September 20Birthdays & History

On this day: September 20 in history

Oldest first. Tap a year to see it on the World Chronicle timeline.

1. 1058Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.Europe
2. 1066At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin.Europe
3. 1187Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.Middle East
4. 1217Following the French defeat in the battle of Lincoln, Prince Louis of France ratifies the treaty of Lambeth under which he abandons all claims to the English throne and returns to France in exchange of an indemnity payment.Europe
5. 1260The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.Europe
6. 1378Cardinal Robert of Geneva is elected as Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism.Europe
7. 1498The Nankai tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in; it has been located outside ever since.Asia
8. 1519Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition which ultimately culminates in the first circumnavigation of the globe.EuropeLatin America
9. 1586A number of conspirators in the Babington Plot are hanged, drawn and quartered.Europe
10. 1602The Spanish-held Dutch town of Grave capitulates to a besieging Dutch and English army under the command of Maurice of Orange.Europe
11. 1697The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, ending the Nine Years' War.Europe
12. 1737The Walking Purchase concludes, which forces the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,900 km2) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.North America
13. 1792French troops stop an allied invasion of France at the Battle of Valmy.Europe
14. 1835The decade-long Ragamuffin War starts when rebels capture Porto Alegre in Brazil.Latin America
15. 1848The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.North America
16. 1854Crimean War: British and French troops defeat Russians at the Battle of Alma.Europe
17. 1857The Indian Rebellion of 1857 ends with the recapture of Delhi by troops loyal to the East India Company.Asia
18. 1860The future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom begins the first visit to North America by a Prince of Wales.EuropeNorth America
19. 1863American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, ends in a Confederate victory.North America
20. 1870The Bersaglieri corps enter Rome through the Porta Pia, and complete the unification of Italy.Europe
21. 1871Bishop John Coleridge Patteson, first bishop of Melanesia, is martyred on Nukapu, now in the Solomon Islands.Oceania
22. 1881U.S. President Chester A. Arthur is sworn in upon the death of James A. Garfield the previous day.North America
23. 1893Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.North America
24. 1911The White Star Line's RMS Olympic collides with the British warship HMS Hawke.Europe
25. 1920Irish War of Independence: British police known as "Black and Tans" burn the town of Balbriggan and kill two local men in revenge for an IRA assassination.Europe
26. 1941The Holocaust in Lithuania: Lithuanian Nazis and local police begin a mass execution of 403 Jews in Nemenčinė.Europe
27. 1946The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed for seven years due to World War II.Europe
28. 1946Six days after a referendum, King Christian X of Denmark annuls the declaration of independence of the Faroe Islands.Europe
29. 1954The Moomin comics, created by Tove Jansson and Lars Jansson, is published internationally in the London newspaper The Evening News.Europe
30. 1955The Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR is signed.Europe
31. 1961Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.Europe
32. 1962James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.AfricaNorth America
33. 1965Following the Battle of Burki, the Indian Army captures Dograi in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.Asia
34. 1967The Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched in Clydebank, Scotland.Europe
35. 1971Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific.Latin America
36. 1973Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome.North America
37. 1973Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana.North America
38. 1977Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.Asia
39. 1979A French-organized coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.EuropeAfrica
40. 1982NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike.North America
41. 1984A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people.North AmericaMiddle East
42. 1986Aeroflot Flight 36075 is hijacked at Ufa International Airport.Europe
43. 1988Margaret Thatcher delivers the Bruges speech, in which she articulates her opposition to further European integration.Europe
44. 1989USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people.North America
45. 1990South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia.Europe
46. 2000The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile.Europe
47. 2001In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror".North America
48. 2003Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards.Asia
49. 2007Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate.North America
50. 2008A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others.Asia
51. 2011The United States military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.North America
52. 2017Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis.Latin AmericaNorth America
53. 2018At least 161 people die after a ferry capsizes close to the pier on Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania.Africa
54. 2019Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.EuropeNorth America

Source: Wikipedia "September 20" / CC BY-SA 4.0