February 20
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February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.
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Events
- 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.
- 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.
- 1809 - A decision by the United States Supreme Court states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.
- 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.
- 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 drove in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
- 1921 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse film, 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 - 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.
- 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 Capitol Theatre in New York City.
- 1959 - The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada was 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.
- 1974 - Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick claimed he began experiencing intense gnostic visions on this date.
- 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
- 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, in the USA, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
- 1992 - Ross Perot announced his intention to run in the 1992 U.S. presidential election on CNN's Larry King Live.
- 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.
- 2005 - Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.
Births
- 1745 - Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
- 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences (d. 1834)
- 1839 - Revd Benjamin Waugh, founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
- 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist (d. 1906)
- 1844 - Joshua Slocum, seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
- 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, railroad executive (d. 1909)
- 1887 - Carl Ebert, opera manager and director (d. 1980)
- 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
- 1888 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
- 1902 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
- 1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
- 1909 - Heinz Erhardt, German comedian (d. 1979)
- 1912 - Pierre Boulle, author (d. 1994)
- 1914 - John Daly, South African-American broadcaster (d. 2001)
- 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, clothing designer and entrepreneur
- 1925 - Robert Altman, film director
- 1925 - Whitney Blake, American actress (d. 2002)
- 1925 - Heinz Kluncker, labor union leader
- 1926 - Richard Matheson, author
- 1926 - Rob Richards, track and field athlete
- 1927 - Sidney Poitier, actor
- 1927 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer, and anti-Communist (d. 1986)
- 1931 - Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1934 - Bobby Unser, American automobile racer
- 1936 - Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1937 - Roger Penske, automobile racer
- 1937 - Nancy Wilson, singer
- 1938 - Richard Beymer, American actor
- 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, American singer
- 1942 - Phil Esposito, hockey player
- 1943 - Mike Leigh, director
- 1945 - Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1946 - Brenda Blethyn, actress
- 1946 - Jerome Geils, musician (J. Geils Band)
- 1946 - Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
- 1947 - Peter Osgood, English footballer
- 1947 - Peter Strauss, actor
- 1948 - Jennifer O'Neill, actress
- 1949 - Ivana Trump, Czech skier, fashion model, and socialite
- 1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician
- 1951 - Randy California, guitarist
- 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
- 1954 - Patty Hearst, socialite
- 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, actor
- 1959 - Scott Brayton, auto racer (d. 1996)
- 1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
- 1966 - Cindy Crawford, American model
- 1967 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (d. 1994)
- 1971 - Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
- 1975 - Brian Littrell, musician (Backstreet Boys)
- 1977 - Stephon Marbury, basketball player
- 1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player
- 1985 - Yulia, musician (t.A.T.u.)
Deaths
- 702 - Chan Bahlum II, king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635)
- 1171 - Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
- 1194 - Tancred, King of Sicily
- 1258 - Al-Musta'sim, last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad
- 1408 - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland (b. 1342)
- 1431 - Pope Martin V
- 1513 - King Christian II of Denmark (b. 1455)
- 1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
- 1626 - John Dowland, English composer and lutenist (b. 1563)
- 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy (b. 1701)
- 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
- 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean national hero (executed)
- 1871 - Paul Kane, painter (b. 1810)
- 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (b. 1818)
- 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer (b. ca. 1818)
- 1907 - Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
- 1920 - Robert Peary, explorer (b. 1856)
- 1961 - Percy Grainger, Australian composer (b. 1882)
- 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
- 1968 - Anthony Asquith, director, writer (b. 1902)
- 1969 - Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
- 1970 - Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
- 1972 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
- 1975 - Robert Strauss, American politician, diplomat
- 1980 - J.B. Rhine, parapsychologist and ESP researcher (b. 1895).
- 1983 - Ray Vitte, American actor
- 1985 - Clarence Nash, Disney voice actor (b. 1904)
- 1992 - Dick York, actor (b. 1928)
- 1992 - Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician
- 1993 - Ferrucio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer
- 1996 - Toru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
- 1996 - Solomon Asch, psychologist (b. 1907)
- 1999 - Sarah Kane, playwright (b. 1971)
- 1999 - Gene Siskel, film critic (b. 1946)
- 2000 - Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician
- 2001 - Rosemary DeCamp, American actress
- 2003 - Maurice Blanchot, author (b. 1907)
- 2003 - Orville Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Willi Hoss, politician
- 2003 - Harry Jacunski, NFL player
- 2003 - Ty Longley, guitarist for the heavy-metal band Great White
- 2003 - Ulrich Roski, singer and cabaret artist
- 2005 - Sandra Dee, American actress(b. 1944)
- 2005 - Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author. (b. 1937)
- 2005 - John Raitt, actor (b. 1917)
Holidays and observances
Hooty Hoo Day...all across America, people step outside at 12 noon and holler "HOOTY HOO" in order to chase away the winter.
External links
- BBC: On This Day (http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/20)
- Today in History: February 20 (http://www.tnl.net/when/2/20)
February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 -- listing of all days
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