On this day in History - Feb. 20

• 0702 - Chan Bahlum II dies (b. 0653). King of the Maya state of Palenque.
• 1154 - Saint Wulfric of Haselbury Plucknett dies.
• 1171 - Conan IV dies (b. 1138). Duke of Brittany.
  
• 1194 - Tancred dies. King of Sicily .
• 1258 - Al-Musta'sim dies. Last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad.
• 1408 - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland dies (b. 1342). English statesman.
• 1431 - Pope Martin V dies (b. 1368).
• 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.
• 1513 - King Christian II of Denmark dies (b. 1455).
• 1524 - Tecún Umán dies. Last leader of the Quiché-Maya.
• 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
• 1567 - Estácio de Sá dies. Portuguese explorer.
• 1579 - Nicholas Bacon dies (b. 1509). English politician.
• 1618 - Philip William, Prince of Orange dies (b. 1554).
• 1626 - John Dowland dies (b. 1563). Composer and lutenist.
• 1631 - Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds was born (d. 1712). English statesman.
• 1664 - Es asesinado el cuarto virrey de Perú, Diego de Acevedo y Zúñiga, conde de Nieva.
• 1694 - Voltaire was born. French writer and philosopher.
• 1720 - Criação da capitania de Minas Gerais, separada da de São Paulo, devido à descoberta das minas de ouro.
• 1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
• 1725 - The second reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
• 1745 - Henry James Pye was born (d. 1813). English poet.
• 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß was born (d. 1826). German poet.
• 1753 - Louis Alexandre Berthier was born (d. 1815). French marshal.
• 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller was born (d. 1834). English philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences.
• 1762 - Tobias Mayer dies (b. 1723). German astronomer.
• 1771 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan dies (b. 1678). French geophysicist.
• 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy dies (b. 1701).
• 1778 - Laura Bassi dies (b. 1711). Italian scholar.
• 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor dies (b. 1741).
• 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
• 1794 - William Carleton was born (d. 1869). Irish novelist.
• 1798 - Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
• 1802 - Charles de Bériot was born (d. 1870). Belgian violinist.
• 1803 - Marie Dumesnil dies (b. 1713). French actress.
• 1806 - Lachlan McIntosh dies (b. 1725). Scottish-born American military and political leader.
• 1809 - A decision by the United States Supreme Court states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.
• 1810 - Andreas Hofer dies executed. Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces.
• 1813 - Batalla de Salta: las tropas patriotas al mando del Gral. Manuel Belgrano, vencen a las realistas.
• 1816 - Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.
• 1819 - Alfred Escher was born (d. 1882). Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur.
• 1828 - Se reconoce la independencia de Paraguay.
• 1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake .
• 1839 - Revd Benjamin Waugh was born (d. 1908). American minister and founder of NSPCC.
• 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann was born (d. 1906). Austrian physicist.
• 1844 - Joshua Slocum was born (d. 1909). Canadian seaman and adventurer.
• 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman was born (d. 1909). American railroad executive.
• 1850 - Nérée Beauchemin was born (d. 1931). Quebec physician and poet.
• 1864 - Battle of Olustee.
• 1866 - Carl Westman was born (d. 1936). Swedish architect and designer.
• 1867 - Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife was born (d. 1931).
• 1871 - Paul Kane dies (b. 1810). Irish-born painter.
• 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
• 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
• 1880 - Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen was born (d. 1923). French aristocrat and novelist.
• 1887 - Carl Ebert was born (d. 1980). Opera manager and director.
• 1887 - Vincent Massey was born (d. 1967). Governor-General of Canada.
• 1888 - Georges Bernanos was born (d. 1948). French writer.
• 1893 - Russel Crouse was born (d. 1966). American playwright.
• 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard dies (b. 1818). American Confederate general.
• 1895 - Frederick Douglass dies (b. ca. 1818). American abolitionist writer.
• 1898 - Enzo Ferrari was born (d. 1988). Italian automobile manufacturer, designer and racing car driver.
