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On this dayOctober 20

Through history40 events, 246 births and 116 deaths in Wikipedia's lists for the date

Today

A hundred years before

The front pages of October 20, 1926

What 43 American newspapers printed that day, as the Library of Congress keeps them.

MEDIA
The front page of The Cody enterprise and the Park County herald, Cody, Wyo., October 20, 1926The Cody enterprise and the Park County heraldCody, Wyo.Read it, zoom in, mark it →
34 more front pages that day

All 43 front pages at the Library of Congress ↗From Chronicling America. Public domain: in the Library's words, newspapers published in the United States more than 95 years ago are in the public domain in their entirety.

What happened

On October 20

The anniversaries Wikipedia's editors chose for the date, oldest first.

REFERENCE
  1. 1740286 years ago

    Under the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa (pictured) ascended the Habsburg throne. · Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 · Habsburg monarchy

    Photo: User:Magellan, wikipedia.dePublic domain
  2. 193690 years ago

    British woman Mabel Freer was refused entry to Australia after failing a dictation test given in Italian, leading to a debate over Australia's immigration policy.

    Photo: Harry MartinPublic domain
  3. 193987 years ago

    Pope Pius XII (pictured) published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which critiqued ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism. · Pope Pius XII

    Photo: Michael PitcairnPublic domain
  4. 194482 years ago

    World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the Philippines. · World War II · Douglas MacArthur's escape from the Philippines

    Photo: Richard OpitzCC BY-SA 3.0 de
  5. 195175 years ago

    African-American college football player Johnny Bright was the victim of an on-field assault, eventually leading to changes in NCAA football rules that mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards. · Johnny Bright incident · National Collegiate Athletic Association

    Photo: U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Johnny Bivera.Public domain
  6. 196759 years ago

    Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest in California. · Patterson–Gimlin film

    Photo: Roger Patterson and Robert GimlinPublic domain
  7. 196957 years ago

    Experimental results from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were published showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks. · SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory

    Photo: DicklyonCC BY-SA 4.0
  8. 197353 years ago

    Watergate scandal: Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned after refusing to obey President Richard Nixon's order to have Archibald Cox fired. · Saturday Night Massacre

    Photo: U.S. District Court for the District of ColumbiaPublic domain
  9. 197749 years ago

    Three members of the American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi. · Lynyrd Skynyrd plane crash

    Photo: MCA RecordsPublic domain
  10. 198244 years ago

    During a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem, a large number of attendees trying to leave the Central Lenin Stadium resulted in a stampede that caused 66 deaths. · 1982–83 UEFA Cup · FC Spartak Moscow

  11. 198442 years ago

    The Spanish trawler Sonia sank in British waters after a five-hour chase by the Irish Naval Service patrol vessel Aisling, during which almost 600 shots were fired. · Sinking of the Spanish trawler Sonia · LÉ Aisling

    Photo: Brian ClaytonCC BY 2.0
  12. 198640 years ago

    Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashed on approach to Kurumoch Airport in Samara, Russia (then Kuybyshev in the Soviet Union), killing 70 people on board. · Kurumoch International Airport

    Photo: Eduard MarmetCC BY-SA 3.0
  13. 199135 years ago

    An earthquake struck the Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 768 people and destroying thousands of homes. · 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake

  14. 201115 years ago

    First Libyan Civil War: Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed Libyan leader, was captured by rebel forces during the Battle of Sirte, and was killed shortly thereafter. · Anti-Gaddafi forces

    Photo: Diar AladnaniCC BY 4.0
  15. 20224 years ago

    Protests broke out across Chad after President Mahamat Déby declared his intentions to extend his rule by another two years. · 2022 Chadian protests

  16. 20242 years ago

    Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka were sworn in as president and vice president of Indonesia, becoming the oldest and the youngest person to assume respective offices. · Inauguration of Prabowo Subianto

    Photo: Darwis Triadi & Ministry of State SecretariatPublic domain
All 40 events Wikipedia lists for October 20, by year

Reading the list…

Born

On October 20

The best-known first, counted by the Wikipedia languages with an article on each.

