On this day in History - Sep. 20

• 0451 - The Battle of Chalons, in North Eastern France. Flavius Aetius' victory over Attila the Hun in a day of combat, considered to be the largest battle in the ancient world.
• 1187 - Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.
• 1246 - Mikhail of Chernigov dies. Ruler of Kiev
• 1377 - Cardinal Robert of Geneva, called by some the Butcher of Cesena, is elected as Avignon Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism/ Eleição do Antipapa Clemente VII em oposição a Urbano VI: início do Cisma do Ocidente
• 1378 - Cardinal Robert of Geneva, called by some the Butcher of Cesena, is elected as Avignon Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism.
• 1384 - King Louis I of Naples dies (b. 1339).
• 1460 - Gilles Binchois dies. Flemish composer.
• 1486 - Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales was born (d. 1502), son of King Henry VII of England /1486 - Nasce Artur, Príncipe de Gales, filho mais velho de Henrique VII de Inglaterra († 1502).
• 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan - set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe / Fernão de Magalhães, com uma pequena armada de cinco naus, parte de Sevilha para a sua viagem de circum-navegação.
• 1540 - Realiza-se o primeiro auto-de-fé da Inquisição em Portugal.
• 1586 - Chidiock Tichborne dies executed (b. 1558). English conspirator and poet.
• 1590 - Lodovico Agostini dies (b. 1534). Italian composer.
• 1596 - Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey, Mexico.
• 1599 - Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel was born (d. 1623). German protestant military leader.
• 1625 - Heinrich Meibom dies (b. 1555). German historian and critic.
• 1627 - Jan Gruter dies (b. 1560). Dutch critic.
• 1630 - Claudio Saracini dies (b. 1586). Italian composer.
• 1633 - Galileo Galilei is tried before the Inquisition for teaching that the Earth orbits the Sun.
• 1638 - Maria Teresa de Espanha was born († 1683).
• 1639 - Johannes Meursius dies (b. 1579). Dutch classical scholar.
• 1643 - Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland dies. English politician and writer.
• 1653 - Benedict Schultheiss was born. German composer.
• 1663 - Pirro Albergati was born. Italian composer.
• 1664 - New World: Maryland enacts first anti-amalgamation law to prevent widespread intermarriage of English women & black men.
• 1685 - Giuseppe Matteo Alberti was born. Italian composer.
• 1697 - The Treaty of Rijswijk was signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic ending the Nine Years' War (1688–97).
• 1721 - Thomas Doggett dies. Irish actor.
• 1726 - Coroação do Papa João XXI.
• 1737 - Runner Edward Marshall completes his journey in the Walking Purchase forcing the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,860 km²) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.
• 1744 - Thomas Grosvenor was born (d. 1825). American Revolutionary War hero.
• 1761 - Realiza-se o último auto-de-fé da Inquisição em Portugal.
• 1767 - Nasce Padre José Maurício Nunes Garcia, compositor brasileiro e mestre da capela real da corte no exílio († 1830)
• 1778 - Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen was born (d. 1852). Russian naval officer and explorer.
• 1792 - French troops stop allied invasion of France, during the War of the First Coalition at Valmy.
• 1803 - Robert Emmet dies (b. 1780). Irish patriot.
• 1815 - Nicolas Desmarest dies (b. 1725). French geologist.
• 1819 -Théodore Chassériau was born. French painter.
• 1819 - Abade Faria dies (b. 1746). Portuguese scientist.
• 1823 - Daniel Steibelt dies. German composer and pianist.
• 1833 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta was born (d. 1918). Italian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize / Nascimento de Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, foi um dos presidented da Liga_Lombarda pelaPaz e vencedor do Prémio Nobel da Paz de 1907 († 1918)
• 1835 - Farroupilha's Revolution begins in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil / Entrada em Porto Alegre pelos Farroupilhas (início da Revolução Farroupilha)
• 1840 - Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia dies. Paraguayan dictator
• 1842 - Sir James Dewar was born (d. 1923). Scottish chemist.
• 1844 - William H. Illingworth was born (d. 1893). American photographer.
• 1848 - The American Association for the Advancement of Science was created.
• 1852 - Philander Chase dies (b. 1775). American university founder.
• 1853 - Rama V was born (d. 1910). King of Thailand.
