On this day in History - May 20

• 0325 - The First Council of Nicaea is held; the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church.
• 0526 - An Earthquake kills about 300,000 people in Syria and Antiochia.
• 0685 - The Battle of Nechtansmere is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
• 0685 - Ecgfrith, dies (b. 0645). King of Northumbria.
• 1217 - The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 2nd Earl of Pembroke.
• 1232 - Canonização de Santo Antonio de Pádua
• 1277 - Pope John XXI (Pedro Hispano) dies. Portuguese philosopher and Pope
• 1506 - Christopher Columbus dies (b. 1451). Explorer.
• 1293 - King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcala.
• 1449 - Batalha de Alfarrobeira entre exército de D. Afonso V e forças do Infante D. Pedro
• 1470 - Pietro Bembo was born (d. 1547). Italian cardinal.
• 1476 - Batalha de Toro entre exércitos de D. Afonso V e príncipe D. João contra D. Fernando de Castela
• 1497 - John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship The Mathew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
• 1498 - Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India./ Vasco da Gama concretiza o grande feito da descoberta do caminho maritimo para a India ao chegar a Calicute. Partira a 8 Jul 1497.
• 1521 - Battle of Pampeluna.
• 1550 - Ashikaga Yoshiharu dies (b. 1510). Ashikaga shogun.
• 1570 - Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues the first modern atlas.
• 1591 - Argentina :- El gobernador Juan Ramírez de Velasco funda la ciudad de La Rioja, originariamente denominada "Ciudad de Todos los Santos de la Nueva Rioja
• 1622 - Osman II dies (b. 1604). Ottoman Emperor .
• 1631 - The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years War.
• 1690 - England passes the Act of Grace, forgiving followers of Catholic James II.
• 1726 - Francis Cotes was born (d. 1770). English painter.
• 1737 - William Petty Fitzmaurice was born (d. 1805). British statesman.
• 1759 - William Thornton was born (d. 1828). Architect of the United States Capitol.
• 1768 - Dolley Madison was born (d. 1849). First Lady of the United States.
• 1772 - Sir William Congreve was born (d. 1828). English inventor.
• 1780 - Nace en Buenos Aires Bernardino Rivadavia, primer presidente argentino, fundador de la Universidad de Buenos Aires, organizador de la administración y propulsor de la incorporación de la mujer en la acción pública. Falleció en Cádiz (España) el 2 de septiembre de 1845.
• 1780 - Fundação da Casa Pia de Lisboa.
• 1799 - Honoré de Balzac was born (d. 18 Aug 1850). French novelist ( The Human Comedy, Droll Stories, The Chouans)
• 1793 - Charles Bonnet dies (b. 1720). Swiss naturalist.
• 1801 - O Exército espanhol invade Portugal, começando as operações da guerra declarada no mês de Março anterior.
• 1806 - John Stuart Mill was born (d. 8 May 1873). English philosopher. Leader of the utilitarian movement: editor: Westminster Review; System of Logic, Principles of Political Economy, Utilitarianism, On Liberty, The Subjection of Women.
• 1813 - Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
• 1830 - Hector Malot was born (d. 1907). Writer.
• 1838 - Jules Méline was born (d. 1925). French statesman.
• 1841 - Joseph Blanco White dies (b. 1775). British theologian.
• 1845 - HMS Erebus and HMS Terror with 134 men under John Franklin sail from the River Thames in England, beginning a disastrous expedition to find the Northwest Passage. All hands are lost.
• 1845 - O Paraguai permite a entrada de europeus por iniciativa de seu presidente, Carlos Antonio López.
• 1846 - Pedro de Sousa Holstein assume o cargo de primeiro-ministro de Portugal.
• 1847 - Antonio López de Santa Ana assume (pela 10º vez) a presidência do México.
• 1851 - Emil Berliner was born (d. 1929). Telephone and recording pioneer.
• 1860 - Eduard Buchner was born (d. 1917). German chemist, Nobel Prize 1907 laureate.
• 1861 - North Carolina voted to secede from the Union.
• 1861 - American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.
