What happened on June 20? There are more than 281 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 June 20
June 20 is the 172nd day of the year 2024. There are 194 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday. This day falls under the 25th week of the year 2024.
On this day in Wilburton, Oklahoma 74578 sunrise will occur at 06:06 AM and sunset will occur at 08:39 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Gemini. The modern birthstone for this month is Pearl while the mystical birthstone is Moonstone.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 223 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year (January 29, 2025).
Is your birthday coming up in two days? Are you not curious to find out who is sharing your special day? Discover all the April 25 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
June 20: A Day In History
On leap years, this day usually marks the summer solstice in the northern hemisphere and the winter solstice in the southern hemisphere.
Historical Events For June 20
- 451Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius’ battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats, causing the Romans to interpret it as a victory.
- 1214The University of Oxford receives its charter.
- 1605After only three months as tsar, 16-year-old Feodor II of Russia is assassinated.
- 1631The sack of Baltimore: the Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Algerian pirates.
- 1652Tarhoncu Ahmet Paşa is appointed grand vezir of the Ottoman Empire.
- 1685Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater.
- 1756A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta.
- 1782The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States.
- 1787Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the United States.
- 1789Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath.
- 1819The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, England, United Kingdom. She is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail.
- 1837Queen Victoria succeeds to the British throne.
- 1840Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph.
- 1862Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated.
- 1863American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state.
- 1877Alexander Graham Bell installs the world’s first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.
- 1887Victoria Terminus, the busiest railway station in India, opens in Bombay.
- 1893Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother.
- 1895The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened.
- 1900Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China.
- 1919150 die at the Teatro Yaguez fire, Mayagüez, Puerto Rico.
- 1921Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike.
- 1942The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp.
- 1943The Detroit Race Riot breaks out and continues for three more days.
- 1944Continuation war: the Soviet Union demands an unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses.
- 1944World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the “Great Marianas Turkey Shoot”.
- 1948Toast of the Town, later The Ed Sullivan Show, makes its television debut.
- 1956A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people.
- 1959A rare June hurricane strikes Canada’s Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35.
- 1960The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal).
- 1963The so-called “red telephone” is established between the Soviet Union and the United States following the Cuban Missile Crisis.
- 1972Watergate scandal: An 18½-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex.
- 1973Ezeiza massacre in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured.
- 1979ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime.
- 1982The Argentine base (Corbeta Uruguay) on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War.
- 1990Asteroid Eureka is discovered.
- 1991The German Bundestag votes to move the capital from Bonn back to Berlin.
- 2003The WikiMedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida.
- 2009During the Iranian election protests, the death of Neda Agha-Soltan is captured on video and spreads virally on the Internet, making it “probably the most widely witnessed death in human history”.
Who Were Born On June 20?
- 1005Ali az-Zahir, caliph (d. 1036)
- 1389John, Duke of Bedford, regent of England (d. 1435)
- 1469Gian Galeazzo Sforza, duke of Milan (d. 1494)
- 1485Astorre III Manfredi, lord of Faenza (d. 1502)
- 1566King Sigismund III Vasa of Poland (d. 1632)
- 1583Jacob De la Gardie, Swedish soldier and statesman (d. 1652)
