August 20 :: Historical Events

Famous 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 were brutally murdered by an angry mob in The Hague.


• 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.


• 1866 - President Andrew Johnson formally declared 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 Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) is established.


• 1938 - Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam - a record that still stands.


• 1940 - Exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded in Mexico City by an assassin's ice axe. He dies the next day.


• 1944 - World War II: The Battle of Romania begins with a major Soviet offensive.


• 1953 - The Soviet Union publicly acknowledged 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 independence.


• 1968 - 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to end the "Prague Spring" of political liberalization.


• 1969 - All four Beatles were together in the recording studio for the final time as they finished the Abbey Road LP.


• 1974 - Congress votes to reduce aid to South Vietnam from $1 Billion to $700 Million. Majority of the cuts were for military supplies.


• 1975 - Viking Program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.


• 1977 - Voyager Program: The United States 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 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 to 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 were signed, followed by a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. the next month.


• 1997 - Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people killed, 15 kidnapped.


• 1998 - The Supreme Court of Canada states 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 giving up.

Famous 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 - Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (d. 1783)


• 1719 - Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1791)


• 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 - Bolesław Prus, Polish writer (d. 1912)


• 1856 - Jakub Bart-Ćišinski, Sorbian writer (d. 1909)


• 1860 - Raymond Poincaré, French statesman (d. 1934)


• 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)


• 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)


• 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


• 1933 - George J. Mitchell, former United States Senator


• 1934 - Armi Kuusela, Finnish beauty queen


• 1936 - Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate


• 1937 - Andrei Konchalovsky, Russian film director


• 1937 - El Fary, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2007)


• 1937 - Jim Bowen, English comedian


• 1938 - Alain Vivien, French politician


• 1939 - Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor and politician (d. 2004)


• 1940 - Rubén Hinojosa, American politician


• 1941 - Slobodan Milošević, President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia (d. 2006)


• 1941 - Rich Brooks, American football coach


• 1941 - Dave Brock, British musician and founder of Hawkwind


• 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)


• 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 - Robert Plant,British Musician (Led Zeppelin)


• 1948 - John Noble, Australian actor


• 1949 - Phil Lynott, Irish musician (d. 1986)


• 1949 - Nikolas Asimos, Greek composer and singer (d. 1988)


• 1949 - Norman Featherstone, South African cricketer


• 1949 - Alan Hardwick, English TV presenter


• 1951 - Greg Bear, American author


• 1952 - John Hiatt, American musician


• 1952 - Doug Fieger, American musician (The Knack)


• 1952 - John Emburey, English cricketer


• 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


• 1957 - Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player


• 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 (guitarist for Third Day)


• 1971 - Jonathan Ke Quan, Vietnamese American actor


• 1971 - Steve Stone, English footballer


• 1971 - David Walliams, British comedian


• 1973 - Todd Helton, American baseball player


• 1974 - Amy Adams, American actress


• 1974 - Big Moe, American rapper (d. 2007)


• 1974 - Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist


• 1974 - Szabolcs Sáfár, Hungarian footballer


• 1974 - Andy Strachan, Australian musician (The Living End)


• 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


• 1979 - Cory Sullivan, American baseball player


• 1980 - Rochelle Gadd, British actress


• 1980 - Corey Carrier, American actor


• 1981 - Bernard Mendy, French footballer


• 1981 - Benjamin Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian)


• 1982 - Joshua Kennedy, Australian footballer


• 1982 - Youssouf Hersi, Ethiopian footballer


• 1982 - Cléber Luis Alberti, Brazilian footballer


• 1984 - Mirai Moriyama, Japanese actor


• 1986 - Robert Clark, Canadian actor


• 1987 - Cătălina Ponor, Romanian gymnast


• 1990 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Dutch swimmer


• 1991 - Marko Đoković, Serbian tennis player


• 1992 - Demi Lovato, American Actress


• 2003 - Prince Gabriel of Belgium

Famous 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)


• 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)


• 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)

Famous Holidays and observances

• World Union - World Union Day.


• Roman Catholic saints - Saint Bernard of Clairvaux


• Bahá'í Faith - Feast of Asmá (Names) - First day of the ninth month of the Bahá'í 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.