REFERENCE
  1. 1964Kamala HarrisAmerican politician and lawyer, 49th Vice President of the United States193 languagesPhoto: Lawrence JacksonPublic domain
  2. 1854Arthur RimbaudFrench soldier and poet (died 1891)144 languagesPhoto: Étienne CarjatPublic domain
  3. 888Zhu Youzhenemperor of Later Liang (died 923)132 languagesPhoto: author on the file pagePublic domain
  1. 1946Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate127
  2. 1859John Dewey, American psychologist and philosopher (died 1952)110
  3. 1891James Chadwick, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1974)99
  4. 1971Snoop Dogg, American rapper, producer, and actor98
  5. 1740Isabelle de Charrière, Dutch author and poet (died 1805)97
  6. 1958Viggo Mortensen, American-Danish actor and producer84
  7. 1819Báb, Iranian religious leader, founded Bábism (died 1850)81
  8. 1956Danny Boyle, English director, producer, and screenwriter78
  9. 1942Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate71
  10. 1784Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, English academic and politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 1865)70
  11. 1882Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (died 1956)68
  12. 1951Claudio Ranieri, Italian footballer and manager64
  13. 1979John Krasinski, American actor, director, and producer59
  14. 1677Stanisław Leszczyński, King of Poland (died 1766)58
  15. 1971Dannii Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter and actress58
  16. 1988Candice Swanepoel, South African supermodel and philanthropist56
  17. 1963Julie Payette, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and 29th Governor General of Canada55
  18. 1992Mattia De Sciglio, Italian footballer55
  19. 1950Tom Petty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (died 2017)54
  20. 1961Ian Rush, Welsh footballer and manager53
  21. 1997Ademola Lookman, Nigerian footballer52
Everyone else born on October 20: 222 more, by year

Reading the list…

Died

On October 20

The best-known first, counted by the Wikipedia languages with an article on each.

REFERENCE
  1. 2011Muammar GaddafiLibyan colonel and politician, Prime Minister of Libya (born 1942)185 languagesPhoto: Stevan KragujevićCC BY-SA 3.0
  2. 1964Herbert HooverAmerican engineer and politician, 31st President of the United States (born 1874)163 languagesPhoto: Underwood & UnderwoodPublic domain
  3. 1984Paul DiracEnglish-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)124 languagesPhoto: Nobel FoundationPublic domain
  1. 2024Fethullah Gülen, Turkish preacher and theologian (born 1941)87
  2. 1994Burt Lancaster, American actor (born 1913)84
  3. 1187Pope Urban III79
  4. 1740Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1685)79
  5. 1987Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1903)77
  6. 1890Richard Francis Burton, English-Italian geographer and explorer (born 1821)71
  7. 1994Sergei Bondarchuk, Russian actor and filmmaker (born 1920)61
  8. 1984Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech-American biochemist and pharmacologist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1896)60
  9. 2016Junko Tabei, Japanese mountaineer (born 1939)60
  10. 2020James Randi, Canadian-American stage magician and author (born 1928)58
  11. 2018Wim Kok, Dutch prime minister (born 1938)56
  12. 1935Arthur Henderson, Scottish-English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1863)55
  13. 2013Lawrence Klein, American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)55
  14. 1967Shigeru Yoshida, Japanese politician and diplomat, 32nd Prime Minister of Japan (born 1878)54
  15. 1972Harlow Shapley, American astronomer and academic (born 1885)53
  16. 1900Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and translator (born 1846)52
  17. 2012E. Donnall Thomas, American physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)52
  18. 1926Eugene V. Debs, American union leader and politician (born 1855)50
  19. 1936Anne Sullivan, American educator (born 1866)49
  20. 1950Henry L. Stimson, American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 46th United States Secretary of State (born 1867)45
  21. 2010Farooq Leghari, Pakistani politician, 8th President of Pakistan (born 1940)45
Everyone else died on October 20: 92 more, by year

Reading the list…

Observed

On October 20

Holidays, feast days and observances, as Wikipedia lists them for the date.

REFERENCE

Christian feast days

Events, births, deaths and observances are Wikipedia's On this day for October 20, in its editors' words (CC BY-SA 4.0); the counts of languages are Wikidata's (CC0). Dates are the UTC day, as Wikipedia keeps them. Discover brings one of these at a time.