- 1634Charles Emmanuel II of Savoy (d. 1675)
- 1642George Hickes, English minister and scholar (d. 1715)
- 1647John George III, Elector of Saxony (d. 1691)
- 1699William Gustav of Anhalt-Dessau (d. 1737)
- 1717Jacques Saly, French sculptor (d. 1776)
- 1723Adam Ferguson, Scottish philosopher and historian (d. 1816)
- 1723Theophilus Lindsey, English theologian (d. 1808)
- 1733Betty Washington, sister of George Washington (d. 1797)
- 1737Tokugawa Ieharu, Japanese Shogun (d. 1786)
- 1754Landgravine Amalie of Hesse-Darmstadt (d. 1832)
- 1756Joseph Martin Kraus, Swedish composer (d. 1792)
- 1761Jacob Hübner, German entomologist (d. 1826)
- 1763Wolfe Tone, Irish patriot (d. 1798)
- 1770Moses Waddel, American educator/minister and bestselling author (d. 1840)
- 1771Hermann von Boyen, German army officer (d. 1848)
- 1771Thomas Douglas, 5th Earl of Selkirk, Scottish philanthropist (d. 1820)
- 1778Jean Baptiste Gay, vicomte de Martignac, French politician (d. 1832)
- 1786Marceline Desbordes-Valmore, French poet (d. 1859)
- 1796Luigi Amat di San Filippo e Sorso, Italian cardinal (d. 1878)
- 1808Samson Raphael Hirsch, German rabbi (d. 1888)
- 1813Joseph Autran, French poet (d. 1877)
- 1819Jacques Offenbach, German-born French composer (d. 1880)
- 1855Sir Richard Lodge, English historian (d. 1936)
- 1858Charles W. Chesnutt, American writer (d. 1932)
- 1860Jack Worrall, Australian cricketer, footballer, and coach (d. 1937)
- 1861Frederick Gowland Hopkins, English biochemist, recipient of the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine (d. 1947)
- 1862Marco Praga, Italian playwright (d. 1929)
- 1870Georges Dufrénoy, French post-impressionnist painter (d. 1943)
- 1872George Carpenter, the 5th General of The Salvation Army (d. 1948)
- 1875Reginald Punnett, British geneticist (d. 1967)
- 1884Johannes Heinrich Schultz, German psychiatrist, psychotherapist (d. 1970)
- 1885Andrzej Gawroński, Polish scholar (d. 1927)
- 1887Kurt Schwitters, German painter and writer (d. 1948)
- 1889John S. Paraskevopoulos, Greek-South African astronomer (d. 1951)
- 1891Giannina Arangi-Lombardi, Italian soprano (d. 1951)
- 1891John A. Costello, second Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland (d. 1976)
- 1893Wilhelm Zaisser, German politician (d. 1958)
- 1894Lloyd Hall, American chemist (d. 1971)
- 1896Wilfrid Pelletier, Canadian conductor (d. 1982)
- 1897Elisabeth Hauptmann, German writer (d. 1973)
- 1899Jean Moulin, French Resistance leader (d. 1943)
- 1905Lillian Hellman, American playwright (d. 1984)
- 1907Jimmy Driftwood, American songwriter and musician (d. 1998)
- 1908Billy Werber, American baseball player (d. 2009)
- 1909Errol Flynn, Australian actor (d. 1959)
- 1911Gail Patrick, American actress (d. 1980)
- 1912Anthony Buckeridge, English author (d. 2004)
- 1915Dick Reynolds, Australian rules footballer and coach (d. 2002)
- 1915Terence Young, British film director (d. 1994)
- 1916Jean-Jacques Bertrand, premier of Quebec (d. 1973)
- 1916Johnny Morris, British children’s presenter (d. 1999)
- 1917Igor Śmiałowski, Polish actor (d. 2006)
- 1918George Lynch, American auto racer (d. 1997)
- 1918Zoltán Sztáray, Hungarian writer
- 1920Hans Gerschwiler, Swiss figure skater
- 1921Byron Farwell, American military historian (d. 1999)
- 1923Bjørn Watt-Boolsen, Danish actor (d. 1998)
- 1924Audie Murphy, American Medal of Honor recipient and actor (d. 1971)
- 1924Chet Atkins, American guitar player and producer (d. 2001)
- 1924Fritz Koenig, German sculptor
- 1926Rehavam Ze'evi, Israeli general, politician, and historian who was assassinated (d. 2001)
- 1928Eric Dolphy, American jazz musician (d. 1964)
- 1928Jean-Marie Le Pen, French politician
- 1928Martin Landau, American actor
- 1929Anne Weale, British writer (d. 2007)
- 1930Magdalena Abakanowicz, Polish artist
- 1930Paul Pender, American boxer (d. 2003)
- 1931James Tolkan, American actor
- 1931Olympia Dukakis, American actress
- 1932Robert Rozhdestvensky, Russian poet (d. 1994)
- 1933Danny Aiello, American actor
- 1934Rossana Podestà, Italian actress
- 1934Wendy Craig, English actress
- 1934Yuri Vizbor, Russian poet (d. 1984)
- 1935Len Dawson, American football player
- 1935Neal Knox, American gun rights activist (d. 2005)
- 1936Billy Guy, American singer (The Coasters) (d. 2002)
- 1937Jerry Keller, American pop singer and songwriter
- 1938Mickie Most, British record producer (d. 2003)
- 1939Ramakant Desai, Indian cricketer (d. 1998)
- 1940Eugen Drewermann, German theologian
- 1940John Mahoney, English actor
- 1941Stephen Frears, English film director
- 1941Ulf Merbold, German physicist and astronaut
