Today August 20th 2009 this day in history Read more below to view events, deaths, births, Holidays observances and video clips. Last database updated: Jan 17th, 2009
Events
636 – Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine away from the Byzantine Empire, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests and the rapid advance of Islam outside Arabia.
917 – Battle of Anchialus: Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria invades Thrace and drives the Byzantines out.
1000 – The foundation of the Hungarian state, Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom by Stephen I of Hungary.
1391 – Konrad von Wallenrode becomes the 24th Hochmeister of the Teutonic Order.
1672 – Former Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis are brutally murdered by an angry mob in The Hague.
1775 – The Spanish establish a presidio (fort) in the town that became Tucson, Arizona.
1794 – Battle of Fallen Timbers – American troops force a confederacy of Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi warriors into a disorganized retreat.
1804 – Lewis and Clark Expedition: the Corps of Discovery, exploring the Louisiana Purchase, suffers its only death when sergeant Charles Floyd dies, apparently from acute appendicitis.
1858 – Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace s same theory.
1866 – President Andrew Johnson formally declares the American Civil War over.
1882 – Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky s 1812 Overture debuts in Moscow.
1888 – Mutineers imprison Emin Pasha at Dufile.
1900 – Japan s primary school law is amended to provide for four years of mandatory schooling.
1914 – World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.
1920 – The first commercial radio station, 8MK (WWJ), begins operations in Detroit, Michigan.
1926 – Japan s public broadcasting company, Nippon Hoso Kyokai(NHK) is established.
1938 – Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam – a record that still stands.
1940 – In Mexico City exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded with an ice axe by Ramon Mercader. He dies the next day.
1944 – World War II: the Battle of Romania begins with a major Soviet offensive.
1953 – The Soviet Union publicly acknowledges that it had tested a hydrogen bomb.
1955 – In Morocco, a force of Berbers from the Atlas Mountains region of Algeria raid two rural settlements and kill 77 French nationals.
1960 – Senegal breaks from the Mali federation, declaring its independence.
1968 – 200,000 Warsaw Pact troops and 5,000 tanks invade Czechoslovakia to end the Prague Spring of political liberalization.
1975 – Viking Program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.
1977 – Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
1979 – The East Coast Main Line rail route between England and Scotland is restored when the Penmanshiel Diversion opens.
1982 – Lebanese Civil War: a multinational force lands in Beirut to oversee the PLO s withdrawal from Lebanon.
1986 – In Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. Postal employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers and then commits suicide.
1988 – Black Saturday of the Yellowstone fire in Yellowstone National Park
1988 – Peru becomes a member of the Berne Convention copyright treaty.
1988 – Iran–Iraq War: a cease-fire is agreed after almost eight years of war.
1991 – Collapse of the Soviet Union, August Coup: more than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union s parliament building protesting the coup aiming to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.
1991 – Estonia secedes from the Soviet Union.
1993 – After rounds of secret negotiations in Norway, the Oslo Peace Accords are signed, followed by a public ceremony in Washington, D.C. the following month.
1997 – Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people are killed and 15 kidnapped.
1998 – The Supreme Court of Canada rules that Quebec cannot legally secede from Canada without the federal government s approval.
1998 – U.S. embassy bombings: the United States military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack.
2002 – A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein take over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.
2008 – Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport. 146 people are killed in the crash, 8 more die afterwards. Only 18 people survive.
Births
1517 – Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, French church leader (d. 1586)
1561 – Jacopo Peri, Italian composer (d. 1633)
1625 – Thomas Corneille, French dramatist (d. 1709)
1632 – Louis Bourdaloue, French Jesuit preacher (d. 1704)
1710 – Thomas Simpson, British mathematician (d. 1761)
1719 – Charles-François de Broglie, marquis de Ruffec, French soldier and diplomat (d. 1791)
1719 – Christian Mayer, Czech astronomer (d. 1783)
1776 – Bernardo O Higgins, South American revolutionary (d. 1842)
1779 – Jöns Jakob Berzelius, Swedish chemist (d. 1848)
