20 February
Notable Births
Jared McCain
b. 2004
American basketball player (born 2004)
Olivia Rodrigo
b. 2003
American singer-songwriter and actress (born 2003)
Gavin Bazunu
b. 2002
Irish footballer (born 2002)
Josh Sargent
b. 2000
American soccer player (born 2000)
Jarrett Culver
b. 1999
American basketball player (born 1999)
Emam Ashour
b. 1998
Egyptian footballer (born 1998)
Clarke Schmidt
b. 1996
American baseball player (born 1996)
Elle Purrier St. Pierre
b. 1995
American runner (born 1995)
Kateryna Baindl
b. 1994
Ukrainian tennis player (born 1994)
Luis Severino
b. 1994
Dominican baseball player (born 1994)
Jurickson Profar
b. 1993
Curaçaoan baseball player (born 1993)
Hidilyn Diaz
b. 1991
Filipino weightlifter (born 1991)
Ciro Immobile
b. 1990
Italian footballer (born 1990)
Jack Falahee
b. 1989
American actor and singer (born 1989)
Ki Bo-bae
b. 1988
South Korean archer (born 1988)
Jiah Khan
b. 1988
British-American actress and singer (1988–2013)
Rihanna
b. 1988
Barbadian singer (born 1988)
Luke Burgess (rugby league)
b. 1987
English rugby league footballer
Kurt Cobain
b. 1967
American rock musician (1967–1994)
Shigeo Nagashima
b. 1936
Japanese baseball player and manager (1936–2025)
Notable Deaths
David Boren
d. 2025
American lawyer and politician (1941–2025)
Jerry Butler
d. 2025
American soul singer and songwriter (1939–2025)
Peter Jason
d. 2025
American actor (1944–2025)
Andreas Brehme
d. 2024
German footballer (1960–2024)
Yoko Yamamoto
d. 2024
Japanese actress (1942–2024)
Mauro Bellugi
d. 2021
Italian footballer (1950–2021)
Joaquim Pina Moura
d. 2020
Portuguese politician (1952–2020)
Vitaly Churkin
d. 2017
Russian diplomat (1952–2017)
Mildred Dresselhaus
d. 2017
American physicist and nanotechnologist (1930–2017)
Steve Hewlett (journalist)
d. 2017
British journalist (1958-2017)
Fernando Cardenal
d. 2016
Nicaraguan Jesuit and theologian (1934–2016)
Govind Pansare
d. 2015
Indian political activist and writer (1933–2015)
Henry Segerstrom
d. 2015
American entrepreneur and philanthropist (1923–2015)
Walter D. Ehlers
d. 2014
United States Army soldier
Garrick Utley
d. 2014
American television journalist (1939–2014)
Kenji Eno
d. 2013
Japanese musician and video game designer (1970–2013)
David S. McKay
d. 2013
American planetary geologist (1936–2013)
Antonio Roma
d. 2013
Argentine footballer (1932–2013)
Katie Hall (American politician)
d. 2012
American politician (1938–2012)
Alexander Haig
d. 2010
American politician (1924–2010)
On This Day in History
All 54 ›2016
Six people are killed and two injured in multiple shooting incidents in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.
2016 Kalamazoo shootings
2015
Two trains collide in the Swiss town of Rafz resulting in as many as 49 people injured and Swiss Federal Railways cancelling some services.
Rafz train crash
2014
Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters die in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, many reportedly killed by snipers.
Euromaidan
2010
In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago.
Madeira
2009
Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.
2009 suicide air raid on Colombo
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.
2005 Spanish European Constitution referendum
2003
During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the Station nightclub ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
Great White
2002
A cooking gas cylinder explodes on board an Egyptian National Railways train in El Ayyat, causing a fire and killing over 370 people.
2002 El Ayyat railway accident
1998
American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Tara Lipinski
1991
In the Albanian capital Tirana, a gigantic statue of Albania's long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down by mobs of angry protesters.
Tirana
1988
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast
1986
The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.
Soviet Union
1979
An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
Earthquake
1971
The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
Emergency Broadcast System
1968
The China Academy of Space Technology, China's main arm for the research, development, and creation of space satellites, is established in Beijing.
China Academy of Space Technology
1965
Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
Ranger 8
1962
Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.
Project Mercury
1959
The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
Avro Canada CF-105 Arrow
1956
The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.
United States Merchant Marine Academy
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.
Emmett Ashford