Today in History
20 May
211 births · 104 deaths · 64 events recorded
Notable Births
All 211 ›
Doug the Pug
b. 2012
American celebrity dog (born 2012)
Jamie Chadwick
b. 1998
British racing driver (born 1998)
Nam Nguyen
b. 1998
Canadian figure skater (born 1998)
Enes Kanter Freedom
b. 1992
American basketball player (born 1992)
Cher
b. 1946
American singer and actress (born 1946)
Albano Carrisi
b. 1943
Italian recording artist; singer and actor
José Mujica
b. 1935
President of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015
Honoré de Balzac
b. 1799
French novelist and playwright (1799–1850)
Notable Deaths
All 104 ›
George Wendt
d. 2025
American actor (1948–2025)
Roger Angell
d. 2022
American writer (1920–2022)
Susan Roces
d. 2022
Filipino actress (1941–2022)
Niki Lauda
d. 2019
Austrian racing driver (1949–2019)
Kho Jabing
d. 2016
Convicted murderer executed in Singapore
Femi Robinson
d. 2015
Nigerian actor (1940–2015)
Prince Rupert Loewenstein
d. 2014
Spanish-born German-Bavarian aristocrat (1933–2014)
Thomas Boston
d. 1732
Scottish Presbyterian church leader and theologian
On This Day in History
All 64 ›
2022
Russo-Ukrainian war: Russia claims full control of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after a nearly three-month siege.
Russo-Ukrainian war
2019
The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.
International System of Units
2016
The government of Singapore authorised the controversial execution of convicted murderer Kho Jabing for the murder of a Chinese construction worker despite the international pleas for clemency, notably from Amnesty International and the United Nations.
Singapore
2013
An EF5 tornado strikes the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing 24 people and injuring 377 others.
Enhanced Fujita scale
2012
At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.
2012 Northern Italy earthquakes
2011
Mamata Banerjee is sworn in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, the first woman to hold this post.
Mamata Banerjee
2009
An Indonesian Air Force Lockheed L-100 Hercules crashes in Magetan Regency, killing 99.
Indonesian Air Force
2002
The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
Timor-Leste