August 20
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August 20 in recent years
August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 133 days remaining until the end of the year.
[edit] Events
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 Anchialus: Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria invades Thrace and drives the Byzantines out. 1000 - The foundation of the Hungarian state, Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary. 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. 1775 - The Spanish establish a presidio (fort) 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. 1804 - Lewis and Clark Expedition: the "Corps of Discovery", exploring the Louisiana Purchase, suffers its only death when sergeant Charles Floyd dies, apparently from acute appendicitis. 1858 - Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution 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. 1888 - Mutineers imprison Emin Pasha at Dufile. 1900 - Japan's primary school law is amended to provide for four years of mandatory schooling. 1914 - World War I: German forces occupy Brussels. 1920 - The first commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan. 1926 - Japan's public broadcasting company, Nippon HÅsÅ KyÅkai(NHK) is established. 1938 - Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam - a record that still stands. 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: the Battle of Romania begins with a major Soviet offensive. 1953 - The Soviet Union publicly acknowledges that it had tested a hydrogen bomb. 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. 1968 - 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring" of political liberalization. 1975 - Viking Program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars. 1977 - Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft. 1979 - The East Coast Main Line rail route between England and Scotland is restored when the Penmanshiel Diversion opens. 1982 - Lebanese Civil War: a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO's withdrawal from Lebanon. 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 - Peru becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty. 1988 - Iran–Iraq War: a cease-fire is agreed after almost eight years of war. 1991 - Collapse 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 secedes from the Soviet Union. 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 military 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. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack. 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, 8 more die afterwards. Only 18 people survive.
[edit] Births
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) 1776 - 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 - BolesÅ‚aw Prus, Polish writer (d. 1912) 1856 - Jakub Bart-ĆiÅ¡inski, 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) 1886 - Paul Tillich, German-American theologian (d. 1965) 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 - Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (d. 1973) 1905 - Jack Teagarden, American musician (d. 1964) 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) 1921 - Jack Wilson, Australian cricketer (d. 1985) 1923 - Jim Reeves, American singer (d. 1964) 1926 - Nobby Wirkowski, American and Canadian football player and coach 1927 - Geriatric1927, English video blogger 1927 - Yootha Joyce, English actress (d. 1980) 1930 - Mario Bernardi, Canadian conductor 1931 - Don King, American boxing promoter 1932 - Anthony Ainley, British actor (d. 2004) 1932 - Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist 1932 - Atholl McKinnon, South African cricketer (d. 1983) 1933 - George J. Mitchell, former United States Senator 1934 - Armi Kuusela, Finnish beauty queen 1935 - Ron Paul, US Congressman, 1988 and 2008 presidential candidate 1936 - Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate 1937 - Jim Bowen, English comedian 1937 - El Fary, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2007) 1937 - Andrei Konchalovsky, Russian film director 1938 - Alain Vivien, French politician 1939 - Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor and politician (d. 2004) 1940 - Rubén Hinojosa, American politician 1940 - Rex Sellers, Australian cricketer 1941 - Dave Brock, British musician and founder of Hawkwind 1941 - Rich Brooks, American football coach 1941 - Slobodan MiloÅ¡ević, President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia (d. 2006) 1941 - Robin Oakley, British journalist 1941 - Jo Ramirez, Mexican motor racing team manager and author 1942 - Isaac Hayes, American singer, songwriter, and actor (d. 2008) 1942 - Fred Norman, American baseball player 1943 - Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor 1944 - Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1991) 1944 - Graig Nettles, American baseball player 1946 - Connie Chung, American journalist 1946 - Ralf Hütter, German musician (Kraftwerk) 1946 - N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian businessman 1947 - Alan Lee, English conceptual artist 1948 - John Noble, Australian actor 1948 - Robert Plant, British Musician (Led Zeppelin) 1949 - Nikolas Asimos, Greek composer and singer (d. 1988) 1949 - Norman Featherstone, South African cricketer 1949 - Alan Hardwick, English TV