February 20

is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.

Events

1472 - Orkney and Shetland are returned by Norway to Scotland, due to a defaulted dowry payment.
1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.
1816 - Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.
1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake
1864 - Battle of Olustee
1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
1913 - King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
1921 - The film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943 - The Paricutín volcano begins to form in Paricutín, México.
1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
1947 - State of Prussia ceases to exist
1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
1952 - The film The African Queen opens at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.
1959 - The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, in the USA, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
1991 - A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time dictator, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital, Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters.
1992 - Ross Perot announces his intention to run in the 1992 U.S. presidential election on CNN's Larry King Live.
1992 - The FA Premier League is formed and takes over as the professional league in England from season 1992–93.
1998 - American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
2003 - In Rhode Island, in the USA, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.
2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.

Births

1631 - Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (d. 1712)
1745 - Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
1753 - Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (d. 1815)
1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
1794 - William Carleton, Irish novelist (d. 1869)
1802 - Charles de Bériot, Belgian violinist (d. 1870)
1819 - Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
1839 - Benjamin Waugh, American minister and founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
1844 - Joshua Slocum, Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
1888 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
1893 - Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
1901 - Muhammad Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
1902 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
1912 - Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
1914 - John Daly, South African-born broadcaster (d. 2001)
1923 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, American clothing designer and entrepreneur
1925 - Robert Altman, American film director
1925 - Heinz Kluncker, German labor union leader
1926 - Richard Matheson, American author
1927 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer, and anti-Communist (d. 1986)
1927 - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2005)
1927 - Sidney Poitier, American actor
1931 - Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
1934 - Bobby Unser, American race car driver
1936 - Marj Dusay, American actress
1936 - Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
1937 - Robert Huber, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 - Roger Penske, American race car driver
1937 - Nancy Wilson, American singer
1938 - Richard Beymer, American actor
1939 - Frank Arundel, English footballer
1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, American singer
1942 - Phil Esposito, Canadian hockey player
1943 - Mike Leigh, British film director
1943 - Antonio Inoki, Japanese professional wrestler
1944 - Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
1945 - Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
1946 - Brenda Blethyn, English actress
1946 - Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
1946 - John Geils, Jr., American guitarist (J. Geils Band)
1947 - Peter Osgood, English footballer
1947 - Peter Strauss, American actor
1948 - Jennifer O'Neill, Brazilian-born actress
1949 - Ivana Trump, Czech skier, model and socialite
1950 - Ken Shimura, Japanese television performer and actor
1950 - Walter Becker, American jazz-rock guitarist (Steely Dan)
1951 - Edward Albert, American actor
1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician
1951 - Randy California, guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)
1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
1954 - Patty Hearst, American socialite and kidnapping victim
1954 - Jon Brant, American musician (Cheap Trick)
1960 - Joel Hodgson, American comedian, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000
1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
1963 - Ian Brown, British singer (Stone Roses)
1966 - Cindy Crawford, American model
1967 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)
1967 - Lili Taylor, American actress
1971 - Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
1972 - Brent Gretzky, Canadian hockey player; brother of Wayne Gretzky
1975 - Gail Kim, wrestler
1975 - Brian Littrell, American musician (Backstreet Boys)
1975 - Liván Hernández, Baseball player
1976 - Ed Graham, British drummer (The Darkness)
1977 - Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
1977 - T.J. Slaughter, American football player
1978 - Julia Jentsch, German actress
1978 - Lauren Ambrose, American actress
1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
1980 - Artur Boruc, Polish football (soccer) goalkeeper
1981 - Tony Hibbert, English footballer
1981 - Chris Thile, musician
1985 - Yulia Volkova, Russian musician (t.A.T.u.)
1988 - Rihanna, Barbadian R&B singer

Deaths

702 - Chan Bahlum II, king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635)
1154 - Saint Wulfric of Haselbury Plucknett
1171 - Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
1194 - King Tancred of Sicily
1258 - Al-Musta'sim, last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad
1408 - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English statesman (b. 1342)
1431 - Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
1513 - King Christian II of Denmark (b. 1455)
1524 - Tecún Umán, last leader of the Quiché-Maya in the northern highlands of Guatemala.
1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
1618 - Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
1626 - John Dowland, English composer and lutenist (b. 1563)
1762 - Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)
1771 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (b. 1678)
1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
1778 - Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (b. 1711)
1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
1803 - Marie Dumesnil, French actress (b. 1713)
1806 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (b. 1725)
1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean national hero (executed) (b. 1767)
1871 - Paul Kane, Irish-born painter (b. 1810)
1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (b. 1818)
1895 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer (b. 1818)
1907 - Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
1916 - Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1844)
1920 - Robert Peary, American explorer (b. 1856)
1961 - Percy Grainger, Australian composer (b. 1882)
1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
1968 - Anthony Asquith, British film director and writer (b. 1902)
1969 - Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
1970 - Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
1972 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1906)
1972 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
1975 - Robert Strauss, American politician and diplomat (b. 1918)
1976 - René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1887)
1976 - Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist (b. 1907)
1980 - J.B. Rhine, American parapsychologist (b. 1895)
1981 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
1983 - Fritz Köberle, Austrian-Brazilian physician (b. 1910)
1985 - Clarence Nash, American voice actor (b. 1904)
1992 - Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician (b. 1944)
1992 - Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
1993 - Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916)
1996 - Solomon Asch, American psychologist (b. 1907)
1996 - Tōru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
1999 - Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
1999 - Gene Siskel, American film critic (b. 1946)
2000 - Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician (b. 1937)
2001 - Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
2003 - Maurice Blanchot, French author (b. 1907)
2003 - Orville Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
2003 - Harry Jacunski, American football player
2003 - Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White) (b. 1971)
2005 - Pam Bricker, jazz singer and Thievery Corporation vocalist (b. 1954)
2005 - Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1944)
2005 - John Raitt, American actor (b. 1917)
2005 - Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
2006 - Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)

External links

February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 -- listing of all days

Gourt Home::Gourt :: February 20

Events

Births

Deaths

External links