May 20th in History
Today in History
- First Council of Nicea (325)
- Vasco de Gama discovers the sea route to India (1498)
- Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence signed (1775, disputed)
- Blue jeans patented (1873)
- Metric system goes into effect (1875)
- First US traffic ticket issued (1899)
- Charles Lindbergh takes off for Paris (1927)
- Amelia Earhart takes off on her transatlantic flight (1932)
- First prisoners arrive at Auschwitz (1940)
- First hydrogen bomb airdropped (1956)
- Battle of Hamburger Hill ends (1969)
Birthdays
- Busta Rhymes, rapper (1972)
- Mindy Cohn, actress (1966)
- Ted Allen, queer eye (1965)
- David “Boomer” Wells, pitcher (1963)
- Bronson Pinchot, actor (1959)
- Dave Thomas, comedian (1949)
- Cher, diva (1946)
- Joe Cocker, singer (1944)
- Stan Mikita, hockey player (1940)
- David Hedison, actor (1927)
- Bud Grant, coach (1927)
- Hal Newhouser, pitcher (1921)
- Moshe Dayan, defense minister (1915)
- Gardner Fox, comic book writer (1911)
- Jimmy Stewart (1908)
- Max Euwe, chess grandmaster (1901)
- Faisal I, monarch (1885)
- Emile Berliner, inventor (1851)
- William Fargo, express deliverer (1818)
- John Stuart Mill, political philosopher (1806)
- Honoré de Balzac, writer (1799)
- William Congreve, rocket designer (1772)
- Dolley Madison, first lady (1768)
Deaths
- Robin Gibb, singer (2012)
- Randy “Macho Man” Savage, wrestler (2011)
- Hamilton Jordan, White House chief of staff (2008)
- Stephen Jay Gould, evolutionary biologist and writer (2002)
- Jean-Pierre Rampal, flautist (2000)
- Jon Pertwee, third doctor (1996)
- Gilda Radner, comedienne (1989)
- Syd Howe, hockey player (1976)
- Christopher Columbus, admiral (1506)
Holidays and Celebrations
- Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
- Emancipation Day (Florida)
- Maritime Day (Europe)
- Independence Day (Cuba, East Timor)
- Indonesian National Awakening (Indonesia)
- Meck Dec Day (North Carolina)
- National Day (Cameroon)
- World Metrology Day (Metre Convention)