20 May - Today in History - Important historical events happened on this day in India and World History
According to Gregory calendar, on May 20, the day number in a year is 140 and if it is a leap year then the day number is 141. May 20 has a special significance in India and world history, because many such incidents have occurred on this day which have been recorded forever in the pages of history. Let's know some such important events which will increase your general knowledge. The facts collected will be as follows: People born on this day, demise of famous people, war treaty, freedom of any country, invention of new technologies, change of power, important National and International Day etc.
May 20 in History - Top Historical Events
| Year | Event / Incidence / Incident |
| 325 | The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of theChristian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey. |
| 685 | The Picts defeated the Northumbrians near Dunnichen, severelyweakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain. |
| 794 | According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was beheaded on the order of King Offa of Mercia. |
| 1217 | In the Battle of Lincoln, the last land battle of the First Barons' War, William the Marshal drove Prince Louis of France out ofEngland. |
| 1609 | Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespearen 'ssonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's consent. |
| 1609 | William Shakespeare's first collection of poems was published in London. |
| 1784 | In Paris, a treaty was signed between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic formally ending the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War. |
| 1825 | Charles X became King of France. |
| 1864 | 1,400 killed by battle at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia. |
| 1867 | The Royal Albert Hall of the Arts and Sciences Foundation, composed by Queen Victoria, was inaugurated. |
| 1873 | Clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis weregranted a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets ofdenim overalls, allowing their company to start manufacturing theirfirst line of blue jeans. |
| 1873 | Jeans patents were awarded to San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis. |
| 1875 | Representatives from seventeen countries signed the MetreConvention which set up an institute for the purpose of coordinatinginternational metrology and for coordinating the development of themetric system. |
| 1882 | The Triple Alliance was created between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy. |
| 1882 | The Gothard Rail Tunnel entry opened to Switzerland and Italy. |
| 1902 | Cuba gained independence from the United States. |
| 1902 | Tomas Estrada Palma became the first President of the country. |
| 1919 | The Turkish War of Independence took place on May 19, 1919 between the Turkish nationalists and the Allies Greece, Armenia, France and Great Britain on three different fronts namely the Western front, the Eastern front and the Southern front. Mustafa Kemal Ataturk led the Turkish movement and defeated the forces of Allies. |
| 1923 | Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister of Britain. |
| 1926 | Railway Labor Act was passed. |
| 1927 | By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized thes overeignty of King Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged tobecome Saudi Arabia. |
| 1927 | Saudi Arabia gained independence from Britain. |
| 1927 | The first passenger airline manufactured by the Boeing 40A company was flown for the first time. |
| 1930 | The Women's Enfranchisement Act, 1930 was passed on May 19, 1930 by the South African Parliament which granted voting rights to only white women aged 21or above. |
| 1956 | The first United States airborne test of hydrogen bomb was conducted on May 20, 1956 over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean. |
| 1964 | American physicists Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered cosmic microwave background radiation on May 20, 1964. Both of them earned the 1978 Nobel Prize in physics for this discovery which is of great importance because cosmic microwave is the thermal radiation left over from the Big Bang that means it is the oldest light in the universe. |
| 1965 | Pakistan's Boeing 720-B aircraft crashed in Cairo, Egypt, killing 121 people. |
| 1965 | Commander M.S. The first Indian team led by Kohli reached the Mount Everest conference. |