1833 – Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (d. 1901)
1845 – St. Albert Chmielowski, Polish Catholic Saint (d. 1916)
1847 – Andrew Greenwood, England cricketer (d. 1889)
1847 – Boleslaw Prus, Polish writer (d. 1912)
1856 – Jakub Bart-Cišinski, Sorbian writer (d. 1909)
1860 – Raymond Poincaré, French statesman (d. 1934)
1865 – Bernard Tancred, South African cricketer (d. 1911)
1868 – Ellen Roosevelt, American tennis player (d. 1954)
1873 – Gottlieb Eliel Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1950)
1881 – Edgar Guest, English poet (d. 1959)
1886 – Paul Tillich, German-American theologian (d. 1965)
1890 – H. P. Lovecraft, American writer (d. 1937)
1897 – Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian writer (d. 1970)
1898 – Vilhelm Moberg, Swedish author and historian (d. 1973)
1901 – Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian writer, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1968)
1905 – Jean Gebser, German-born author, linguist, and poet (d. 1973)
1905 – Jack Teagarden, American musician (d. 1964)
1907 – Alan Reed, original voice of Fred Flintstone. (d. 1977)
1908 – Al Lopez, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
1909 – Alby Roberts, New Zealand cricketer (d. 1978)
1910 – Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1961)
1913 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, American neurobiologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1994)
1916 – Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian–German chess player (d. 1984)
1918 – Jacqueline Susann, American novelist (d. 1974)
1921 – Jack Wilson, Australian cricketer (d. 1985)
1923 – Jim Reeves, American singer (d. 1964)
1926 – Nobby Wirkowski, American and Canadian football player and coach
1927 – Geriatric1927, English video blogger
1927 – Yootha Joyce, English actress (d. 1980)
1930 – Mario Bernardi, Canadian conductor
1931 – Don King, American boxing promoter
1932 – Anthony Ainley, British actor (d. 2004)
1932 – Vasily Aksyonov, Russian novelist
1932 – Atholl McKinnon, South African cricketer (d. 1983)
1933 – George J. Mitchell, former United States Senator
1934 – Armi Kuusela, Finnish beauty queen
1935 – Ron Paul, US Congressman, 1988 and 2008 presidential candidate
1936 – Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
1937 – Jim Bowen, English comedian
1937 – El Fary, Spanish singer and actor (d. 2007)
1937 – Andrei Konchalovsky, Russian film director
1938 – Alain Vivien, French politician
1939 – Fernando Poe Jr., Filipino actor and politician (d. 2004)
1940 – Rubén Hinojosa, American politician
1940 – Rex Sellers, Australian cricketer
1941 – Dave Brock, British musician and founder of Hawkwind
1941 – Rich Brooks, American football coach
1941 – Slobodan Miloševic, President of Serbia and of Yugoslavia (d. 2006)
1941 – Robin Oakley, British journalist
1941 – Jo Ramirez, Mexican motor racing team manager and author
1942 – Isaac Hayes, American singer, songwriter, and actor (d. 2008)
1942 – Fred Norman, American baseball player
1943 – Sylvester McCoy, Scottish actor
1944 – Rajiv Gandhi, Prime Minister of India (d. 1991)
1944 – Graig Nettles, American baseball player
1946 – Connie Chung, American journalist
1946 – Ralf Hütter, German musician (Kraftwerk)
1946 – N.R. Narayana Murthy, Indian businessman
1947 – Alan Lee, English conceptual artist
1948 – John Noble, Australian actor
1948 – Robert Plant, British Musician (Led Zeppelin)
1949 – Nikolas Asimos, Greek composer and singer (d. 1988)
1949 – Norman Featherstone, South African cricketer
1949 – Alan Hardwick, English TV presenter
1949 – Phil Lynott, Irish musician (d. 1986)
1951 – Greg Bear, American author
1952 – John Emburey, English cricketer
1952 – Doug Fieger, American musician (The Knack)
1952 – John Hiatt, American musician
1954 – Tawn Mastrey, American disc jockey (d. 2007)
1954 – Al Roker, American television personality
1954 – Don Stark, American actor
1955 – Agnes Chan, Hong Kong singer and writer
1956 – Joan Allen, American actress
1956 – Alvin Greenidge, West Indian cricketer
1957 – Finlay Calder, Scottish rugby player
1958 – Patricia Rozema, Canadian film director and screenwriter
1961 – Greg Egan, Australian author
1961 – Joe Pasquale, English comedian
1962 – Sophie Aldred, English actress
1962 – James Marsters, American actor
1962 – Dong-Wook Song, South Korean tennis player
1965 – KRS-One, American rapper
1966 – Dimebag Darrell, American guitarist (Pantera and Damageplan) (d. 2004)
1967 – Andy Benes, American baseball player
1967 – Colin Cunningham, American actor
1967 – Terri Poch, American yogini and former professional wrestler
1968 – Klas Ingesson, Swedish footballer
1968 – Yuri Shiratori, Japanese voice actress and singer
1969 – Duke Droese, American professional wrestler
1970 – Els Callens, Belgian tennis player
1970 – John D. Carmack, American computer game programmer
1971 – Jonathan Ke Quan, Vietnamese American actor
1971 – Steve Stone, English footballer
1971 – David Walliams, British comedian