• 1862 - President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
• 1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church - In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
• 1870 - Duque de Saldanha assume Ministério das Obras Públicas, Comércio e Indústria.
• 1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a US patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
• 1873 - Sir George-Étienne Cartier dies (b. 1814). French-Canadian statesman.
• 1882 - The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.
• 1882 - Sigrid Undset was born (d. 1949). Norwegian author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1883 - King Faisal I of Iraq was born (d. 1933).
• 1883 - The eruption of Krakatoa begins, leading ultimately to the volcano's destruction three months later.
• 1885 - Manuel Flores dies. Poet.
• 1888 - Inauguración de la Exposición Universal de Barcelona.
• 1891 - History of cinema: First public display of Thomas Alva Edison's prototype kinetoscope (shown at Edison's Laboratory for a convention of the National Federation of Women's Clubs).
• 1894 - Adela Rogers St. Johns was born (d. 1988). Author.
• 1895 - R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, was born (d. 1937). British aircraft designer, developer of the Spitfire.
• 1896 - Clara Schumann dies (b. 1819). German pianist and composer.
• 1898 - Inaugurado o Aquário Vasco da Gama, em Lisboa.
• 1898 - Nace en Buenos Aires el notable poeta lírico Ricardo E. Molinari. Entre otras obras, escribió "El imaginero", "Esta rosa oscura del aire", "Odas a orillas de un viejo río", "Mundos de la madrugada" y "La escudilla". Falleció el 31 de julio de 1996.
• 1900 - Início das Olimpíadas de Paris (França)
• 1901 - Max Euwe was born (d. 1981). Dutch world chess champion.
• 1902 - Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma is the first President.
• 1903 - Barbara Hepworth was born (d. 1975). British sculptor.
• 1905 - Gerrit Achterberg was born. Poet.
• 1906 - Giuseppe Cardinal Siri was born (d. 1989). Italian Roman Catholic cardinal.
• 1908 - Jimmy Stewart was born (d. 1997). American actor.
• 1911 - Annie M. G. Schmidt was born. Children's book writer.
• 1911 - Gardner Fox was born (d. 1986). Writer.
• 1913 - William Hewlett was born (d. 2001). Co-founder of Hewlett-Packard.
• 1913 - Término do mandato de José Miguel Gómez na presidência de Cuba sucedendo-lhe Mario García Menocal.
• 1915 - Moshe Dayan was born (d. 1981). Israeli general.
• 1916 - Corneliu Coposu was born (d. 1995). Romanian politician.
• 1916 - Trebisonda Valla was born. Italian athlete
• 1916 - The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting ("Boy with Baby Carriage").
• 1917 - Philipp von Ferrary dies (b. 1850). Stamp collector.
• 1918 - Nasce Edward B. Lewis, cientista norte-americano, prêmio Nobel de Medicina 1995.
• 1918 - For the third consecutive year on this date, the town of Codell, Kansas is struck by a tornado.
• 1919 - George Gobel was born (d. 1991). Comedian.
• 1920 - Betty Driver was born. Big band singer and actress .
• 1920 - The Weimarer Nationalversammlung, the national assembly of Germany's Weimar Republic, is permanently dissolved.
• 1920 - Montreal Quebec station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.
• 1920 - O presidente de México Venustiano Carranza é assassinado.
• 1921 - Wolfgang Borchert was born (d. 1947). German writer.
• 1921 - Hal Newhouser was born (d. 1998). Baseball Hall of Famer.
• 1921 - Alfredo Zayas y Alfonso assume a Presidência de Cuba sucedendo a Mario García Menocal
• 1923 - Inauguração do Estádio Mestalla - Espanha
• 1923 - Uruguay y Brasil son aceptados definitivamente como miembros de FIFA.
• 1925 - Início do mandato de Gerardo Machado y Morales na presidência de Cuba
• 1926 - Fundación del Club Colegio Nacional de Iquitos, de Iquito, Perú
• 1926 - Bob Sweikert was born (d. 1956). American racing driver.
• 1926 - Henri Jaspar assume o cargo de primeiro-ministro da Bélgica.
