February 20th archived daily history

Today February 20th in history click read more below to view detail events, deaths, births, Holidays and observances, and video clips in hisotry. Please comments, last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009

Events
1472 – Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a dowry payment.
1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
1798 – Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon s forces, was executed.
1816 – Gioachino Rossini s The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.
1835 – Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake.
1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Olustee occurs – the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
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.
1901 – The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
1909 – Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
1913 – King O Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
1931 – California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge.
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.
1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
1942 – Lieutenant Edward O Hare becomes America s first World War II flying ace.
1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943 – The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico.
1944 – World War II: The Big Week began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
1947 – State of Prussia ceases to exist.
1952 – Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
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.
1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
1976 – The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
1987 – Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
1989 – An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill, England
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.
1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
2002 – In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the club ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 300 others.
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.

Births
1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (d. 1712)
1633 – Jan de Baen, Dutch portrait painter (d. 1702)
1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
1751 – Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
1753 – Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (d. 1815)
1757 – John Mad Jack Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
1794 – William Carleton, Irish novelist (d. 1869)
1802 – Charles de Bériot, Belgian violinist (d. 1870)
1819 – Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
1839 – Benjamin Waugh, American minister; founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
1844 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
1848 – Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
1850 – Nérée Beauchemin, Canadian physician and poet (d. 1931)
1866 – Carl Westman, Swedish architect and designer (d. 1936)
1867 – Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (d. 1931)
1918 – Leonore Annenberg American Billionaire
1880 – Jacques d Adelswärd-Fersen, French aristocrat and novelist (d. 1923)
1887 – Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
1888 – Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
1893 – Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist (d. 1993)
1898 – Enzo Ferrari, Italian automobile manufacturer, designer and racing car driver (d. 1988)
1898 – Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (d. 1951)
1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (d. 1992)
1901 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English newspaper owner (d. 1987)
1901 – Muhammad Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
1906 – Gale Gordon, American television and radio actor (d. 1995)
1907 – Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (d. 1992)
1912 – Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
1914 – John Daly, South African-born broadcaster (d. 2001)
1920 – Evgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer (d. 1991)
1923 – Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American socialite and clothing designer
1925 – Robert Altman, American film director (d. 2006)
1925 – Heinz Kluncker, German trade union leader
1926 – Richard Matheson, American author
1927 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer (d. 1986)
1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2005)
1927 – Sidney Poitier, American actor
1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
1930 – Willie Cunningham, Northern Irish footballer
1932 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (d. 2007)
1934 – Bobby Unser, American racing driver
1936 – Marj Dusay, American actress
1936 – Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
1937 – Robert Huber, German chemist, Nobel laureate
1937 – Roger Penske, American racing driver, race team owner and entrepreneur
1937 – Nancy Wilson, American singer
1938 – Richard Beymer, American actor
1939 – Frank Arundel, English footballer
1940 – Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
1941 – Lim Kit Siang, Democratic Socialist opposition party in Malaysia
1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer
1942 – Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player
1942 – Charlie Gillett, British radio DJ
1942 – Mitch McConnell, American politician
1942 – Claude Miller, French film director and screenwriter
1943 – Moshe Cotel, American composer and pianist
1943 – Antonio Inoki, Japanese professional wrestler
1943 – Mike Leigh, British film director
1944 – Robert de Cotret, French Canadian politician (d. 1999)
1944 – Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
1945 – Andrew Bergman, American screenwriter and film director
1945 – Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
1945 – Annu Kapoor, Indian actor
1946 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
1946 – Richard Cocciante, French-Italian singer and songwriter
1946 – Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
1946 – J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
1947 – André van Duin, Dutch comedian
1947 – Eggert Magnusson, Icelandic football executive
1947 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
1947 – Peter Strauss, American actor
1948 – Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
1948 – Jennifer O Neill, Brazilian-born actress
1949 – Ivana Trump, Czech-born American socialite
1950 – Walter Becker, American guitarist (Steely Dan)
1950 – Ken Shimura, Japanese performer and actor
1950 – Tony Wilson, British journalist and impresario (d. 2007)
1951 – Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
1951 – Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1951 – Randy California, American guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)
1951 – Phil Neal, English footballer
1953 – Riccardo Chailly, Italian conductor
1953 – Poison Ivy, American musician (The Cramps)
1954 – Jon Brant, American musician (Cheap Trick)
1954 – Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
1954 – Patty Hearst, American socialite
1956 – Rick Green, Canadian ice hockey player
1956 – Charlie Adler, American voice actor
1957 – Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey coach
1959 – Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
1960 – Joel Hodgson, American comedian (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
1960 – Kee Marcello, Swedish guitarist
1962 – Kenn Nesbitt, American children s author
1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player
1963 – Ian Brown, English singer (The Stone Roses)
1963 – Jon Lynn Christensen, former Nebraska Congressman
1963 – Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek politician
1964 – French Stewart, American actor
1964 – Rodney Rowland, American actor
1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model
1967 – Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)
1967 – Katherine Soucie, American voice actress
1967 – Andrew Shue, American television actor
1967 – Lili Taylor, American actress
1968 – Ted Hankey, English darts player
1969 – Vaginal Davis, American drag queen and performance artist
1969 – Gedo, Japanese professional wrestler
1969 – Danis Tanovic, Bosnian film director and screenwriter
1969 – Tommy Vardell, National Football League fullback
1971 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
1971 – Shawn McKenzie, American programmer
1972 – Brent Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 – K-OS, Canadian musician/rapper
1974 – Ophelie Winter, French actress
1975 – Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
1975 – Brian Littrell, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
1976 – Rohan Gavaskar, Left-handed batsman, India ODI 2004 (son of Sunil Gavaskar)
1976 – Ed Graham, English drummer (The Darkness)
1976 – Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
1977 – Bartosz Kizierowski, Polish swimmer
1977 – Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
1977 – T.J. Slaughter, American football player
1977 – Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
1978 – Lauren Ambrose, American actress
1978 – Jakki Degg, English glamour model/actress
1978 – Jay Hernandez, American actor
1978 – Julia Jentsch, German actress
1980 – Artur Boruc, Polish footballer
1980 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby union footballer
1981 – Tony Hibbert, English footballer
1981 – Chris Thile, American musician
1982 – Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
1983 – Jose Morales, Puerto Rican baseball player
1983 – Justin Verlander, American baseball player
1985 – Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
1985 – Yulia Volkova, Russian singer (t.A.T.u.)
1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian singer
1988 – Jiah Khan, Indian actress
1989 – Melanie Leishman, Canadian actress