• 1854 - Battle of Alma: British and French troops defeat Russians in the Crimea.
• 1857 - The Indian Mutiny ends with the recapture of Delhi by troops loyal to the East India Company.
• 1860 - The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) visits the United States.
• 1861 - Herbert Putnam was born (d. 1955). Librarian of Congress.
• 1863 - American Civil War: Battle of Chickamauga ends.
• 1863 - Jacob Grimm dies (b. 1785). German folklorist.
• 1866 - Gustave Doret was born. Swiss composer.
• 1870 - Bersaglieri corps enters Rome through Porta Pia and completes the unification of Italy
• 1871 - Bishop John Coleridge Patteson martyred on the island of Nukapu a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands. He was the first bishop of Melanesia.
• 1872 - Maurice Gamelin was born (d. 1958). French army general.
• 1873 - Ferenc Szisz was born (d. 1944). Hungarian-born race car driver.
• 1873 - Sidney Olcott was born (d. 1949). Canadian film director.
• 1878 - Upton Sinclair was born in Baltimore, Maryland. (d. 1968). American writer and politician. 1942 Pulitzer Prize for the novel Dragon's Teeth
• 1879 - Cliftonville Football Club, the oldest club in Ireland, is founded by John McCredy McAlery.
• 1880 - Ildebrando Pizzetti was born. Italian composer.
• 1880 - Louise Peete was born (d. 1947). American murderess.
• 1881 - Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States.
• 1883 - Fídolo Alfonso González Camargo was born. Colombian painter.
• 1884 - Maxwell Perkins was born (d. 1947). American editor and publisher.
• 1884 - Leopold Fitzinger dies (b. 1802). Austrian zoologist.
• 1886 - Charles Williams was born (d. 1945). British author.
• 1888 - Eça de Queiroz é nomeado cônsul em Paris
• 1889 - Charles Reidpath was born (d. 1975). American athlete.
• 1890 - Jelly Roll Morton was born (d. 1941). American composer.
• 1881 - Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States following the assassination of James Garfield.
• 1891 - The first gasoline-powered car debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States.
• 1895 - Ana Plácido dies (b. 1831). Portuguese writer.
• 1896 - Eduardo Gomes was born († 1981). Brazilian soldier and politician.
• 1895 - Italy: A successful protest movement leads to the amnesty of Luigi Molinari who was condemned on January 31, 1894, to 23-years imprisonment for instigating an insurrection in Lunigiana.
• 1897 - Humberto de Alencar Castello Branco was born (d. 1967). President of Brazil (1964-1967)
• 1898 - Santos Dumont realiza primeiro vôo de um balão com propulsão própria.
• 1898 - Theodor Fontane dies (b. 1819). German writer.
• 1899 - Leo Strauss was born (d. 1973). German-American Philosopher.
• 1900 - Carlos Carneiro was born (d. 10 Out 1971). Portuguese painter.
• 1902 - Stevie (Margareth Florence) Smith was born in Hull, Yorkshire (d. 1971). British poet and novelist (Not Waving But Drowning).
• 1906 - Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania is launched at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle, England.
• 1906 - Robert R. Hitt dies (b. 1834). American politician.
• 1908 - Pablo de Sarasate dies (b. 1844). Spanish violinist and composer.
• 1911 - Shriram Sharma Acharya was born (d. 1991). Indian spiritual leader.
• 1912 - Group of English poets, led by Edward Marsh and Rupert Brooke, founds Georgian Poetry.
• 1914 - Kenneth More was born (d. 1982). English actor.
• 1915 - Hughie Lee-Smith was born in Eustis, Florida. American painter known for such surrealistic landscapes as "Man with Balloons", "Man Standing on His Head" and "Big Brother".
• 1917 - Red Auerbach was born (de. 2006). American basketball coach and executive
• 1917 - Fernando Rey was born (d. 1994). Spanish-born actor.
• 1917 - Obdulio Jacinto Varela (El Negro Jefe) was born. Uruguyan football player.
• 1917 - Paraguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.
• 1920 - Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
• 1920 - Jay Ward was born (d. 1989). American animated cartoonist.
• 1920 - Alberto de Lacerda was born in Mozambique (d. 2007). Portuguese poet.