1971 – Fred Durst, American singer (Limp Bizkit)
1972 – Chaney Kley, American actor
1973 – Todd Helton, American baseball player
1974 – Amy Adams, American actress
1974 – Big Moe, American rapper (d. 2007)
1974 – Szabolcs Sáfár, Hungarian footballer
1974 – Andy Strachan, Australian musician (The Living End)
1974 – Maxim Vengerov, Russian violinist
1975 – Marcus Mastin, American author
1976 – Chris Drury, American hockey player
1977 – Felipe Contepomi, Argentine rugby player
1977 – Manuel Contepomi, Argentine rugby player
1977 – Ivar Ingimarsson, Icelandic footballer
1977 – Mayra Veronica, Cuban model and actress
1977 – James Ormond, England cricketer
1979 – Cory Sullivan, American baseball player
1980 – Corey Carrier, American actor
1980 – Rochelle Gadd, British actress
1981 – Benjamin Barnes, English actor (Prince Caspian)
1981 – Bernard Mendy, French footballer
1982 – Cléber Luis Alberti, Brazilian footballer
1982 – Youssouf Hersi, Ethiopian footballer
1982 – Joshua Kennedy, Australian footballer
1982 – Barney Rogers, Zimbabwean cricketer
1984 – Mirai Moriyama, Japanese actor
1984 – Golan Yosef, Dutch actor
1986 – Robert Clark, Canadian actor
1987 – Catalina Ponor, Romanian gymnast
1988 – Jerryd Bayless, American Basketball Player
1990 – Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Dutch swimmer
1991 – Marko Ðokovic, Serbian tennis player
1992 – Demi Lovato, American actress and singer
2003 – Prince Gabriel of Belgium
Deaths
535 – Mochta of Louth, disciple of St. Patrick
984 – Pope John XIV
1384 – Geert Groote, Dutch founder of the Brethren of the Common Life (b. 1340)
1572 – Miguel López de Legazpi, Spanish conquistador (b. 1502)
1580 – Jeronymo Osorio, Portuguese historian (b. 1506)
1611 – Tomás Luis de Victoria, Spanish composer (b. 1548)
1639 – Martin Opitz von Boberfeld, German poet (b. 1597)
1643 – Anne Hutchinson, English Puritan preacher (b. 1591)
1648 – Edward Herbert, 1st Baron Herbert of Cherbury, English diplomat, poet, and philosopher (b. 1583)
1672 – Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1625)
1672 – Cornelis de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1623)
1680 – William Bedloe, English informer (b. 1650)
1701 – Charles Sedley, English playwright (b. 1639)
1707 – Nicolas Gigault, French organist and composer (b. 1627)
1773 – Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (b. 1701)
1811 – Louis Antoine de Bougainville, French explorer (b. 1729)
1823 – Pope Pius VII (b. 1740)
1825 – William Waldegrave, 1st Baron Radstock, Governor of Newfoundland (b. 1753)
1887 – Jules Laforgue, French poet (b. 1860)
1904 – René Waldeck-Rousseau, French statesman (b. 1846)
1912 – William Booth, English founder of the Salvation Army (b. 1829)
1914 – Pope Pius X (b. 1835)
1915 – Paul Ehrlich, German scientist, Nobel laureate (b. 1854)
1917 – Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1835)
1919 – Greg MacGregor, England cricketer (b. 1869)
1930 – Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (b. 1851)
1959 – William Halsey, Jr, American admiral (b. 1882)
1961 – Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
1963 – Joan Voûte, Dutch astronomer (b. 1879)
1965 – Jonathan Myrick Daniels, Civil Rights Martyr (b. 1939)
1971 – Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951)
1980 – Joe Dassin, American singer (b. 1938)
1982 – Ulla Jacobsson, Swedish actress (b. 1929)
1986 – Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (b. 1923)
1989 – George Adamson, India-born English game warden and lion expert (b. 1906)
1993 – Bernard Delfgaauw, Dutch philosopher (b. 1912)
1997 – Norris Bradbury, American physicist (b. 1909)
1997 – Léon Dion, French-Canadian political scientist (b. 1922)
1998 – Raquel Rastenni, Danish singer (b. 1915)
2001 – Sir Fred Hoyle, English astronomer and science fiction writer (b. 1915)
2001 – Kim Stanley, American actress (b. 1925)
2005 – Thomas Herrion, American football player (b. 1981)
2005 – Krzysztof Raczkowski, Polish drummer (b. 1970)
2006 – Claude Blanchard, French-Canadian singer, comedian and actor (b. 1932)
2006 – Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)
2006 – Cpl Bryan Budd VC, British soldier (Afghanistan) (b. 1977)
2007 – Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (b. 1920)
2007 – Larry Hartsell, American martial artist, bodyguard, trainer, student of Bruce Lee and Dan Inosanto (b. 1942)
2008 – Hua Guofeng, former Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party, succeeding Mao Zedong in 1976 and being replaced by Hu Yaobang in 1981 (b. 1921)
2008 – Stephanie Tubbs Jones, American politician (b. 1949)
2008 – Gene Upshaw, American football player and union leader (b. 1945)
Holidays and observances
World Union – World Union Day.
Roman Catholic saints – Saint Bernard of Clairvaux
Bahá í Faith – Feast of Asmá (Names) – First day of the ninth month of the Bahá í calendar.
Hungary – St. Stephen s day, the main national holiday in Hungary.
Estonia – Day of Restoration of Independence, celebrating the secession from the Soviet Union in 1991.