• 1898 - Jimmy Yancey was born (d. 1951). American pianist.
• 1899 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney was born (d. 1992). American businessman.
• 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
• 1901 - Muhammad Naguib was born (d. 1984). President of Egypt.
• 1901 - Cecil Harmsworth King was born (d. 1987). Newspaper owner.
• 1902 - Ansel Adams was born (d. 1984). American photographer.
• 1904 - Alexei Kosygin was born (d. 1980). Premier of the Soviet Union.
• 1905 - Jeremiah W. Farnham dies. American merchant captain.
• 1906 - Gale Gordon was born (d. 1995). American television and radio actor.
• 1907 - Malcolm Atterbury was born (d. 1992). American actor.
• 1907 - Henri Moissan dies (b. 1852). French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1909 - Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
• 1909 - Heinz Erhardt was born (d. 1979). German comedian.
• 1912 - Pierre Boulle was born (d. 1994). French author.
• 1913 - King O'Malley drove in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
• 1914 - Julia de Burgos was born (d. 1953). Puerto Rican poet.
• 1914 - John Daly was born (d. 2001). South African-born broadcaster.
• 1916 - Klas Pontus Arnoldson dies (b. 1844). Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
  
• 1919 - Martín Coronado dies (b. 14 Jul 1850). Argentine poet, journalist and dramatist.
• 1920 - Egyptian Christian Copt Premier, Butros Ghali, is assassinated. Ghali, supported by the British was targeted by Islamic Nationalist fanatics.
• 1920 - A Grã-Bretanha reconhece a autonomia do governo da Transjordânia, atual Jordânia.
• 1920 - Evgeny Dragunov was born (d. 1991). Russian weapons designer.
• 1920 - Jacinta Marto dies (b. 1910). One of the three witnesses of Fatima Apparitions (Portugal)/ Morreu Jacinta Marto, um dos três videntes de Fátima (n. 1910).
• 1920 - Robert Peary dies (b. 1856). American explorer.
• 1921 - The film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
• 1922 - Ivani Ribeiro was born (d. 1995). Brazilian novelist.
• 1923 - Forbes Burnham was born (d. 1985). President of Guyana.
• 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt was born. American clothing designer and entrepreneur.
• 1925 - Robert Altman was born. American film director.
• 1925 - Heinz Kluncker was born. German Labor union leader.
• 1926 - Richard Matheson was born. American author.
• 1926 - Rob Richards was born. Track and field athlete.
• 1927 - Cardiff City wins the FA Cup for their first and only time.
• 1927 - Roy Cohn was born (d. 1986). American lawyer, and anti-Communist.
• 1927 - Ibrahim Ferrer was born (d. 2005). Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club).
• 1927 - Sidney Poitier was born. American actor.
• 1929 - Amanda Blake was born (d. 1989). American actress.
• 1930 - Willie Cunningham was born. Northern Irish footballer.
• 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
• 1932 - Agustín P. Justo becomes President of Argentine.
• 1933 - The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would end Prohibition in the United States.
• 1934 - Bobby Unser was born. American race car driver.
• 1935 - Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman in Antarctica.
• 1936 - Marj Dusay was born. American actress.
• 1936 - Larry Hovis was bornm (d. 2003). American actor.
• 1936 - Shigeo Nagashima was born. Japanese baseball player and coach.
• 1937 - Robert Huber was born. German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1937 - Roger Penske was born. American race car driver.
• 1937 - Nancy Wilson was born. American singer.
• 1938 - Richard Beymer was born. American actor.
• 1939 - Frank Arundel was born. English footballer.
• 1940 - Jimmy Greaves was born. English footballer.
• 1941 - Primeiro transporte de judeus para os campos de concentração sai da cidade de Plotsk, localizada na Polónia.
• 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie was born. American singer.
• 1941 - La Bolduc dies (b. 1894). French Canadian singer and songwriter.