Deaths
702 – K inich Kan B alam II, king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635)
1154 – Saint Wulfric of Haselbury Plucknett
1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
1194 – King Tancred of Sicily
1258 – Al-Musta sim, last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad
1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English statesman (b. 1342)
1431 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
1524 – Tecún Umán, last leader of the Quiché-Maya
1579 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
1626 – John Dowland, English composer and lutenist (b. 1563)
1762 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)
1771 – Jean Jacques d Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (b. 1678)
1773 – King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
1778 – Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (b. 1711)
1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
1803 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (b. 1713)
1806 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (b. 1725)
1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean national hero (executed) (b. 1767)
1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, son of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln
1871 – Paul Kane, Irish-born painter (b. 1810)
1893 – P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (b. 1818)
1895 – Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer (b. 1818)
1905 – Jeremiah W. Farnham, American merchant captain
1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852)
1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1844)
1920 – Robert Peary, American explorer (b. 1856)
1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
1941 – La Bolduc, French Canadian singer and songwriter (b. 1894)
1961 – Percy Grainger, Australian composer (b. 1882)
1963 – Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (b. 1914)
1963 – Jacob Gade, Danish composer(b. 1879)
1965 – Fred Immler, German actor (b. 1880)
1966 – Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
1968 – Anthony Asquith, British film director and writer (b. 1902)
1969 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
1970 – Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906)
1972 – Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
1974 – David Monrad Johansen, Norwegian composer (b. 1888)
1976 – René Cassin, French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1887)
1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist (b. 1907)
1981 – Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
1983 – Fritz Köberle, Austrian-Brazilian physician (b. 1910)
1984 – Paul Dirac, British theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1902)
1985 – Clarence Ducky Nash, American voice actor (b. 1904)
1992 – Roberto D Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician (b. 1944)
1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916)
1993 – Ernest L. Massad, U.S. Army general (b. 1908)
1994 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913)
1996 – Solomon Asch, American psychologist (b. 1907)
1996 – Toru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
1997 – Zachary Breaux, American jazz guitarist (b. 1960)
1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
1999 – Gene Siskel, American film critic (b. 1946)
2000 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician (b. 1937)
2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
2003 – Maurice Blanchot, French author (b. 1907)
2003 – Orville Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
2003 – Harry Jacunski, American football player
2003 – Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White) (b. 1971)
2003 – Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani Chief of the Air Staff (b. 1947)
2005 – Pam Bricker, American jazz singer and Thievery Corporation vocalist (b. 1954)
2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1944)
2005 – John Raitt, American actor (b. 1917)
2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
2005 – Tom Willmore, English geometer (b. 1919)
2006 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
2006 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (b. 1920)
2007 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist (b. 1930)
2007 – Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish artist, member of the CoBrA movement (b. 1913)
2007 – Mike Awesome, Pro Wrestler (b. 1965)
2008 – Emily Perry, English Actress (b. 1907)
2008 – Larry Davis (criminal)

Holidays and observances
Eleutherius of Tournai
February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
World Day of Social Justice[1]