• 1920 - Dan Andersson dies in Stockholm. Popular Swedish poet of working-class literature [Kolarhistorier (1914, "Charcoal Burner's Tales") and Kolvaktarens visor (1915, "Charcoal Watcher's Songs"), published in English as Charcoal Burner's Ballad & Other Poems in 1943]
• 1922 - William Kapell was born (d. 1953). American pianist.
• 1923 - Geraldine Clinton Little was born (d. 1997). Irish-born poet.
• 1924 - Gogi Grant was born. American singer.
• 1925 - Ananda Mahidol was born (d. 1946). Rama VIII, King of Thailand.
• 1925 - Bobby Nunn was born (d. 1986). American singer (The Coasters).
• 1926 - Donald Hall was born. American poet and US Poet Laureate.
• 1926 - Noémia de Sousa was born (d. 2002). Mozambican poetess.
• 1927 - Johnny Dankworth was born. English musician and composer.
• 1927 - Rachel Roberts was born (d. 1980). English actress.
• 1928 - Joyce Brothers was born. American psychologist and advice columnist.
• 1928 - Kirsten Rolffes was born (d. 2000). Danish actress.
• 1928 - Donald Hall was born. American poet and US Poet Laureate.
• 1929 - Anne Meara was born. American comic and actress.
• 1929 - Lançamento da chapa Aliança Liberal, tendo Getúlio Vargas como candidato a presidente.
• 1930 - Syro-Malankara Catholic Church was formed by Archbishop Mar Ivanios.
• 1932 - Wovoka dies (b. c. 1856). Northern Paiute religious leader who founded the Ghost Dance movement.
• 1933 - Dennis Viollet was born (d. 1999). English former footballer.
• 1933 - Annie Besant dies (b. 1847). English women's rights activist.
• 1934 - Sophia Loren was born. Italian actress.
• 1934 - Francisco Grandela dies. Portuguese businessman.
• 1935 - Jim Taylor was born. National Football League player.
• 1935 - Keith Roberts was born (d. 2000). British science fiction author.
• 1937 - Birgitta Dahl was born. Swedish politician.
• 1937 - Monica Zetterlund was born (d. 2005). Swedish actress and singer.
• 1939 - A German Messerschmitt Bf 109 is shot down by Fairey Battle gunner Sgt. F. Letchard during a patrol near Aachen. This is the RAF's first aerial victory of the Second World War.
• 1939 - Robert L. Gerry III was born. American businessman.
• 1939 - Paul Bruchési dies (b. 1855). French Canadian Catholic archbishop of Montreal.
• 1940 - Genevieve Grotjan completes the decryption of the Japanese Purple code.
• 1941 - Dale Chihuly was born. American glass artist.
• 1942 - Holocaust in Letychiv, Ukraine. In the course of two days German SS murders at least 3.000 Jews.
• 1942- Gunther Hagg becomes world champ of all records from 1500m to 5000m.
• 1942 - Gérald Tremblay was born. Québec politician, Mayor of Montreal.
• 1945 - Augusto Fragoso dies (b. 1869). 19th President of Brazil.
• 1945 - William Buehler Seabrook dies (b. 1884). Writer, journalist, occultist and explorer.
• 1945 - Eduard Wirths dies (b. 1909). Nazi physician at Auschwitz concentration camp.
• 1946 - The first Cannes Film Festival is held.
• 1946 - Raimu dies (b. 1883). French actor.
• 1947 - Fiorello LaGuardia dies (b. 1882). Mayor of New York City.
• 1947 - Mia Martini was born (d. 1995). Italian singer.
• 1947 - Bruce Pasternack was born. American CEO.
• 1948 - Chuck Panozzo and John Panozzo were born. American musician twins in the band Styx.
• 1948 - George R. R. Martin was born. American writer.
• 1949 - John W. Henry was born. American MLB team owner.
• 1949 - Nikolaos Skalkottas dies (b. 1901). Greek composer.
• 1951 - Guy Lafleur was born. Canadian hockey player.
• 1951 - Javier Marías was born. Spanish novelist.
• 1953 - Zélia Cardoso de Mello was born. Brazilian economist.
• 1954 - First program compiled from FORTRAN runs.
• 1954 - New Zealand's Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents reports just ten days after concluding hearings.
• 1954 - Henry Samueli was born. American NHL team owner.
• 1956 - Gary Cole was born. American actor.
• 1957 - Jean Sibelius dies (b. 1865). Finnish composer.