• 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
• 1942 - Phil Esposito was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1942 - Charlie Gillett was born. British radio DJ.
• 1942 - Mitch McConnell was born. American politician.
• 1942 - Claude Miller was born. French film director and screenwriter.
• 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
• 1943 - Paricutín volcano begins to form in Paricutín, México.
• 1943 - Mike Leigh was born. British film director.
• 1943 - Antonio Inoki was born. Japanese professional wrestler.
• 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
• 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1944 - Martina Newberry was born. American poet, writer.
• 1944 - Robert de Cotret was born (d. 1999). French Canadian politician.
• 1944 - Willem van Hanegem was born. Dutch footballer and coach.
• 1944 - Lew Soloff was born. American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears).
• 1945 - Annu Kapoor was born. Indian actor.
• 1945 - Brion James was born (d. 1999). American actor.
• 1946 - Brenda Blethyn was born. English actress.
• 1946 - Jerome Geils was born. American guitarist (J. Geils Band).
• 1946 - Richard Cocciante was born. French-Italian singer and songwriter.
• 1946 - Sandy Duncan was born. American singer and actress.
• 1947 - State of Prussia ceases to exist.
• 1947 - André van Duin was born. Dutch comedian.
• 1947 - Eggert Magnusson, Icelandic football executive.
• 1947 - Peter Osgood was born (d. 2006). English football player.
• 1947 - Peter Strauss was born. American actor.
• 1947 - Eggert Magnusson was born. English football executive.
• 1948 - Pierre Bouchard was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1948 - Jennifer O'Neill was born. Brazilian-born actress.
• 1949 - Ivana Trump was born. Czech skier, model and socialite.
• 1950 - Ken Shimura was born. Japanese television performer and actor.
• 1950 - Tony Wilson was born (d. 2007). British journalist and impresario.
• 1950 - Walter Becker was born. American jazz-rock guitarist (Steely Dan).
• 1951 - As part of the long process towards self-determination in Britain's colony of Gold Coast, the country's first parliament is opened in Accra.
• 1951 - Randy California was born (d. 1997). American guitarist (Spirit).
• 1951 - Edward Albert was born (d. 2006). American actor.
• 1951 - Gordon Brown was born. Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1951 - Phil Neal was born. English footballer.
• 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized. baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
• 1952 - The film The African Queen opens at Capitol Theatre in New York City.
• 1953 - Riccardo Chailly was born. Italian conductor.
• 1953 - Poison Ivy was born. American musician (The Cramps).
• 1954 - Patty Hearst was born. American socialite.
• 1954 - Jon Brant was born. American musician (Cheap Trick).
• 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head was born. English actor.
• 1954 - Patty Hearst was born. American socialite and kidnapping victim.
• 1955 - Kelsey Grammer was born. American actor.
• 1956 - Rick Green was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1957 - Glen Hanlon was born. Canadian ice hockey coach.
• 1957 - Charlie Adler was born. American voice actor.
• 1959 - The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada was cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
• 1959 - Bill Gullickson was born. American baseball player.
• 1960 - António Correia de Oliveira dies in Esposende (b. 30 Jul 1879 in S. Pedro do Sul). Portuguese poet.
• 1960 - Joel Hodgson was born. American comedian, creator of Mystery Science Theater 3000
• 1960 - Kee Marcello was born. Swedish guitarist.
• 1961 - Percy Grainger dies (b. 1882). Australian composer.
• 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
• 1962 - Kenn Nesbitt was born. American children's author.
• 1963 - Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou was born. Greek politician.
• 1963 - Charles Barkley was born. American basketball player.
• 1963 - Ian Brown was born. British singer (Stone Roses).
• 1963 - Jon Lynn Christensen was born. Former Nebraska Congressman.
• 1963 - Ferenc Fricsay dies (b. 1914). Hungarian conductor.
• 1963 - Jacob Gade dies (b. 1879). Danish composer.
• 1964 - Algeria and Morocco sign an agreement in Rabat to end their border war.
