Famous birthdays, deaths and events of October 20
Birthdays
- 1463 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (d. 1512)--
- 1496 - Claude, Duke of Guise
- 1616 - Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician
- 1620 - Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (d. 1691)
- 1632 - Sir Christopher Wren, English architect (d. 1723)
- 1656 - Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (d. 1746)
- 1660 - Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven
- 1677 - Stanislaus I Leszczyński, King of Poland (d. 1766)
- 1700 - Charlotte Aglaé of Orléans, Duchess of Modena (d. 1761)
- 1711 - Timothy Ruggles, American-born Tory politician (d. 1795)
- 1719 - Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (d. 1772)
- 1759 - Chauncey Goodrich, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (d. 1815)
- 1780 - Pauline Bonaparte, princess Borghese
- 1784 - Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston
- 1785 - George Ormerod, English historian and antiquarian (d. 1873)
- 1808 - Karl Andree, German geographer (d. 1875)
- 1819 - The Báb, Persian founder of the Bábí Faith (d. 1850)
- 1819 - Carl Mikuli, Polish pianist (d. 1897)
- 1822 - Thomas Hughes, English novelist (d. 1896)
- 1832 - Constantin Lipsius, German architect (d. 1894)
- 1854 - Arthur Rimbaud, French poet (d. 1891)
- 1858 - John Burns, English politician (d. 1943)
- 1859 - John Dewey, American philosopher (d. 1952)
- 1864 - James F. Hinkle, American politician
- 1874 - Charles Ives, American composer (d. 1954)
- 1882 - Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born actor (d. 1956)
- 1889 - Margaret Dumont, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1890 - Jelly Roll Morton, American composer (d. 1941)
- 1891 - James Chadwick, English physicist
- 1891 - Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya (d. 1978)
- 1893 - Charley Chase, American comedian (d. 1940)
- 1894 - Olive Thomas, American actress (d. 1920)
- 1895 - Rex Ingram, American actor (d. 1969)
- 1897 - Crown Prince Eun of Korea, (d. 1970)
- 1900 - Wayne Morse, U.S. Senator from Oregon (d. 1974)
- 1904 - Anna Neagle, English actress (d. 1986)
- 1904 - Tommy Clement Douglas, Canadian politician (d. 1986)
- 1905 - Ellery Queen, pseudonym of two American writers (d. 1982)
- 1907 - Arlene Francis, American television personality (d. 2001)
- 1909 - Sugiyama Yasushi, Japanese painter (d. 1993)
- 1913 - Grandpa Jones, American banjo player and singer (d. 1998)
- 1914 - Fayard Nicholas, American dancer (d. 2006)
- 1917 - Jean-Pierre Melville, French director (d. 1973)
- 1918 - Robert Lochner, German journalist (d. 2003)
- 1919 - Tracy Hall, American inventor (d. 2008)
- 1922 - John Anderson, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1923 - Robert Craft, American conductor
- 1925 - Art Buchwald, American humorist (d. 2007)
- 1925 - Tom Dowd, American recording engineer (d. 2002)
- 1925 - Roger Hanin, French actor
- 1931 - Richard Caliguiri, American politician (d. 1988)
- 1931 - Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (d. 1995)
- 1932 - Rosey Brown, American football player (d. 2004)
- 1932 - William Christopher, American actor (M*A*S*H)
- 1934 - Eddie Harris, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1996)
- 1934 - Michiko, empress of Japan
- 1935 - Jerry Orbach, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1937 - Juan Marichal, Dominican baseball player
- 1937 - Wanda Jackson, American rock and rockabilly singer
- 1938 - Iain Macmillan, Abbey Road photographer (d. 2006)
- 1940 - Kathy Kirby, British singer
- 1940 - Robert Pinsky, American poet and Poet Laureate of the United States
- 1942 - Earl Hindman, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1942 - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist
- 1943 - Dunja Vejzovic, Croatian soprano
- 1944 - David Mancuso, American disc jockey
- 1946 - Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (d. 1994)
- 1946 - Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian writer
- 1946 - Lucien Van Impe, Belgian cyclist
- 1949 - Valeri Borzov, Ukrainian athlete
- 1950 - Tom Petty, American musician
- 1951 - Patrick Hall, British politician
- 1951 - Leif Pagrotsky, Swedish politician
- 1951 - Claudio Ranieri, Italian football player and manager
- 1953 - Keith Hernandez, American baseball player
- 1953 - Bill Nunn, American actor
- 1954 - Steve Orich, orchestrator
- 1954 - Günter Müller, German sound artist
- 1955 - Thomas Newman, American composer
