b. 1922)
  • 1980
    Joe Dassin, American singer (b. 1938)
  • 1982
    Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish actress (b. 1929)
  • 1986
    Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (b. 1923)
  • 1989
    George Adamson, India-born English game warden and lion expert (b. 1906)
  • 1993
    Bernard Delfgaauw, Dutch philosopher (b. 1912)
  • 1996
    Rio Reiser, German rock musician and singer (b. 1950)
  • 1997
    Léon Dion, French-Canadian political scientist (b. 1922)
  • 1997
    Norris Bradbury, American physicist (b. 1909)
  • 2001
    Kim Stanley, American actress (b. 1925)
  • 2001
    Sir Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and science fiction writer (b. 1915)
  • 2005
    Krzysztof Raczkowski, Polish drummer (b. 1970)
  • 2005
    Thomas Herrion, American football player (b. 1981)
  • 2006
    Claude Blanchard, French-Canadian singer, comedian and actor (b. 1932)
  • 2006
    Cpl Bryan Budd VC, British soldier (b. 1977)
  • 2006
    Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)
  • 2007
    Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto (b. 1942)
  • 2007
    Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (b. 1920)
  • 2008
    Ed “Too Tall” Freeman, former U.S. Army helicopter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1927)
  • 2008
    Gene Upshaw, American football player and union leader (b. 1945)
  • 2008
    Hua Guofeng, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1921)
  • 2008
    Stephanie Tubbs Jones, American politician (b. 1949)
  • 2009
    Larry Knechtel, American keyboard player and bassist (b. 1940)
  • 2010
    Dang Phong, Vietnamese historian (b. 1937)
  • 2010
    Michael Been, American musician (The Call) (b. 1950)

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