• 1964 - French Stewart was born. American actor.
• 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1966 - Cindy Crawford was born. American model.
• 1966 - Chester Nimitz dies (b. 1885). American admiral.
• 1967 - Kurt Cobain was born (d. 1994). Rock musician, guitar, vocals, Nirvana.
• 1967 - Lili Taylor was born. American actress.
• 1967 - Andrew Shue was born. American television actor.
• 1967 - Katherine Soucie was born. American voice actress.
• 1968 - Ted Hankey was born. English darts player.
• 1968 - Anthony Asquith dies (b. 1902). British film director and writer.
• 1969 - The date that Michel Collin had predicted as the coming of a world wide catastrophe.
• 1969 - Gedo was born. Japanese professional wrestler.
• 1969 - Vaginal Davis was born. American drag queen and performance artist.
• 1969 - Tommy Vardell was born. National Football League fullback.
• 1969 - Ernest Ansermet dies (b. 1883). Conductor.
• 1970 - Café Filho dies (b. 1899). 26th. President of Brazil.
• 1970 - Sophie Treadwell dies (b. 1885). American playwright and journalist.
• 1971 - Jari Litmanen was born. Finnish international soccer player.
• 1971 - Shawn McKenzie was born. American programmer.
• 1972 - Brent Gretzky was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1972 - K-OS was born. Canadian musician/rapper.
• 1972 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer dies (b. 1906). German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate.
• 1972 - Walter Winchell dies (b. 1897). American journalist.
• 1974 - Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick claims he began experiencing intense gnostic visions on this date.
• 1974 - Ophelie Winter was born. French actress.
• 1975 - Gail Kim was born. Wrestler.
• 1975 - Liván Hernández was born. Baseball player.
• 1975 - Brian Littrell was born. American musician ("Backstreet Boys").
• 1975 - Robert Strauss dies (b. 1918). American politician and diplomat.
• 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
• 1976 - Ed Graham was born. British drummer (The Darkness).
• 1976 - René Cassin dies (b. 1887). French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1976 - Kathryn Kuhlman dies (b. 1907). American evangelist.
• 1977 - Bartosz Kizierowski was born. Polish swimmer.
• 1977 - T.J. Slaughter was born. American football player.
• 1977 - Stephon Marbury was born. American basketball player.
• 1978 - Julia Jentsch was born. German actress.
• 1978 - Lauren Ambrose was born. American actress.
• 1978 - Jay Hernandez was born. American actor.
• 1978 - Jakki Degg was born. English glamour model/actress.
• 1978 - Vitorino Nemésio dies. Portuguese writer / Vitorino Nemésio, escritor e professor, morreu neste dia do ano de 1978. Nascido em 19 Dez 1901 na Praia Vitória, Ilha Terceira, foi responsável pelo programa «Se bem me lembro», exibido pela RTP, que o tornou uma destacada figura da comunicação audio-visual.
• 1978 - Encuentro de los dictadores argentino y chileno, Videla y Pinochet, para tratar el conflicto del canal de Beagle.
• 1979 - 175 pessoas morrem em uma erupção do vulcão Sinira na Indonésia.
• 1979 - Salisbury airport is attacked by nationalist guerrillas.
• 1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy was born. French international rugby player.
• 1980 - Artur Boruc was born. Polish football (soccer) goalkeeper.
• 1980 - Massimo Donati was born. Italian footballer.
• 1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy was born. French rugby union footballer.
• 1980 - J.B. Rhine dies (b. 1895). American parapsychologist.
• 1981 - Tony Hibbert was born. English footballer.
• 1981 - Chris Thile was born. American musician.
• 1981 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg dies (b. 1904). Magazine editor, socialite.
• 1982 - Jason Hirsh was born. American baseball player.
• 1983 - Jose Morales was born. Puerto Rican baseball player.
• 1983 - Justin Verlander was born. American baseball player.
• 1983 - Fritz Köberle dies (b. 1910). Austrian-Brazilian physician.
