What happened on May 20? There are more than 272 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 May 20
May 20 is the 141st day of the year 2024. There are 225 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday. This day falls under the 21st week of the year 2024.
On this day in Grand Forks AFB, North Dakota 58204 sunrise will occur at 05:42 AM and sunset will occur at 09:10 PM (local time).
The zodiac sign of a person born on this day is Taurus. The modern birthstone for this month is Emerald while the mystical birthstone is Sapphire.
According to the Chinese calendar, there are 254 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 20 famous birthdays. There are fun facts about that day that you must know. (Sponsored link)
Historical Events For May 20
- 325The First Council of Nicea – the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held.
- 526An earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia.
- 685The Battle of Dun Nechtain is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
- 1217The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
- 1293King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.
- 1497John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Ship looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
- 1498Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
- 1521Battle of Pampeluna: Ignatius Loyola is seriously wounded.
- 1570Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas.
- 1609Shakespeare’s sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
- 1631The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years’ War.
- 1775Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence signed in Charlotte, North Carolina
- 1802By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution
- 1813Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
- 1840York Minster is badly damaged by fire
- 1861American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
- 1862U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
- 1864American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church – in the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
- 1873Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
- 1875Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
- 1882The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.
- 1883Krakatoa begins to erupt. The volcano’s final and most notable explosion occurs on August 26.
- 1884Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo becomes the king of the Zulu Nation.
- 1891History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope.
- 1896The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd below resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
- 1902Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country’s first President.
- 1908Budi Utomo organization is founded in Dutch East Indies, beginning the Indonesian National Awakening.
- 1916The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting (Boy with Baby Carriage).
- 1920Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.
- 1927At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world’s first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. He touched down at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 22:22 the next day.
- 1927Treaty of Jedda: the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- 1932Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
- 1940Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
- 1941World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.
- 1948Chiang Kai-shek elected to be the first President of the Republic of China.
- 1949In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
- 1956In Operation Redwing (shot Cherokee), the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean;
- 1965PIA Flight 705, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720 – 040 B, crashes while descending to land at Cairo International Airport, killing 119 of the 125 passengers and crew.
- 1969The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
- 1980In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
- 1983First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
- 1985Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
- 1989The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
- 1990The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
- 1996Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
- 2002The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
Who Were Born On May 20?
- 1315Bonne of Luxembourg, wife of John II of France (d. 1349)
- 1470Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
- 1554Paolo Bellasio, Italian composer (d. 1594)
- 1593Salomo Glassius, German theologian (d. 1656)
- 1660Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)
- 1663William Bradford, British-born printer (d. 1752)
- 1706Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
- 1726Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
- 1737William Petty Fitzmaurice, British statesman (d. 1805)
- 1759William Thornton, West Indian-born architect (d. 1828)
- 1768Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
- 1769Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
- 1772Sir William Congreve, English inventor (d. 1828)
- 1776Simon Fraser, Canadian explorer (d.1862)
- 1799Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
- 1806John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
- 1818William Fargo, American pioneer expressman, co-founder of Wells, Fargo & Co. (d. 1881)
- 1822Frédéric Passy, French economist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1912)
- 1824Cadmus M. Wilcox, American Confederate general (d. 1890)
- 1830Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)
- 1838Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
- 1851Emile Berliner, German-born recording pioneer (d. 1929)
