On this day: 20 February
Events, births and deaths on 20 February. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · Peter Jason
- Deaths · Jerry Butler
- Deaths · David Boren
10 years ago2016
- Deaths · Fernando Cardenal
- Events · 2016 Kalamazoo shootings
100 years ago1926
- Births · Richard Matheson
- Births · Bob Richards
- Births · Gillian Lynne
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 1054 · Deaths · Yaroslav the Wise
Events · 20
- 1792United States Post Office Department — former US federal department (1872–1971)
- 1813Battle of Salta — 1813 battle of the Argentine War of Independence
- 1864Battle of Olustee — 1864 only major battle in Florida during the American Civil War
- 19201920 Gori earthquake — deadly 1920 earthquake which damaged the town of Gori, Georgia
- 1931Taking of Encarnación — 1931 revolutionary event in Paraguay
- 1933Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933 — Hitler's 1933 secret meeting with 20-25 German industrialists to raise funds for Nazi Party
- 19391939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden — German American Bund event
- 1943Parícutin — dormant scoria-cone volcano in Mexico
- 1944Big Week — 1944 military operation
- 1968China Academy of Space Technology — Chinese space agency and subsidiary of the China Aerospace Science and Technology Corporation
- 1988First Nagorno-Karabakh War — armed conflict that took place in the late 1980s to May 1994
- 1992Premier League — English men's association top football league
- 20022002 Al Ayyat train fire — fire on an Egyptian National Railways Cairo–Luxor train, 20 February 2002
- 2003The Station nightclub fire — fire that occurred on February 20, 2003
- 2005Spanish European Constitution referendum, 2005 — referendum on the introduction of a European Constitution
- 20092009 suicide air raid on Colombo — 2009 terrorist attempt in Sri Lanka
- 20102010 Madeira floods and mudslides — series of deadly natural disasters in Madeira, Portugal, in 2010
- 2015Rafz train crash — 2015 train crash in Rafz, Switzerland
- 20162016 Kalamazoo shootings — shooting that occurred in Kalamazoo
- 20222022 Winter Olympics closing ceremony — closing ceremony of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics
Births · 60
- 1469(Julian date)Thomas Cajetan — Catholic cardinal
- 1751Johann Heinrich Voss — German poet and classics translator (1751–1826)
- 1753Luis Alejandro Berthier — Marshal and Vice-Constable of France (1753-1815)
- 1844Ludwig Boltzmann — Austrian physicist and philosopher (1844–1906)
- 1867Louise, Princess Royal — third child and eldest daughter of Edward VII of the United Kingdom and Alexandra of Denmark (1867-1931)
- 1886Béla Kun — Hungarian Communist revolutionary and politician, the de facto leader of the Hungarian Soviet Republic in 1919, People's Commissar of Foreign Affairs
- 1886Takuboku Ishikawa — Japanese poet (1886-1912)
- 1888Georges Bernanos — French writer (1888–1948)
- 1901Mohamed Naguib — 1st President of the Republic of Egypt (1901–1984)
- 1901Louis Kahn — Estonian-American architect (1901–1974)
- 1902Ansel Adams — American photographer and environmentalist (1902–1984)
- 1912Pierre Boulle — French novelist (1912–1994)
- 1920Karl Hans Albrecht — German entrepreneur (1920-2014)
- 1925Robert Altman — American filmmaker (1925–2006)
- 1926Richard Matheson — American fiction writer (1926–2013)
- 1926Bob Richards — American athletics competitor, pole vaulter (1926–2023)
- 1927Sidney Poitier — Bahamian and American actor and diplomat (1927–2022)
- 1927Hubert de Givenchy — French fashion designer (1927-2018)
- 1927Ibrahim Ferrer — Cuban singer (1927–2005)
- 1927Roy Cohn — American lawyer (1927–1985)
- 1931John Milnor — American mathematician
- 1937Robert Huber — German chemist (1937-)
- 1940Jimmy Greaves — English professional football player (1940-2021)
- 1941Buffy Sainte-Marie — American musician
- 1942Mitch McConnell — American politician and lawyer (born 1942)
Deaths · 60
- 922Theodora — 10th-century Byzantine empress, wife of Romanos I
- 1054(Julian date)Yaroslav the Wise — Grand Prince of Kiev from 1019 to 1054
- 1171(Julian date)Conan IV, Duke of Brittany — Duke of Brittany from 1156 to 1166
- 1194(Julian date)Tancred, King of Sicily — Norman king of Sicily (1138-1194)
- 1258Al-Musta'sim — 37th and last Abbasid Caliph (r. 1242–1258)
- 1408(Julian date)Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland — English noble
- 1431(Julian date)Martin V — pope of the Catholic Church from 1417 to 1431
- 1458Lazar Branković — Despot of Serbia
- 1513John, King of Denmark — king of Denmark, Norway and Sweden
- 1618Philip William, Prince of Orange — Prince of Orange (1554–1618)
- 1626John Dowland — English Renaissance composer, lutenist, and singer (1563–1626)
- 1762Tobias Mayer — German astronomer
- 1773Carlo Emanuele III of Sardinia — King of Sardinia (1730-1773)
- 1778Laura Bassi — Italian physicist (1711-1778)
- 1790Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor — Holy Roman Emperor from 1765 to 1790, (1741-1790).
- 1810Andreas Hofer — Leader of armed resistance by the people of Tirol against Napoleonic and Bavarian invasion (1767-1810)
- 1841Friedrich Sertürner — German pharmacist (1783–1841)
- 1850Valentín Canalizo — President of Mexico (1794-1850)
- 1871Paul Kane — Irish-Canadian painter (1810-1871)
- 1893P. G. T. Beauregard — Confederate general (1818–1893)
- 1895Frederick Douglass — African-American social reformer, writer, and abolitionist (c. 1818–1895)
- 1907Henri Moissan — French chemist (1852–1907)
- 1916Klas Pontus Arnoldson — Swedish politician (1844-1916)
- 1920Robert Peary — explorer from the United States (1856–1920)
- 1929Rattanbai Jinnah — wife of Muhammad Ali Jinnah (1900–1929)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.