• 1957 - Sabine Christiansen was born. German actress.
• 1959 - Brion Gysin makes his first cut-up in the Beat Hotel in Paris.
• 1959 - Danny Devos was born. Belgian artist.
• 1960 - UN General Assembly admit 13 African countries and Cyprus (96 nations) / Benim, Burkina Faso, Camarões, Chipre, Congo, República Democrática do Congo, Costa do Marfim, Gabão, Madagascar, Nigéria, República Centro-Africana, Somália, Chade e Togo são admitidos como Estados-Membro da ONU.
• 1961 - Eliana de Lima was born. Brazilian singer.
• 1961 - Lisa Bloom was born. American lawyer and television personality.
• 1962 - James Meredith, an African-American, is barred from entering the University of Mississippi.
• 1964 - Herbert Clark Hoover dies. American politician.
• 1964 - Maggie Cheung was born. Hong Kong actress.
• 1965 - Robert Rusler was born. American actor.
• 1966 - Guiana é admitida como Estado-Membro da ONU.
• 1966 - Nuno Bettencourt was born. Portuguese-born rock musician.
• 1966 - Ursula Karven was born. German actress.
• 1967 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched at John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland. It is operated by the Cunard Line.
• 1967 - Kristen Johnston was born. American actress.
• 1967 - Gunnar and Matthew Nelson were born. American musicians (Nelson).
• 1968 - Leah Pinsent was born. Canadian actress.
• 1968 - Darrell Russell was born (d. 2004). American race car driver.
• 1969 - John Lennon leaves The Beatles but does not make a public announcement.
• 1969 - Victoria Dillard was born. American actress.
• 1970 - Syrian tanks roll into Jordan in response to continued fighting between Jordan and the fedayeen. The Jordanians knock out 30 of the Syrian tanks.
• 1971 - Henrik Larsson was born. Swedish football player.
• 1971 - Masashi Hamauzu was born. Japanese composer.
• 1971 - Giorgos Seferis dies (b. 1900). Greek poet.
• 1973 - Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome in Houston, Texas.
• 1973 - Jim Croce dies (b. 1943). American singer and songwriter.
• 1974 - Michael Waddington was born. American defense lawyer.
• 1975 - Asia Argento was born. Italian actress.
• 1975 - Juan Pablo Montoya was born. Colombian race car driver.
• 1975 - Saint-John Perse dies (b. 1887). French diplomat and poet.
• 1976 - Enuka Okuma was born in Vancover. Canadian actress
  
• 1976 - Yui Horie was born. Japanese voice actress and singer.
• 1976 - Reuben Singh was born. British entrepreneur.
• 1977 - The Socialist Republic of Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.
• 1977 - Karine Lima was born in Porto. Portuguese journalist, model, singer and TV host.
• 1977 - Namie Amuro was born. Japanese singer.
• 1977 - Djibouti e Vietname são admitidos como Estados-Membro da ONU.
• 1978 - Jason Bay was born. Canadian Major League Baseball player.
• 1978 - Sarit Hadad was born. Israeli singer.
• 1978 - T.J. Tucker was born. Professional baseball player.
• 1979 - Phil Waugh was born. Australian Rugby Union player.
• 1979 - Em Portugal (em termos legais) é garantido às mulheres a igualdade de oportunidades e de tratamento no trabalho e no emprego em relação aos homens .
• 1979 - Lee Iacocca is elected president of the Chrysler Corporation.
• 1979 - A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I.
• 1979 - The Punjab wing of the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist) formally splits and constitutes a parallel UCCRI(ML).
• 1979 - Assassination of French left-wing militant Pierre Goldman.
• 1979 - Sean Davis was born. English footballer.
• 1979 - Ludvík Svoboda dies (b. 1895). President of Czechoslovakia.
• 1980 - Jonathan Le Billon was born. British actor.
• 1980 - Vladimir Karpets was born. Russian cyclist.
• 1980 - Luke Munns was born. Australian singer / songwriter.
• 1980 - Mariacarla Boscono was born. Italian fashion model.
• 1980 - Sanpei Hayashiya dies (b. 1925). Japanese comedian.
• 1981 - Joanie Dodds was born. ANTM contestant.
• 1981 - Feliciano López was born. Spanish tennis player.
• 1981 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos was born. Greek football player.
