September 20
September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). There are 102 days remaining.
Events
- 451 - Atilla, king of the Huns, invades Gaul, but is defeated by Aetius with the help of Roman Foederati in the Battle of Chalons
- 1378 - Papal Schism: Unhappy with the behavior of Pope Urban VI, a group of cardinals meet at Fondi and elect Pope Clement VII, who becomes an Antipope in Avignon, France.
- 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan begins his voyage around the world.
- 1565 - Spaniards capture French Fort Caroline, near present-day Jacksonville, Florida
- 1596 - Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey, Mexico.
- 1643 - English Civil War: Battle of Newbury - Parliamentarian Robert Devereux, the Earl of Essex defeats a Royalist army commanded by Charles I of England at Newbury, Berkshire.
- 1644 - Shunzhi Emperor of China moved the capital city from Shenyang to Beijing.
- 1697 - Treaty of Ryswick is signed, ending the War of the Grand Alliance.
- 1792 - Battle of Valmy - France defeats Prussia
- 1797 - The USS Constitution is launched in Boston, Massachusetts
- 1850 - Slave trading is abolished in the District of Columbia
- 1854 - Battle of Alma - British and French troops defeat Russians in the Crimea
- 1860 - The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) visits the United States
- 1863 - Battle of Chickamauga ends
- 1870 - Bersaglieri corps enters Rome at Porta Pia and completes the unification of Italy
- 1881 - Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States.
- 1937 - Spanish Civil War: Peña Blanca is taken; the end of the Battle of El Mazuco.
- 1946 - First Cannes Film Festival
- 1954 - First program compiled from FORTRAN runs
- 1962 - James Meredith, an African-American, is barred from entering the University of Mississippi
- 1973 - Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match
- 1979 - Lee Iacocca elected president of the Chrysler Corporation
- 1979 - Coup in Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I
- 1981 - Coup in Central African Republic overthrows President David Dacko
- 1984 - Suicide bomber in a car attacks the United States embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twelve people
- 1998 - After playing 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr takes a day off.
- 2003 - Referendum in Latvia over the joining of the European Union
- 2004 - Wikipedia passed 1 million articles in over 100 languages.
Births
- 356 BC - Alexander the Great (d. 323 BC)
- 1842 - Sir James Dewar, chemist (d. 1923)
- 1853 - Chulalongkorn (Rama V), king of Thailand (d. 1910)
- 1861 - Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (d. 1955)
- 1873 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer film director (d. 1949)
- 1878 - Upton Sinclair, writer, politician (d. 1968)
- 1889 - Charles Reidpath, American athlete
- 1890 - Jelly Roll Morton, composer (d. 1941)
- 1899 - Elliott Nugent, actor, director
- 1917 - Red Auerbach, National Basketball Association coach and executive
- 1918 - Peg Phillips, actress
- 1922 - William Kapell, pianist (d. 1953)
- 1924 - Gogi Grant (Audrey Brown), singer
- 1925 - James Galanos, fashion designer
- 1927 - Johnny Dankworth, musician, composer
- 1927 - Rachel Roberts, actress (d. 1980)
- 1928 - Doctor Joyce Brothers, psychologist, advice columnist
- 1928 - Donald A. Hall, author
- 1929 - Anne Meara, comic, actress
- 1931 - Peter Palmer, actor
- 1934 - Sophia Loren, actress
- 1938 - Pia Lindstrom, journalist
- 1948 - George R. R. Martin, science fiction writer
- 1951 - Guy Lafleur, National Hockey League star
- 1956 - Gary Cole, actor
- 1968 - Darrell Russell, NHRA drag racer (d. 2004)
- 1968 - Leah Pinsent, Canadian actress
- 1971 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish football star
- 1975 - Asia Argento, actress
- 1975 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Formula One racer
- 1976 - Michael Ballack, German football star
Deaths
- 1460 - Gilles Binchois, composer
- 1586 - Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet, executed
- 1803 - Robert Emmet, Irish patriot.
- 1863 - Jacob Grimm, folklorist
- 1908 - Pablo de Sarasate, violinist
- 1947 - Fiorello LaGuardia, former mayor of New York City
- 1949 - Nikolaos Skalkottas, composer
- 1957 - Jean Sibelius, composer
- 1973 - Jim Croce, singer-songwriter
- 1996 - Paul Erdös, mathematician
- 1999 - Raisa Gorbachev, First Lady of the Soviet Union
- 2000 - Gherman Titov, cosmonaut
- 2003 - Simon Muzenda, vice president of Zimbabwe under Robert Mugabe
Holidays
- In ancient Greece, the seventh day of the Eleusinian mysteries, when the secret rites in the Telesterion began.
September 19 · September 21 · August 20 · October 20 · more historical anniversaries