On this day: 20 May
Events, births and deaths on 20 May. Every date is checked against Wikidata.
Years ago today
1 year ago2025
- Deaths · George Wendt
- Deaths · Trần Đức Lương
- Deaths · Mine Kondo
10 years ago2016
Nothing recorded for that year.
100 years ago1926
- Births · Bob Sweikert
1000 years ago1026
Within 100 years of that
- 965 · Deaths · Gero
Events · 28
- 685(Julian date)Battle of Dun Nechtain — 685 battle between the Pics and the Northumbrians
- 1217(Julian date)Battle of Lincoln — battle of Lincoln, England in 1217
- 1449(Julian date)Battle of Alfarrobeira — 1449 battle
- 1521(Julian date)Battle of Pamplona — battle of the Italian War of 1521–1526
- 1631Sack of Magdeburg — destruction of the Protestant city of Magdeburg on 20 May 1631 by the Imperial Army and the forces of the Catholic League
- 1811Battle of Tamatave — 1811 naval battle fought off Tamatave in Madagascar between British and French frigate squadrons during the Napoleonic Wars
- 1813Battle of Bautzen — 1813 battle during the War of the Sixth Coalition
- 1864Battle of Ware Bottom Church — 1864 battle of the American Civil War
- 1875Metre Convention — 1875 international treaty
- 1882Triple Alliance — defensive alliance between Germany, Austria–Hungary and Italy (1882-1915)
- 18831883 eruption of Krakatoa — catastrophic volcanic eruption
- 1902Republic of Cuba — historical period in Cuba between 20 May 1902 and 1 January 1959
- 1940Auschwitz — German network of concentration and extermination camps in occupied Poland during World War II
- 1941Battle of Crete — 1941 battle during WWII on the Greek island of Crete
- 1941Battle of Heraklion — 1941 World War II battle in Crete
- 1947National Diet — bicameral legislature of Japan
- 1948President of the Republic of China — head of state of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
- 1949Martial law in Taiwan — 38 year period of military rule
- 1958Capital Airlines Flight 300 — 1958 aviation accident
- 1965Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 — 1965 plane crash of a Boeing 720-040B; deadliest Boeing 720 accident
- 1967Popular Movement of the Revolution — political party
- 1971Chuknagar massacre — 1971 massacre during the Bangladesh War of Independence
- 1980Quebec referendum, 1980 — 1980 plebiscite on Quebec's independence from Canada
- 1983Church Street bombing — 1983 terrorist car bomb attack in Pretoria, South Africa
- 19901990 Romanian general election — first free elections after the Romanian Revolution of 1989
- 20092009 Indonesian Air Force C-130H Hercules crash — military plane crash
- 20122012 Northern Italy earthquakes — earthquake
- 2013Moore tornado — 2013 severe weather incident
Births · 60
- 1315(Julian date)Bonne de Luxembourg — wife of King John II of France
- 1470(Julian date)Pietro Bembo — Catholic cardinal and poet (1470–1547)
- 1743Toussaint Louverture — Haitian national hero (1743–1803)
- 1799Honoré de Balzac — French novelist and playwright (1799–1850)
- 1806John Stuart Mill — British philosopher and political economist (1806–1873)
- 1822Frédéric Passy — French economist and statesman (1822-1912)
- 1830Hector Malot — French writer (1830–1907)
- 1838Jules Méline — French politician (1838-1925)
- 1851Emile Berliner — German-born American inventor (1851–1929)
- 1856Henri-Edmond Cross — French Neo-Impressionist painter (1856–1910)
- 1860Eduard Buchner — German chemist (1907 Nobel Prize)
- 1882Sigrid Undset — Norwegian writer (1882–1949)
- 1883Faisal I of Iraq — 1st king of Hashemite Iraq from 1921 to 1933
- 1901Max Euwe — Dutch chess player and mathematician
- 1904Margery Allingham — English writer of detective fiction, editor (1904–1966)
- 1908James Stewart — American actor and military officer (1908–1997)
- 1911Annie M.G. Schmidt — Dutch writer (1911-1995)
- 1913William Redington Hewlett — American electrical engineer, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard (1913–2001)
- 1913Teodoro Fernández — Peruvian footballer (1913-1996)
- 1915Moshe Dayan — Israeli military leader and politician (1915–1981)
- 1916Alexey Maresyev — Soviet aviator (1916–2001)
- 1918Edward B. Lewis — American biologist (1918–2004)
- 1921Wolfgang Borchert — German playwright, and short story writer (1921–1947)
- 1932Dieter Rams — German industrial designer (born 1932)
- 1935José Mujica — Uruguayan guerrilla fighter and politician
Deaths · 60
- 685(Julian date)Ecgfrith of Northumbria — King of Northumbria
- 794(Julian date)Æthelberht II — Saint and king of East Anglia
- 965Gero — German nobleman (c.900–965)
- 1277(Julian date)John XXI — pope (1276-1277)
- 1285(Julian date)John II of Jerusalem — 13th century King of Cyprus and Jerusalem
- 1366(Julian date)Maria of Calabria — Empress consort of Philip II of Taranto
- 1444(Julian date)Bernardino of Siena — Italian Franciscan and saint (1380–1444)
- 1449(Julian date)Peter, Duke of Coimbra — Regent of Portugal (1392-1449)
- 1503(Julian date)Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici — Italian banker and politician (1463-1503)
- 1506(Julian date)Christopher Columbus — Italian navigator, explorer, and colonist (1451–1506)
- 1550(Julian date)Ashikaga Yoshiharu — 12th shōgun of the Ashikaga shogunate of Japan (1521–1546)
- 1622Osman II — 16th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (1618–1622)
- 1648Władysław IV Vasa — King of Poland and Grand Duke of Lithuania (1595-1648)
- 1722Sébastien Vaillant — French mycologist (1669-1722)
- 1793Charles Bonnet — Genevan philosopher and naturalist (1720–1793)
- 1812Count Hieronymus von Colloredo — Prince-bishop (1732-1812)
- 1834Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette — French general and politician (1757–1834)
- 1841Joseph Blanco White — Spanish journalist, poet and theologian
- 1864John Clare — English poet (1793-1864)
- 1873George-Étienne Cartier — Canadian politician and lawyer (1814-1873)
- 1896Clara Schumann — German musician and composer (1819–1896)
- 1917Philipp von Ferrary — French philatelist, owner of the world's largest stamp collection (1850–1917)
- 1940Verner von Heidenstam — Swedish writer (1859–1940)
- 1942Hector Guimard — French architect (1867–1942)
- 1946Jacob Ellehammer — Danish aviator (1871–1946)
Dates verified against Wikidata (CC0). Titles and descriptions come from Wikidata.