• 1927 - Bud Grant was born. American football coach
• 1927 - By the Treaty of Jedda, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
• 1927 - At 7:52 A.M Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean, touching down at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 10:22 P.M. the next day).
• 1927 - Eduard Brückner dies. German archaelogist
• 1929 - O general Gerardo Machado toma posse de seu cargo de presidente da República de Cuba, para o qual foi reeleito.
• 1930 - James McEachin was born. Actor
• 1931 - Ken Boyer was born (d. 1982). Baseball player.
• 1932 - Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
• 1934 - En Uruguay, se juegan dos minutos del partido entre River Plate y Nacional pendientes de la temporada 1933. El encuentro es decisivo ya que si River Plate empata, Peñarol se consagra campeón de la temporada, ya que van igualado con Nacional en el primer puesto. Tras los dos minutos, el marcador no sufre variaciones y esto obliga a una definición entre Nacional y Peñarol por el título 1933, cuando el campeonato Uruguayo 1934 esta en pleno desarrollo.
• 1935 - Marinella was born. Greek singer
• 1936 - Anthony Zerbe was born. Actor.
• 1936 - Início do mandato de Miguel Mariano Gómez na presidência de Cuba sucedendo a José A. Barnet y Vinajeras.
• 1937 - Maria Teresa Horta was born in Lisbon. Portuguese writer.
• 1940 - Stan Mikita was born. Slovak-born Canadian Hockey Hall of Famer
• 1940 - Sadaharu Oh was born. Japanese baseball star
• 1940 - Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1940 - Tropas alemãs ocupam Amiens (França) - 2ª Guerra Mundial)
• 1940 - Verner von Heidenstam dies (b. 1859). Swedish writer.
• 1940 - Se funda el Colegio Nacional de Arbitros de Perú, bajo la conducción del ex-árbitro Julio Borelli.
• 1941 - World War II: Battle of Crete - German paratroops invade Crete.
• 1942 - David Proval was born. Actor.
• 1943 - Shorty Long was born (d. 1969). American singer and songwriter.
• 1943 - Al Bano was born. Italian singer
• 1944 - Boudewijn de Groot was born. Dutch singer.
• 1944 - Dietrich Mateschitz was born.Austrian businessman
• 1944 - Joe Cocker was born. British singer (With a Little Help from My Friends, She Came in through the Bathroom Window, The Letter, Up Where We Belong [w/Jennifer Warnes], You are So Beautiful, When the Night Comes, Cry Me a River)
• 1944 - Boudewijn de Groot was born. Dutch singer
• 1944 - Dietrich Mateschitz was born. Austrian bsinessman and founder of Red Bull
• 1946 - Cher was born. Actress and singer.
• 1947 - Greg Dyke was born. Former BBC Director.
• 1949 - In the United States of America, the AFSA (the predecessor of the NSA) is established.
• 1952 - Roger Milla was born. Cameroonian footballer.
• 1954 - Chiang Kai-shek is selected for another term as President of the Republic of China by the National Assembly
• 1955 - Zbigniew Preisner was born. Polish film composer.
• 1956 - Ingvar Ambjørnsen was born. Norwegian author.
• 1956 - Max Beerbohm dies (b. 1872). Theater critic.
• 1957 - Lucélia Santos was born. Brazilian actress.
• 1957 - Léon Cantave assume (pela 2ª vez) a presidência do Haiti
• 1958 - Ron Reagan was born. Dancer, talk show host, son of Ronald Reagan.
• 1958 - Jane Wiedlin was born. American singer (The Go-Go's)
• 1959 - Bronson Pinchot was born. American actor.
• 1959 - Israel Kamakawiwo'ole was born. Hawaiian singer .
• 1960 - John Billingsley was born. American actor.
• 1960 - Tony Goldwyn was born. American actor (The Boys Next Door, Truman, Pocahontas: The Legend, Nixon, The Pelican Brief, Ghost, Gaby: A True Story).
• 1960 - O filme "La Dolce Vita" do italiano Federico Fellini recebe a Palma de Ouro no Festival de Cannes.
• 1961 - A mob attacked a busload of "freedom riders" in Montgomery, Ala., setting the bus on fire.