- 1942Brian Wilson, American musician (The Beach Boys)
- 1942Richard I. Neal, American general
- 1944Cheryl Holdridge, American actress (d. 2009)
- 1944David Roper, English actor
- 1945Anne Murray, Canadian singer
- 1946Andre Watts, American pianist
- 1946Bob Vila, American television host
- 1946Lars Vilks, Swedish artist
- 1946Xanana Gusmão, President of East Timor
- 1947Candy Clark, American actress
- 1947Dolores Brooks, American singer (the Crystals)
- 1947Ivo Milazzo, Italian comic book artist
- 1947Josef Clemens, German bishop and Secretary of the Pontifical Council for the Laity
- 1948Ludwig Scotty, President of Nauru
- 1949Alan Longmuir, Scottish bass guitarist (Bay City Rollers)
- 1949Lionel Richie, American musician (The Commodores)
- 1950Nouri Al-Maliki, Prime Minister of Iraq
- 1951Bill Simon, American businessman and politician
- 1951Paul Muldoon, Northern Irish poet
- 1951Tress MacNeille, American voice actress
- 1952John Goodman, American actor
- 1952Larry Riley, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1952Vikram Seth, Indian poet
- 1952Vince Gotera, American poet
- 1953Raúl Ramírez, Mexican tennis player
- 1953Robert Crais, American mystery writer
- 1953Ulrich Mühe, German actor (d. 2007)
- 1953Willy Rampf, German F1 technical director (BMW, Sauber)
- 1954Allan Lamb, South African born English cricketer
- 1954Ilan Ramon, Israeli combat pilot and astronaut (d. 2003)
- 1954Michael Anthony, American musician (Van Halen)
- 1954Miles O'Keeffe, American actor
- 1956Peter Reid, English former footballer
- 1957Koko B. Ware, American professional wrestler
- 1958Chuck Wagner, American actor
- 1958Ron Hornaday, American racecar driver
- 1960John Taylor, English musician (Duran Duran)
- 1963Amir Derakh, American musician (Orgy)
- 1963Don West, American professional wrestling announcer
- 1964Pierfrancesco Chili, Italian motorcycle racer
- 1964Silke Möller, German track and field athlete
- 1967Nicole Kidman, American/Australian actress
- 1968Robert Rodriguez, American film director
- 1969MaliVai Washington, American tennis player
- 1969Misha Verbitsky, Russian mathematician
- 1969Peter Paige, American actor
- 1970Andrea Nahles, German politician
- 1970Bruce Woodcock, American computer games analyst
- 1970Prince Moulay Rachid of Morocco
- 1971Jeordie White, American musician (Marilyn Manson)
- 1971Josh Kronfeld, New Zealander rugby union footballer
- 1971Josh Lucas, American actor
- 1971Rodney Rogers, American basketball player
- 1972Alexis Alexoudis, Greek footballer
- 1972Paul Bako, American baseball player
- 1973Chino Moreno, American musician (Deftones)
- 1974Attila Czene, Hungarian swimmer
- 1974Tuta, Brazilian footballer
- 1975Daniel Zítka, Czech footballer
- 1976Carlos Lee, Panamanian baseball player
- 1976Jerome Fontamillas, American musician (Switchfoot)
- 1976Juliano Belletti, Brazilian footballer
- 1976Rob Mackowiak, American baseball player
- 1977Gordan Giriček, Croatian basketball player
- 1978Bobby Seay, American baseball player
- 1978Frank Lampard, English footballer
- 1978Jan-Paul Saeijs, Dutch footballer
- 1978LaVar Arrington, American football player
- 1978Quinton Jackson, American mixed martial artist
- 1979Cael Sanderson, American olympic freestyle wrestler
- 1979Charles Howell III, American professional golfer
- 1979Charlotte Hatherley, English guitarist (Ash)
- 1980Carlo Festuccia, Italian rugby union footballer
- 1980Fabian Wegmann, German road racing cyclist
- 1980Franco Semioli, Italian footballer
- 1980Tony Lovato, American singer and guitarist (Mest)
- 1981Angerfist, Dutch musician
- 1981Ardian Gashi, Albanian-Norwegian footballer
- 1982Aleksei Berezutski, Russian footballer
- 1982April Ross, American professional beach volleyball player
- 1982Example (rapper), British rapper
- 1982George Forsyth, Peruvian footballer
- 1982Vasili Berezutski, Russian footballer
- 1983Cherrie Ying, Hong Kong actress
- 1983Darren Sproles, American football player
- 1983Josh Childress, American basketball player
- 1984Dennis Malura, German footballer
- 1984Hassan Adams, American basketball player
- 1984Neetu Chandra, Indian actress
- 1985Darko Miličić, Serbian basketball player
- 1985Halil Savran, German footballer
- 1985Matt Flynn, American football player
- 1985Souleymane Mamam, Togolese footballer
- 1986Dreama Walker, American Actress
- 1987Carsten Ball, Australian tennis player
- 1988Shefali Chowdhury, Welsh actress
- 1989Christopher Mintz-Plasse, American actor
- 1989Javier Pastore, Argentine footballer
- 1989Terrelle Pryor, American football player
- 1991Rick ten Voorde, Dutch soccer player
- 1997Maria Lark, Russian/American actress
Who Died On June 20?
