According to Gregory calendar, on May 20, the day number in a year is 141 and if it is a leap year then the day number is 142. 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.

Important Historical Events of 20 May in the World ⚡

Event YearIncident/Event
1217In the final land battle of the First Barons' War, William the Marshal drove Prince Louis of France out of England.
1217In the Battle of Lincoln, the last land battle of the First Barons' War, William the Marshal drove Prince Louis of France out of England.
1609Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's Sonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's Consent.
1609William Shakespeare's first collection of poems was published in London.
1784In Paris, a treaty was signed between the Kingdom of Great Britain and the Dutch Republic formally ending the Fourth Anglo-Dutch War.
1825Charles X became King of France.
18641,400 killed by battle at Ware Bottom Church, Virginia.
1867The Royal Albert Hall of the Arts and Sciences Foundation, composed by Queen Victoria, was inaugurated.
1873Clothing 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.
1873Jeans patents were awarded to San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis.
1875Representatives 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.
1882The Triple Alliance was created between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy.
1882The Gothard Rail Tunnel entry opened to Switzerland and Italy.
1902Cuba gained independence from the United States.
1902Tomas Estrada Palma became the first President of the country.
1919The 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.
1923Stanley Baldwin became Prime Minister of Britain.
1926Railway Labor Act was passed.
1927By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia.
1927The first passenger airline manufactured by the Boeing 40A company was flown for the first time.
1927Saudi Arabia gained independence from Britain.
1930The 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 21 or above.
1956The first United States airborne test of hydrogen bomb was conducted on May 20, 1956 over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1964American 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.
1965Pakistan's Boeing 720-B aircraft crashed in Cairo, Egypt, killing 121 people.
1969The 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.
1983A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier Published their discovery of HIV, although they did not know yet if it causes AIDS.
1983A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier Published their discovery of HIV, although they did not know yet if it causes AIDS.
1989The 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.
1990Romanian 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.
1990The Hubble Space Telescope sent the first photographs from space.
1993One for the Road, the series finale of American television sitcom Cheers, was watched by 42.4 million American households on its original airing.
1996The US Supreme Court struck down laws in Colorado that would have prevented any jurisdiction in the state from taking any governmental action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.
1996The US Supreme Court struck down laws in Colorado that would have prevented any jurisdiction in the state from taking any governmental action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.
2002Southeast 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.
2002East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, becoming the first new sovereign state of the 21st century.
2002Portugal recognized the independence of East Timor.
2003Pakistan banned militant organization Hizbul Mujahi Din.
2006Dhaka 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.
2012The first of two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, resulting in seven deaths.
2012The earthquake in Italy killed 27 people.
325The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey.
685The Picts defeated the Northumbrian near Dunnichen, severely weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
794According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was beheaded on the order of King Offa of Mercia.

Important Historical Events of 20 May in India ⚡

Event YearIncident/Event
1965Commander M.S. The first Indian team led by Kohli reached the Mount Everest conference.

Important Days of 20 May National & International Days 🏁

Day/ObservanceLevel
World Bee DayInternational Day
World Metrology DayInternational Day
Cameroon National DayNational Day

Famous People's Birthdays on 20 May 😀

Birth YearName/Category/Country
1990Sumitranandan Pant / Writer / India
1894Chandrashekarendra Saraswati / Scholar / India
1900Sumitranandan Pant / Poet / India
1905Suzanne Sablok / Model / India
1907Nana Palsikar / Actor / India
1918Piru Singh / Soldier / India
1939Balu Mahendra / Director / India
1966Manindra Agrawal / Scientist / India

See full list of famous people born on 20 may 🔗

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  Last update :  Wed 18 Jan 2023
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