On This Day — 20 February

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

1944

World War II: The "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

Big Week

1944

World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Atoll.

Enewetak Atoll

1943

World War II: American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

Film studio

1943

The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.

The Saturday Evening Post

1942

World War II: Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

World War II

1939

Madison Square Garden Nazi rally: The largest ever pro-Nazi rally in United States history is convened in Madison Square Garden, New York City, with 20,000 members and sympathizers of the German American Bund present.

1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden

1935

Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.

Caroline Mikkelsen

1933

The U.S. Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval.

United States Congress

1933

Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign.

Adolf Hitler

1931

The U.S. Congress approves the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.

United States Congress

1931

An anarchist uprising in Encarnación, Paraguay briefly transforms the city into a revolutionary commune.

Anarchism

1920

An earthquake kills between 114 and 130 in Georgia and heavily damages the town of Gori.

1920 Gori earthquake

1913

King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.

King O'Malley

1909

Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.

Manifesto of Futurism

1905

The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of Massachusetts's mandatory smallpox vaccination program in Jacobson v. Massachusetts.

Supreme Court of the United States

1901

The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.

Territory of Hawaii

1894

20 February bombings by Désiré Pauwels during the Ère des attentats (1892-1894).

20 February 1894 attacks

1877

Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky

1872

The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.

Metropolitan Museum of Art

1865

End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.

Uruguayan War

1864

American Civil War: Battle of Olustee: The largest battle fought in Florida during the war.

American Civil War

1846

Polish insurgents lead an uprising in Kraków to incite a fight for national independence.

Kraków Uprising

1835

The 1835 Concepción earthquake destroys Concepción, Chile.

1835 Concepción earthquake

1824

William Buckland formally announces the name Megalosaurus, the first scientifically validly named non-avian dinosaur species.

William Buckland

1816

Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.

Gioachino Rossini

1813

Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.

Manuel Belgrano

1798

Louis-Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.

Louis-Alexandre Berthier

1792

The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.

Postal Service Act

1685

René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.

René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle

1553

Yohannan Sulaqa professes his Catholic belief and is ordained as bishop shortly after; this marks the beginning of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

Shimun VIII Yohannan Sulaqa

1547

Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

Edward VI

1521

Spanish conquistador Juan Ponce de León sets out from San Juan, Puerto Rico, for Florida with about 200 prospective colonists.

Juan Ponce de León

1472

Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.

Orkney

1339

The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.

Milan