- 451Theodorid, King of the Visigoths
- 840Louis the Pious, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (b. 778)
- 885Bernard Plantapilosa, Count of Auvergne (b. 841)
- 1176Mikhail of Vladimir, Russian prince
- 1597Willem Barentsz, Dutch navigator (b. 1550)
- 1605Feodor II of Russia, tsar of Russia (b. 1589)
- 1668Heinrich Roth, German Sanskrit scholar (b. 1620)
- 1776Benjamin Huntsman, English inventor and manufacturer (b. 1704)
- 1787Carl Friedrich Abel, German composer (b. 1723)
- 1800Abraham Gotthelf Kästner, German mathematician (b. 1719)
- 1810Count Axel von Fersen the Younger, Swedish statesman (b. 1755)
- 1820Manuel Belgrano, Argentine lawyer and politician (b. 1770)
- 1837William IV of the United Kingdom (b. 1765)
- 1840Pierre Claude François Daunou, French statesman and historian (b. 1761)
- 1847Juan Larrea, Argentine economist (b. 1782)
- 1869Hijikata Toshizō, Shinsengumi vice-commander (b. 1835)
- 1870Jules de Goncourt, French writer (b. 1830)
- 1872Elie Frédéric Forey, French general (b. 1804)
- 1875Joseph Meek, American mountain man (b. 1810)
- 1888Johannes Zukertort, German-Polish-Jewish chess master (b. 1842)
- 1906John Clayton Adams, British landscape artist (b. 1840)
- 1925Josef Breuer, Austrian psychologist (b. 1842)
- 1929Emmanuel Benakis, Greek merchant and politician (b. 1843)
- 1945Bruno Frank, German author (b. 1878)
- 1945Luís Fernando de Orleans y Borbón, Spanish prince (b. 1888)
- 1947Bugsy Siegel, American crime figure (b. 1906)
- 1952Luigi Fagioli, Italian race car driver (b. 1898)
- 1958Kurt Alder, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1902)
- 1963Raphaël Salem, Greek mathematician (b. 1898)
- 1965Bernard Baruch, American presidential advisor and financier (b. 1870)
- 1966Georges Lemaître, Belgian catholic priest and astronomer, originator of the Big Bang theory (b. 1894)
- 1972Howard Johnson, American businessman, originator of restaurant chain (b. 1897)
- 1974Horace Lindrum, Australian snooker and billiards player (b. 1912)
- 1976Lou Klein, American baseball player (b. 1918)
- 1978Mark Robson, Canadian film director and producer (b. 1913)
- 1984Estelle Winwood, English actress (b. 1883)
- 1995Emil Cioran, Romanian-born French philosopher (b. 1911)
- 1996Jim Ellison, singer/guitarist for (Material Issue) (b. 1964)
- 1997Lawrence Payton, American singer (The Four Tops) (b. 1938)
- 1998Conrad Schumann, East German border guard (b. 1942)
- 1999Clifton Fadiman, American author (b. 1902)
- 2002Erwin Chargaff, Austrian biochemist (b. 1905)
- 2002Tinus Osendarp, Dutch runner (b. 1916)
- 2003Bob Stump, American politician (b. 1927)
- 2005Jack Kilby, American electrical engineer, Nobel laureate (b. 1923)
- 2005Larry Collins, American writer (b. 1929)
- 2006Billy Johnson, American baseball player (b. 1918)
- 2007Trevor Henry, New Zealand justice (b. 1902)
- 2009Neda Agha-Soltan, Iranian student (b. 1982)
- 2010Harry Blackmore Whittington, British palaeontologist (b. 1916)
- 2010Roberto Rosato, Italian footballer (b. 1943)
- 2011Ryan Dunn, American actor (b. 1977)
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