• 1985 - Ryan Sweeney was born. American baseball player.
• 1985 - Yulia Volkova was born. Russian musician (t.A.T.u.).
• 1985 - Clarence Nash dies (b. 1904). American voice actor.
• 1986 - Dilaver Güçlü was born. Turkish footballer.
• 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah a bomb explodes in a computer store.
• 1988 - Rihanna was born. Barbadian musician.
• 1989 - Melanie Leishman was born. Canadian actress.
• 1991 - A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time dictator, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital, Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters / Cerca de 100.000 pessoas manifestam-se em Tirana a favor da democracia na Albânia.
• 1992 - Ross Perot announces his intention to run in the 1992 U.S. presidential election on CNN's Larry King Live.
• 1992 - The FA Premier League is formed and takes over as the professional league in England from season 1992–93.
• 1992 - Roberto D'Aubuisson dies (b. 1944). Salvadoran politician.
• 1992 - Dick York dies (b. 1928). American actor.
• 1993 - Ferrucio Lamborghini dies (b. 1916). Italian automobile manufacturer .
• 1994 - Winter Olympic Games begin in Lillehammer, Norway.
• 1994 - Alberto Chissano dies - suicide (b. 1934). Mozambican sculptor.
• 1996 - Toru Takemitsu dies (b. 1930). Japanese composer.
• 1996 - Solomon Asch dies (b. 1907). American psychologist.
• 1997 - Zachary Breaux dies (b. 1960). American jazz guitarist.
• 1998 - American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
• 1998 - The Nashville Banner daily newspaper in Nashville, Tennessee, USA publishes its last edition.
• 1999 - First hockey game occurs at the Air Canada Centre. The Toronto Maple Leafs win 3-2 in overtime vs the Montreal Canadiens.
• 1999 - Sarah Kane dies (b. 1971). English playwright.
• 1999 - Gene Siskel dies (b. 1946). American film critic.
• 2000 - Anatoly Sobchak dies (b. 1937). Russian politician.
• 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
• 2001 - Rosemary DeCamp dies (b. 1910). American actress.
• 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
• 2002 - Winners at the Brit Awards included, Robbie Williams, best male act, Dido, best female act, Travis best British group, S Club 7 best single for Don't Stop Movin', The Strokes best international newcomer and Sting won Outstanding contribution.
• 2003 - In Rhode Island, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.
• 2003 - Maurice Blanchot dies (b. 1907). French author.
• 2003 - Orville Freeman dies (b. 1918). American politician.
• 2003 - Harry Jacunski dies. American football player.
• 2003 - Ty Longley dies. American guitarist (Great White (band)).
• 2003 - Ulrich Roski dies. German singer and cabaret artist.
• 2003 - Mushaf Ali Mir dies (b. 1947). Pakistan Chief of the Air Staff.
• 2004 - Apple Computer begins shipping iPod minis.
• 2005 - Portuguese elections for the Parlament/ Devido à dissolução da Assembleia da República pelo Presidente da Republica Jorge Sampaio, em consequência da inabilidade do Governo de Pedro Santana Lopes, realizaram-se neste dia eleições legislativas em Portugal, para eleição dos deputados para a Assembleia da Republica. O Partido Socialista ganhou as eleições com maioria absoluta.
• 2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
• 2005 - Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.
• 2005 - Sandra Dee dies (b. 1944). American actress.
• 2005 - John Raitt dies (b. 1917). American actor.
• 2005 - Hunter S. Thompson dies (b. 1937). American journalist and author.
• 2005 - Pam Bricker dies (b. 1954). Jazz singer and Thievery Corporation vocalist.
• 2005 - Tom Willmore dies (b. 1919). English geometer.
• 2006 - Curt Gowdy dies (b. 1919). American sportscaster.
• 2006 - Lucjan Wolanowski dies (b. 1920). Polish journalist, writer and traveller.
• 2007 - F. Albert Cotton dies (b. 1930). American chemist.