- 1860Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1917)
- 1882Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (d. 1949)
- 1883King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
- 1886Ali Sami Yen, Turkish founder of Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
- 1889Karin Molander, Swedish actress (d. 1978)
- 1894Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian Hindu sage, Jivanmukta (d. 1994)
- 1895R. J. Mitchell, British aircraft designer (d. 1937)
- 1897Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish anarchist (d. 1983)
- 1899Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)
- 1899John Marshall Harlan II, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1971)
- 1901Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
- 1906Giuseppe Siri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1989)
- 1908James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
- 1911Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch writer (d. 1995)
- 1911Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)
- 1913William Hewlett, American engineer (d. 2001)
- 1914Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician (d. 1995)
- 1914Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (d. 1995)
- 1915Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (d. 1981)
- 1915Peter Copley, British actor (d. 2008)
- 1916Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
- 1916Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete (d. 2006)
- 1917Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
- 1917Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer (d. 1967)
- 1918Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
- 1919George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
- 1919Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter pilot (d. 1983)
- 1920Betty Driver MBE, English singer and actress (d. 2011)
- 1920John Cruickshank, Scottish airman, Victoria Cross recipient
- 1921Hal Newhouser, American baseball player (d. 1998)
- 1921Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
- 1923Edith Fellows, American actress d. 2011
- 1924Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan reporter and politician (d. 1976)
- 1925Chester Ludgin, American baritone (d. 2003)
- 1926Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
- 1926John Lucarotti, English-born Canadian TV writer (d. 1994)
- 1927Bud Grant, American football coach
- 1927David Hedison, American actor
- 1927Franciszek Macharski, Polish Catholic cardinal
- 1929Ahmed Hamdi, Egyptian soldier, who fought in Yom Kippur(d. 1973)
- 1930Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
- 1931Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- 1931Paul Evans, American furniture designer and sculptor (d. 1987)
- 1932Bob Florence, American jazz pianist, composer, arranger (d. 2008)
- 1933Constance Towers, American actress
- 1935José Mujica, President of Uruguay
- 1936Anthony Zerbe, American actor
- 1938Marinella, Greek singer and actress
- 1940Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
- 1940Shorty Long, American musician (d. 1969)
- 1940Stan Mikita, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1941Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean Senior Minister
- 1941John Strasberg, American actor
- 1941Manuel Isaias Lopez, Mexican child psychiatrist
- 1942Carlos Hathcock, American Marine Corps sniper (d. 1999)
- 1942Jill Jackson, American singer (Paul & Paula)
- 1943Al Bano, Italian singer
- 1944Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
- 1944Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
- 1944Joe Cocker, British singer
- 1945Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian politician
- 1946Cher, American singer & actress
- 1946Dave Despain, American racing commentator
- 1946Robert Chua, Hong Kong TV Entrepreneur
- 1947Greg Dyke, British broadcast executive
- 1947John Corapi, American Catholic prelate
- 1949Dave Thomas, Canadian comedian and actor
- 1950Reinaldo Merlo, Argentine footballer
- 1950Yvon Lambert, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1951Mike Crapo, American politician
- 1952Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
- 1953Robert Doyle, Australian politician
- 1954Cindy McCain, American businesswoman, wife of John McCain
- 1954David Paterson, American politician
- 1954Guy Hoffman, American musician (Violent Femmes)
- 1954Robert Van de Walle, Belgian judoka
- 1955Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
- 1956Dean Butler, American actor
- 1956Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
- 1956William Michaelian, American novelist and poet
- 1957Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan
- 1958Jane Wiedlin, American singer (The Go-Go’s)
- 1958Ron Reagan, American talk show host
- 1959Bronson Pinchot, American actor
- 1959Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, Hawaiian singer (d. 1997)
- 1959Susan Cowsill, American musician
- 1960John Billingsley, American actor
- 1960Tony Goldwyn, American actor
- 1961Clive Allen, English footballer
- 1962Mike Jeffries, American soccer coach
- 1963David Wells, American baseball player
- 1965Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player
- 1965Ted Allen, American television host
- 1966Dan Abrams, American TV reporter
- 1966Mindy Cohn, American actress
- 1967Gabriele Muccino, Italian film director
- 1967Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
- 1967Ramzi Yousef, Kuwaiti-born Pakistani terrorist
- 1968Timothy Olyphant, American actor
- 1968Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby union and rugby sevens footballer
- 1969Brian Gerard James (“Road Dogg” Jesse James), American professional wrestler
- 1970Louis Theroux, British television presenter
- 1970Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
