Today in History – October 20th

Published October 20, 2012 |

1632, Sir Christopher Wren, English architect (d. 1723) was born.
1720, Caribbean pirate Calico Jack is captured by the Royal Navy.
1740, Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. The War of the Austrian Succession begins.
1781, Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy.
1803, The US Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
1818, The Convention of 1818 signed b/w US and UK which settled the Canada, US border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
1819, Bab, Persian founder of Babism and a central figure in the Baha’i Faith (d. 1850) was born.
1873, Nellie McClung, Canadian feminist (d. 1951) was born.
1873, Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities draft 1st code of American football rules.
1882, Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born American actor (d. 1956) was born.
1883, Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancon bringing an end to Peru’s involvement in the War of the Pacific.
1904, Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
1910, hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to RMS Titanic, is launched at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
1917, The Military Revolutionary Committee of the Petrograd Soviet holds its 1st meeting.
1931, Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (d. 1995) was born.
1935, Jerry Orbach, American actor (d. 2004) was born.
1935, The Long March ends.
1939, Pope Pius XII publishes his 1st major encyclical entitled Summi Pontificatus.
1941, WWII: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are killed in the Kragujevac massacre.
1944, General Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines as he commands an Allied assault on the islands.
1944, Liquid natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland, then explodes; the explosion kills 130.
1944, The Soviet Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
1947, The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood.
1947, US of America and Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for 1st time.
1951, The “Johnny Bright Incident” occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma
1961, Soviet Union performs 1st armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from Golf class submarine.
1964, Herbert Hoover, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874) died.
1968, Former 1st Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
1970, Siad Barre declares Somalia a socialist state.
1973, The Sydney Opera House opens.
1976, ferry George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing the Mississippi River. 78 passengers and crew die.
1982, During UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
1994, Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913) died.
2005, Shirley Horn, American singer (b. 1934) died.
2006, Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910) died.
2011, former leader of Libya, Muammar Gaddafi is killed shortly after the Battle of Sirte while in the custody of NTC fighters.

Chris Rivait

Chris loves history and hopes that Yesteeyear becomes a place where everyone can share their history knowledge. Chris owns an Internet Marketing company, Arrivait Marketing. He has a wonderful wife and four great children.