- 1955 - David Profumo, English novelist
- 1955 - Aaron Pryor, American boxer
- 1956 - Danny Boyle, English film director
- 1957 - Susanna Haavisto, Finnish actress and singer
- 1958 - Valerie Faris, American film director
- 1958 - Lynn Flewelling, American fantasy author
- 1958 - Scott Hall, American professional wrestler
- 1958 - Mark King, English musician and singer (Level 42)
- 1958 - Dave Krieg, American football player
- 1958 - Viggo Mortensen, American actor
- 1958 - Ivo Pogorelic, Croatian pianist
- 1958 - Dave Finlay, Irish professional wrestler
- 1960 - Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player (d. 2004)
- 1960 - Lepa Brena, famous Yugoslav singer
- 1961 - Ian Rush, Welsh footballer
- 1961 - Michie Tomizawa, Japanese voice actress
- 1962 - David M. Evans, American screenwriter and film director
- 1962 - Dave Wong, Hong Kong/Taiwanese singer-songwriter
- 1963 - Julie Payette, Canadian astronaut
- 1963 - Nikos Tsiantakis, Greek footballer
- 1965 - Norman Blake, Scottish musician
- 1965 - Jil Caplan, French singer and songwriter
- 1965 - Neil Patrick Carrick, American Whistleblower
- 1965 - Mikhail Shtalenkov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1965 - William Zabka, American actor
- 1966 - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda leader (d. 2006)
- 1966 - Allan Donald, South African cricketer
- 1966 - Fred Coury, American drummer (Cinderella)
- 1966 - Stefan Raab, German entertainer
- 1966 - Patrick J. Volkerding, Founder and maintainer of the Slackware Linux distribution
- 1967 - Luigi Lo Cascio, Italian actor
- 1967 - Luck Mervil, Québécois actor and singer
- 1967 - Marco Ngai, Hong Kong actor
- 1969 - Juan González, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1969 - Laurie Daley, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1969 - Lambros Papakostas, Greek high jumper
- 1970 - Chavo Guerrero, Jr.
- 1970 - Michelle Malkin, American political commentator and author
- 1971 - Dannii Minogue, Australian singer
- 1971 - Snoop Dogg, American rapper
- 1972 - Will Greenwood, England rugby union player
- 1976 - Tom Wisniewski, American guitarist (MxPx)
- 1977 - Matt Jansen, English footballer
- 1977 - Leila Josefowicz, Canadian classical violinist
- 1977 - Sam Witwer, American actor
- 1978 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
- 1978 - Paul Wilson, Irish bass player (Snow Patrol)
- 1978 - Michael Johns, American Idol (season 7) finalist
- 1979 - Paul Ifill, Barbadian footballer
- 1979 - John Krasinski, American actor
- 1979 - Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby player
- 1980 - Gary Jarman, English musician
- 1980 - Jose Veras, Dominican baseball player
- 1981 - Willis McGahee, American football player
- 1981 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1981 - Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
- 1982 - Yasser Al-Qahtani, Saudi footballer
- 1982 - Becky Brewerton, Welsh golfer
- 1983 - Alex Nackman, musician
- 1983 - Luis Saritama, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1983 - Takayuki Yamada, Japanese actor
- 1984 - Florent Sinama-Pongolle, French footballer
- 1984 - Andrew Trimble, Northern Irish rugby player for Irish rugby team
- 1985 - Jennifer Nicole Freeman, American actress
- 1985 - Dominic McGuire, American basketball player
- 1985 - James Sutton, British racing driver
- 1986 - Priyanka Sharma, Indian actress
- 1988 - Risa Niigaki, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1994 - Morgan Featherstone, Australian model
Deaths
- 460 - Aelia Eudocia, Byzantine Empress
- 1139 - Henry X, Duke of Bavaria
- 1570 - João de Barros, Portuguese historian (b. 1496)
- 1631 - Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1550)
- 1640 - John Ball, English Puritan clergyman (b. 1585)
- 1652 - Antonio Coello, Spanish writer (b. 1611)
- 1713 - Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (b. 1652)
- 1740 - Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1685)
- 1842 - Grace Darling, English heroine (b. 1815)
- 1865 - Champ Ferguson, Confederate guerrilla (b. 1821)
- 1890 - Sir Richard Burton, British explorer and writer (b. 1821)
- 1900 - Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet (b. 1846)
- 1907 - Said Pasha Kurd, Kurdish statesman (b.1834)
- 1910 - David B. Hill, Governor of New York (b. 1843)
- 1926 - Eugene Debs, American labor leader and Socialist presidential candidate (b. 1855)
- 1935 - Arthur Henderson, Scottish politician
- 1936 - Anne Sullivan, American teacher (b. 1866)