presenter 1949 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (d. 1986) 1951 - Greg Bear, American author 1952 - John Emburey, English cricketer 1952 - Doug Fieger, American musician (The Knack) 1952 - John Hiatt, American musician 1954 - Tawn Mastrey, American disc jockey (d. 2007) 1954 - Al Roker, American television personality 1954 - Don Stark, American actor 1955 - Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer and writer 1956 - Joan Allen, American actress 1956 - Alvin Greenidge, West Indian cricketer 1957 - Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player 1958 - Patricia Rozema, Canadian film director and screenwriter 1961 - Greg Egan, Australian author 1961 - Joe Pasquale, English comedian 1962 - Sophie Aldred, English actress 1962 - James Marsters, American actor 1962 - Dong-Wook Song, South Korean tennis player 1965 - KRS-One, American rapper 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 former professional wrestler 1968 - Klas Ingesson, Swedish footballer 1968 - Yuri Shiratori, Japanese voice actress and singer 1969 - Duke Droese, American professional wrestler 1970 - Els Callens, Belgian tennis player 1970 - John D. Carmack, American computer game programmer 1970 - Fred Durst, American singer (Limp Bizkit) 1971 - Brad Avery, American musician (former guitarist for Third Day) 1971 - Jonathan Ke Quan, Vietnamese American actor 1971 - Steve Stone, English footballer 1971 - David Walliams, British comedian 1972 - Chaney Kley, American actor 1973 - Todd Helton, American baseball player 1974 - Amy Adams, American actress 1974 - Big Moe, American rapper (d. 2007) 1974 - Szabolcs Sáfár, Hungarian footballer 1974 - Andy Strachan, Australian musician (The Living End) 1974 - Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist 1975 - Marcus Mastin, American author 1976 - Chris Drury, American hockey player 1977 - Felipe Contepomi, Argentine rugby player 1977 - Manuel Contepomi, Argentine rugby player 1977 - Ivar Ingimarsson, Icelandic footballer 1977 - Mayra Veronica, Cuban model and actress 1977 - James Ormond, England cricketer 1979 - Cory Sullivan, American baseball player 1980 - Corey Carrier, American actor 1980 - Rochelle Gadd, British actress 1981 - Benjamin Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian) 1981 - Bernard Mendy, French footballer 1982 - Cléber Luis Alberti, Brazilian footballer 1982 - Youssouf Hersi, Ethiopian footballer 1982 - Joshua Kennedy, Australian footballer 1982 - Barney Rogers, Zimbabwean cricketer 1984 - Mirai Moriyama, Japanese actor 1984 - Golan Yosef, Dutch actor 1986 - Robert Clark, Canadian actor 1987 - Cătălina Ponor, Romanian gymnast 1990 - Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Dutch swimmer 1991 - Marko Äoković, Serbian tennis player 1992 - Demi Lovato, American Actress 2003 - Prince Gabriel of Belgium
[edit] Deaths
535 - Mochta of Louth, disciple of St. Patrick 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 - Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1625) 1672 - Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1623) 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) 1811 - Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French explorer (b. 1729) 1823 - Pope Pius VII (b. 1740) 1825 - William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1753) 1887 - Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860) 1904 - René Waldeck-Rousseau, French statesman (b. 1846) 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) 1959 - William Halsey, Jr, American admiral (b. 1882) 1961 - Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882) 1963 - Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer (b. 1879) 1965 - Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Civil Rights Martyr (b. 1939) 1971 - Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951) 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) 1997 - Norris Bradbury, American physicist (b. 1909) 1997 - Léon Dion, French-Canadian political scientist (b. 1922) 1998 - Raquel Rastenni, Danish singer (b. 1915) 2001 - Sir Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and science fiction writer (b. 1915) 2001 - Kim Stanley, American actress (b. 1925) 2005 - Thomas Herrion, American football player (b. 1981) 2005 - Krzysztof Raczkowski, Polish drummer (b. 1970) 2006 - Claude Blanchard, French-Canadian singer, comedian and actor (b. 1932) 2006 - Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911) 2006 - Cpl Bryan Budd VC, British soldier (Afghanistan) (b. 1977) 2007 - Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (b. 1920) 2007 - Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto (b. 1942) 2008 - Hua Guofeng, former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, succeeding Mao Zedong in 1976 and being replaced by Hu Yaobang in 1981 (b. 1921) 2008 - Stephanie Tubbs Jones, American politician (b. 1949) 2008 - Gene Upshaw, American football player and union leader (b. 1945)
[edit] Holidays and observances
World Union - World Union Day. Roman Catholic saints - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux Bahá'à Faith - Feast of Asmá (Names) - First day of the ninth month of the Bahá'à calendar. Hungary - St. Stephen's day, the main national holiday in Hungary. Estonia - Day of Restoration of Independence, celebrating the secession from the Soviet Union in 1991.