20 May
Notable Births
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)
Kaoru Mitoma
b. 1997
Japanese footballer (born 1997)
Brian Kelly (rugby league)
b. 1996
Australian rugby league footballer (born 1996)
Ramy Rabia
b. 1993
Egyptian footballer (born 1993)
Caroline Zhang
b. 1993
American figure skater
Enes Kanter Freedom
b. 1992
American basketball player (born 1992)
Cate Campbell
b. 1992
Australian competitive swimmer (born 1992)
Jack Gleeson
b. 1992
Irish actor (born 1992)
Fanny Smith
b. 1992
Swiss freestyle skier (born 1992)
Bastian Baker
b. 1991
Swiss musician
Emre Çolak
b. 1991
Turkish footballer
Josh O'Connor
b. 1990
English actor (born 1990)
Siosaia Vave
b. 1989
Tonga international rugby league footballer
Joel Moon
b. 1988
Australian rugby league footballer
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
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)
Barbara Murray
d. 2014
British screen actress (1929–2014)
Flavio Costantini
d. 2013
Italian artist (1926–2013)
Billie Dawe
d. 2013
Canadian ice hockey player
Anders Eliasson
d. 2013
Swedish composer (1947–2013)
Miloslav Kříž
d. 2013
Ray Manzarek
d. 2013
American keyboardist (1939–2013)
Denys Roberts
d. 2013
British judge and colonial administrator (1923–2013)
Zach Sobiech
d. 2013
American singer-songwriter
Leela Dube
d. 2012
Indian anthropologist and feminist scholar
Robin Gibb
d. 2012
British singer (1949–2012)
David Littman (activist)
d. 2012
British historian and human rights activist
Eugene Polley
d. 2012
American consumer electronics engineer (1915–2012)
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
1996
Civil rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.
LGBTQ rights in the United States
1990
The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
Communism
1989
The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
Democracy
1985
Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
Radio y Televisión Martí
1983
First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by a team of French scientists including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Jean-Claude Chermann, and Luc Montagnier.
HIV
1983
Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by UMkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.
Church Street, Pretoria bombing
1980
In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, with 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
1980 Quebec referendum
1971
In the Chuknagar massacre, Pakistani forces massacre thousands, mostly Bengali Hindus.
Chuknagar massacre
1969
The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
Battle of Hamburger Hill
1967
The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Popular Movement of the Revolution
1965
One hundred twenty-one people are killed when Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 crashes at Cairo International Airport.
Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705
1964
Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
Discovery of cosmic microwave background radiation