- 1940 - Gunnar Asplund, Swedish architect (b. 1885)
- 1953 - Werner Baumbach, German bomber pilot (b. 1916)
- 1964 - Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874)
- 1967 - Yoshida Shigeru, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)
- 1968 - Bud Flanagan, British wartime entertainer (b. 1896)
- 1972 - Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (b. 1885)
- 1978 - Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish race car driver (b.1948)
- 1983 - Peter Dudley, British actor (b. 1935)
- 1983 - Yves Thériault, French Canadian author (b. 1915)
- 1984 - Carl Ferdinand Cori, Austrian-born biochemist
- 1984 - Paul Dirac, English physicist
- 1987 - Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1903)
- 1988 - Sheila Scott, English aviatrix (b. 1922)
- 1989 - Anthony Quayle, English actor (b. 1913)
- 1990 - Joel McCrea, American actor (b. 1905)
- 1992 - Werner Torkanowsky, German conductor (b. 1926)
- 1993 - Sugiyama Yasushi, Japanese painter (b. 1909)
- 1994 - Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913)
- 1995 - Christopher Stone, American actor (b. 1942)
- 1999 - Calvin Griffith, Former owner of Washington Senators (b. 1911)
- 2001 - Ted Ammon, American financier (b. 1949)
- 2002 - Barbara Berjer, American actress (b. 1920)
- 2002 - Bernard Fresson, French actor (b. 1931)
- 2003 - Jack Elam, American actor (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Miodrag Petrović, Serbian actor (b. 1924)
- 2004 - Anthony Hecht, American poet (b. 1923)
- 2004 - Chuck Hiller, American baseball player (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Shirley Horn, American singer (b. 1934)
- 2005 - Endon Mahmood, First Lady of Malaysia (b. 1941)
- 2005 - Eva Svankmajerova, Czech artist (b. 1940)
- 2006 - Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910)
- 2007 - Max McGee, American football player (b. 1932)
- 2007 - Paul Raven, British bass-player (Killing Joke
- 2008 - Gene Hickerson, American football Hall of Famer (b. 1935)
Events
- 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
- 1781 - Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, was approved in Habsburg Monarchy.
- 1803 - The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
- 1818 - The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the US-Canada border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
- 1827 - Battle of Navarino
- 1883 - Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province was ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
- 1910 - The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Ireland.
- 1935 - The Long March ends
- 1941 - World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are killed in the Kragujevac massacre.
- 1944 - The Soviet army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
- 1944 - Liquid natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland, then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.
- 1944 - General Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.
- 1947 - The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
- 1951 - The "Johnny Bright Incident" occurred in Stillwater, Oklahoma
- 1952 - Governor Evelyn Baring declared a state of emergency in Kenya and began arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
- 1955 - Publication of The Return of the King, being the last part of The Lord of the Rings.
- 1967 - A purported bigfoot is filmed by Patterson and Gimlin.
- 1968 - Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
- 1970 - Siad Barre declares Somalia a socialist state.
- 1971 - The Nepal stock exchange collapses.
- 1973 - The Saturday Night Massacre: President Nixon fires Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
- 1973 - The Sydney Opera House opens.
- 1976 - The ferry George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing the Mississippi River between Destrehan and Luling, LA. Seventy-eight passengers and crew died; only 18 people aboard the ferry survived.
- 1977 - A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines along with backup singer Cassie Gaines, the road manager, pilot, and co-pilot.
- 1979 - The John F Kennedy library is opened in Boston, Massachusetts.
- 1982 - During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
- 1984 - The Monterey Bay Aquarium opens in Monterey Bay, California.
- 1991 - The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
- 2009 - European astronomers discover 32 new exoplanets.
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