| 1969 | The Battle of Hamburger Hill came to an end on May 20, 1969, fought between the United States and South Vietnamese against North Vietnamese forces. After getting tactical victory over North Vietnamese forces, US President Richard Nixon announced the withdrawal from South Vietnam. |
| 1983 | French virologist Luc Montagnier published his findings of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science on May 20, 1983. Montagnier' team first isolated the HIV virus but an American team led by Robert Gallo is credited with discovering the virus, though this point remained a subject of disputes for many years that who discovered the virus first. |
| 1989 | The Chinese government declared martial law on May 20, 1989 following a demonstration by a million of residents to support the movement started by students at Tiananmen Square. The order of martial law soon resulted into Tiananmen Square Massacre or commonly known as June Fourth Massacre in which troops with assault rifles and tanks inflicted casualties on unarmed civilians. |
| 1990 | Romanian first post-communist presidential and parliamentary elections were held on May 20, 1990. Ion Iliescu won the election with 90% of the votes and became the first elected President of Romania. |
| 1990 | The Hubble Space Telescope sent the first photographs from space. |
| 1993 | One for the Road, the series finale of American televisionsitcom Cheers, was watched by 42.4 million American households on itsoriginal airing. |
| 1996 | The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws in Colorado that wouldhave prevented any jurisdiction in the state from taking any governmental action to protect homosexual citizens from discriminationon the basis of their sexual orientation. |
| 2002 | Southeast Asian country East Timor was internationally recognized as an independent nation on May 20, 2002. East Timor was invaded by Indonesian occupation for more than two decades after self declaration of independence on 28th November 1975 from Portugal Colonization. |
| 2002 | East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, becoming thefirst new sovereign state of the 21st century. |
| 2002 | Portugal recognized the independence of East Timor. |
| 2003 | Pakistan banned militant organization Hizbul Mujahi Din. |
| 2006 | Dhaka wildcat strikes took place on May 20, 2006 and lasted for 18 days in and around the capital of Bangladesh. More than 1.8 million workers from 4000 garment factories demonstrated and were engaged in a series of massive strikes. |
| 2012 | The first of two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy,resulting in seven deaths. |
| 2012 | The earthquake in Italy killed 27 people. |
Famous Birthdays of May 20:
| Year | Name / Profession / Country |
| 1830 | Hector Malot / Author / France |
| 1943 | Albano Carrisi / Actor / Italy |
| 1895 | R. J. Mitchell / Engineer / United Kingdom |
| 1913 | Teodoro Fernández / Footballer / Peru |
| 1944 | Joe Cocker / Writer / United Kingdom |
| 1976 | Tomoya Satozaki / Baseball Player / Japan |
| 1987 | Julian Wright / Basketball Player / United States of America |
| 1921 | Hao Wang / Philosopher / United States of America |
| 1998 | Nam Nguyen / Figure Skater / Canada |
| 1969 | Road Dogg / Producer / United States of America |
| 1537 | Hieronymus Fabricius / Anatomist / Italy |
| 1968 | Timothy Olyphant / Actor / United States of America |
| 1920 | John Cruickshank / Banker / Scotland |
| 1972 | Busta Rhymes / Producer / United States of America |
| 1992 | Cate Campbell / Swimmer / Australia |
| 1972 | Michael Diamond / Shooter / Australia |
| 1901 | Max Euwe / Mathematician / Netherlands |
| 1772 | Sir William Congreve / Politician / United Kingdom |
| 1947 | Greg Dyke / Journalist / United Kingdom |
| 1946 | Cher / Writer / United States of America |
| 1966 | Dan Abrams / Author / United States of America |
| 1970 | Terrell Brandon / Basketball Player / United States of America |
| 1976 | Ramón Hernández / Baseball Player / United States of America |
| 1900 | Sumitranandan Pant / Poet / India |
| 1806 | John Stuart Mill / Economist / United Kingdom |
| 1882 | Sigrid Undset / Writer / Norway |
| 1981 | Lindsay Taylor / Basketball Player / United States of America |
| 1981 | Iker Casillas / Footballer / Spain |
| 1988 | Joel Moon / Rugby Player / Australia |
| 1984 | Mauro Rafael da Silva / Footballer / Brazil |
This day in other months
January 20 | February 20 | March 20 | April 20 | May 20 | June 20 | July 20 | August 20 | September 20 | October 20 | November 20 | December 20
Related search terms
Today in history | 20 May Major Events | 20 May Important Days | 20 May in Indian History | May 20 in World History | What Happened on 20 May | May 20 Famous Birthdays
Read in Hindi : 20 मई की प्रमुख ऐतिहासिक घटनाएं