- 1971Šárka Kašpárková, Czech athlete
- 1971Tony Stewart, American race car driver
- 1972Busta Rhymes, American rapper and actor
- 1972Tina Hobley, British television actress
- 1973Elsa Lunghini, French singer and actress
- 1975Andrew Sega, American musician
- 1975Isaac Gálvez, Spanish cyclist (d. 2006)
- 1975Juan Minujín, Argentine actor
- 1975Mark Zupan, American wheelchair rugby player and actor
- 1975Tahmoh Penikett, Canadian actor
- 1976Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
- 1976Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
- 1977Angela Goethals, American actress
- 1977Chad Muska, American professional skateboarder
- 1977Leonardo Noeren Franco, Argentine footballer
- 1977Matt Czuchry, American actor
- 1977Miriam Parrish, American television actress
- 1977Tiger Tyson, American pornographic actor
- 1977Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
- 1978Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
- 1978Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech athlete
- 1979Jayson Werth, American baseball player
- 1980Austin Kearns, American baseball player
- 1981Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
- 1981Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
- 1981Mark Winterbottom, Australian racing driver
- 1981Morgan Knabe, Canadian swimmer
- 1982Candace Bailey, American actress
- 1982Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
- 1982Petr Čech, Czech footballer
- 1983N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Indian film actor
- 1983Roger Huerta, American mixed martial artist
- 1984Keith Grennan, American football player
- 1984Kenny Vasoli, American singer and bassist (The Starting Line)
- 1984Mauro, Brazilian footballer
- 1984Naturi Naughton, singer (3LW) and actress
- 1984Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
- 1985Chris Froome, British cyclist
- 1986Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
- 1986Jiřina Ptáčníková, Czech pole vaulter
- 1987Julian Wright, American basketball player
- 1988Carla Humphries, Filipino actress
- 1991Mara Lopez, Filipino actress
- 1992Cate Campbell, Australian swimmer
- 1993Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
- 1995Brandon Zibaka, English football player
Who Died On May 20?
- 685King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
- 1277Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
- 1285John II of Jerusalem, King of Cyprus (b. 1259)
- 1444Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
- 1503Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian banker, politician and patron of the arts (b. 1463)
- 1506Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer (b. 1451)
- 1550Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
- 1622Osman II, Ottoman Sultan (b. 1604)
- 1648King Wladislaus IV of Poland (b. 1595)
- 1677George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, British statesman (b. 1612)
- 1713Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
- 1717John Trevor, British statesman (b. 1637)
- 1722Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)
- 1732Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)
- 1782William Emerson, British mathematician (b. 1701)
- 1793Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)
- 1812Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1732)
- 1825Papaflessas, Greek priest and government official (b. 1788)
- 1834Gilbert du Motier, French statesman (b. 1757)
- 1841Joseph Blanco White, British theologian (b. 1775)
- 1873Sir George-Étienne Cartier, French-Canadian statesman (b. 1814)
- 1880Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse (b. 1814)
- 1896Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
- 1909Ernest Hogan, American comedian and musician, one of the creators of ragtime (b. 1859)
- 1917Philipp von Ferrary, Italian philatelist (b. 1850)
- 1917Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
- 1940Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)
- 1946Jacob Ellehammer, Danish inventor (b. 1871)
- 1947Georgios Siantos, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1890)
- 1947Philipp Lenard, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)
- 1949Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens (b. 1891)
- 1949Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
- 1956Max Beerbohm, English theatre critic (b. 1872)
- 1961Josef “Pips” Priller, German flying ace (b. 1915)
- 1971Waldo Williams, Welsh poet (b. 1904)
- 1973Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
- 1975Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (b. 1903)
- 1976Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan National Party politician (b. 1934)
- 1976Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
- 1976Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan Christian-Democrat Party politician (b. 1924)
- 1989Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
- 1989John Hicks, English economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
- 1992Roger Keith Coleman, American convict (b. 1958)
- 1996Jon Pertwee, British actor (b. 1919)
- 2000Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (b. 1922)
- 2000Malik Sealy, American basketball player (b. 1970)
- 2001Renato Carosone, Italian musician (b. 1920)
- 2002Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
- 2005Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)
- 2005William Seawell, U.S. Army Brigadier General (b. 1918)
- 2007Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
- 2008Hamilton Jordan, American White House Chief of Staff under President Carter (b. 1944)
- 2009Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect (b.1924)
- 2009Lucy Gordon, British model and actress (b. 1980)
- 2011Randy Savage, American Pro-Wrestler (b. 1952)
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