• 1981 - A coup d'état in the Central African Republic overthrows President David Dacko.
• 1981 - Feliciano López was born. Spanish tennis player.
• 1982 - National Football League players begin a 57-day strike.
• 1983 - Yuna Ito was born. Japanese singer and actress.
• 1984 - A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people.
• 1984 - The popular American sitcoms The Cosby Show and Who's The Boss? premiere on NBC and ABC respectively.
• 1984 - Steve Goodman dies (b. 1948). American folk music singer-songwriter.
• 1987 - Alain Prost gets record 28th Formula one auto race winning with a McLaren in Estoril (Portugal)
• 1988 - Boston Red Sox third baseman Wade Boggs becomes the first player to get 200 hits in six consecutive seasons.
• 1989 - Miss Saigon makes its world premiere in London.
• 1989 - Richie Ginther dies (b. 1930). American racing driver.
• 1990 - South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia.
• 1990 - John Tavares was born. Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1990 - Marilou was born. Quebec pop singer.
• 1991 - Spencer Locke was born. American actress.
• 1992 - National Football League: Brett Favre, quarterback of the Green Bay Packers, begins his most consecutive starts streak for a quarterback in the NFL.
• 1993 - Kenny Kim was born. Korean-American actor.
• 1994 - Portugal: Sophia de Mello Breyner é agraciada com o Prémio Vida Literária pela APE.
• 1994 - Jule Styne dies (b. 1905). American songwriter.
• 1994 - Abioseh Nicol dies (b. 1924). Sierra Leonean diplomat and noted author.
• 1995 - Sammi Hanratty was born. American actress.
• 1995 - Orville Redenbacher dies (b. 1907). Popcorn company founder.
• 1996 - Paul Erdős dies (b. 1913). Hungarian mathematician.
• 1998 - Baseball: After playing 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles, Cal Ripken, Jr takes a day off.
• 1998 - Fundação do Centro Cultural de Ceilândia.
• 1998 - Baltimore Orioles third baseman Cal Ripken, Jr. chooses to sit out the Orioles' game against the New York Yankees, ending his record streak for consecutive Major League Baseball games played at 2,632.
• 1999 - Libertação do Timor-Leste pelas forças da ONU.
• 1999 - Raisa Gorbachyova dies (b. 1932). Wife of Mikhail Gorbachev.
• 1999 - Robert Lebel dies (b. 1905). Quebec ice hockey administrator.
• 2000 - The British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building was attacked by a Russian-built Mark 22 anti-tank missile.
• 2000 - Nuno Delgado, judoca português, consegue a primeira medalha olímpica (bronze) naquela modalidade para Portugal.
• 2000 - Last performance of the musical Cats (musical) on Broadway.
• 2000 - Gherman Titov dies (b. 1935). Soviet cosmonaut.
• 2001 - In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American People president George W. Bush declares "war on terror".
• 2002 - Kolka-Karmadon rock/ice slide started.
• 2003 - 2003 Maldives civil unrest: the death of prisoner Hassan Evan Naseem sparks a day of rioting in Malé.
• 2003 - A referendum is held in Latvia to decide the country's accession to the European Union
• 2003 - Gordon Mitchell dies (b. 1923). American actor.
• 2003 - Lord Williams of Mostyn dies (b. 1941). British politician.
• 2003 - Simon Muzenda dies (b. 1922). Zimbabwe politician.
• 2004 - Townsend Hoopes dies (b. 1922). American politician.
• 2004 - Brian Clough dies (b. 1935). English football player and football manager.
• 2004 - Townsend Hoopes dies (b. 1922). American politician.
• 2004 - Presidential elections in Indonesia.
• 2005 - Simon Wiesenthal dies (b. 1908). Austrian-Polish Nazi hunter.
• 2006 - Armin Jordan dies (b. 1932). Swiss conductor.
• 2006 - John W. Peterson dies (b. 1921). American songwriter.
• 2007 - Johnny Gavin dies (b. 1928). Irish footballer.
  
• In ancient Greece, the seventh day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the secret rites in the Telesterion began.
• Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church: Eustachius, Vincent Madelgaire, Yves Mayeuc, Francis de Posadas
• Thomas Johnson, John Davy, and companions (martyrs).
• Feast day of the following saint(s) in the Anglican Church: John Coleridge Patteson