• 1962 - Mike Jeffries was born. American soccer coach.
• 1963 - Sukarno appointed president of Indonesia
• 1965 - A Pakistani Airlines Boeing 720-B crashes on landing at Cairo airport, killing 121 people.
• 1966 - Mindy Cohn was born. American actress.
• 1966 - El partido de desempate de la Copa Libertadores se juega en Santiago de Chile, y Peñarol de Uruguay, tras ir perdiendo por 2 a 0, vence a River Plate de Argentina por 4 goles a 2. Tercera copa de Peñarol.
• 1966 - Morre Carlos Arruza, toureiro mexicano.
• 1968 - Timothy Olyphant was born. American actor.
• 1969 - Alberto Mancini was born in Argentina. Tennis star.
• 1970 - Louis Theroux was born. British television presenter.
• 1971 - Soul singer Marvin Gaye releases the influential album What's Going On
• 1971 - Waldo Williams dies (b. 1904). Poet.
• 1971 - Tony Stewart was born. American racecar driver.
• 1972 - Tina Hobley was born. British actress.
• 1972 - Busta Rhymes was born. Rap music singer.
• 1976 - Ramón Hernández was born. Major League Baseball player.
• 1976 - Jairzinho anota cuatro goles en el triunfo de 7 a 0 de Cruzeiro sobre Alianza de Lima, por Copa Libertadores. Los otros tres tantos los anota Palinha.
• 1977 - Miriam Parrish was born. American actress.
• 1978 - Mavis Hutchinson, 53, became the first woman to run across America. The 3,000-mile trek took her 69 days. She ran an average of 45 miles each day.
• 1980 - Referendum in Quebec where the population rejects by a vote of 60% the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
• 1981 - Lindsay Taylor was born. American basketball player.
• 1981 - Íker Casillas was born. Spanish footballer
• 1981 - Lindsay Taylor was born. American basketball player
• 1982 - Imran Farhat was born. Pakistani cricketer
• 1982 - Petr Cech was born. Czech footballer
• 1985 - Radio Marti, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
• 1988 - Portugal : O semanário Independente começa a ser publicado.
• 1988 - África do Sul, Angola e Cuba chegam a um acordo para o início da retirada das tropas cubanas de Angola e o início do processo de descolonização da Namíbia, de acordo com as resoluções da ONU.
• 1989 - The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
• 1989 - Gilda Radner dies (b. 1946). Comedian, actress.
• 1990 - The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
• 1992 - Amy Fisher, the so-called Long Island Lolita, is arrested for shooting Mary Jo Buttafuoco on the front porch of her Massapequa, New York home.
• 1992 - F.C. Barcelona ganha, em Londres, a Taça dos Campeões Europeus em futebol.
• 1992 - Suíça apresenta pedido de adesão às Comunidades Européias
• 1993 - The television sitcom, Cheers ends an 11-year run on NBC.
• 1994 - Miss India (Sushmita Sen) selected Miss Universe.
• 1996 - Gay rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of homosexuals.
• 1996 - Jon Pertwee dies (b. 1919. Actor.
• 1997 - Virgilio Barco Vargas dies. President of Colombia (1986-1990).
• 1997 - Corte Constitucional da Colômbia legaliza a Eutanásia
• 2000 - Jean Pierre Rampal dies (b. 1922). French flutist.
• 2001 - Renato Carosone dies. Italian musician and singer.
• 2001 - O italiano Nanni Moretti ganha a Palma de Ouro do Festival de cinema de Cannes com "La habitación del hijo".
• 2002 - Stephen Jay Gould dies (b. 1941). Paleontologist.
• 2002 - East Timor becomes independent from Indonesian rule.
• 2003 - Caso da "Casa Pia"- Detenção do embaixador Jorge Ritto (libertado em 02 Abr 2004).
• 2004 - I Fórum de Estudantes dos Países Africanos de Língua Oficial Portuguesa (PALOP) - Aveiro.
• 2005 - Paul Ricoeur dies (b. 1913). French philosopher.
• 2006 - The Final of the 51st Eurovision Song Contest takes place in Athens,Greece
• Cameroon National Day
• East Timor National Day