20 October
Notable Births
Paige Bueckers
b. 2001
American basketball player (born 2001)
Kenneth Walker III
b. 2000
American football player (born 2000)
Chuu
b. 1999
South Korean singer (born 1999)
YoungBoy Never Broke Again
b. 1999
American rapper (born 1999)
Ademola Lookman
b. 1997
Nigerian-English footballer (born 1997)
Daizen Maeda
b. 1997
Japanese footballer (born 1997)
Nguyễn Tiến Linh
b. 1997
Vietnamese footballer (born 1997)
Andrey Rublev
b. 1997
Russian tennis player (born 1997)
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting
b. 1996
Indonesian badminton player (born 1996)
Humberto Carrillo
b. 1995
Mexican professional wrestler (born 1995)
Mattia De Sciglio
b. 1992
Italian footballer (born 1992)
Ksenia Semyonova
b. 1992
Russian artistic gymnast
Kyle Wiltjer
b. 1992
American–Canadian basketball player (born 1992)
Phupoom Pongpanupak
b. 1991
Thai film and television actor (born 1991)
Sam Mataora
b. 1990
Cook Islands international rugby league footballer
Jamie Collins (American football)
b. 1989
American football player and coach (born 1989)
Jess Glynne
b. 1989
British singer (born 1989)
ASAP Ferg
b. 1988
American rapper (born 1988)
Candice Swanepoel
b. 1988
South African model (born 1988)
Marie Sophie Hingst
b. 1987
German historian, blogger and fraudster (1987–2019)
Notable Deaths
Fethullah Gülen
d. 2024
Turkish scholar, theologian and dissident (1941–2024)
Barbara Dane
d. 2024
American folk, blues and jazz singer (1927–2024)
Walter Jacob
d. 2024
American Reform rabbi (1930–2024)
Janusz Olejniczak
d. 2024
Polish classical pianist and actor (1952–2024)
Paul White, Baron Hanningfield
d. 2024
British politician (1940–2024)
James Randi
d. 2020
Canadian-American magician and skeptic (1928–2020)
Wim Kok
d. 2018
Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1994 to 2002
Robert E. Kramek
d. 2016
US Coast Guard admiral (1939–2016)
Michael Massee
d. 2016
American actor (1952–2016)
Junko Tabei
d. 2016
Japanese mountain climber (1939–2016)
Arno Gruen
d. 2015
Kazimierz Łaski
d. 2015
Polish-Austrian economist
Michael Meacher
d. 2015
British politician (1939–2015)
Ian Steel
d. 2015
Scottish cyclist
René Burri
d. 2014
Swiss photographer
Oscar de la Renta
d. 2014
Dominican fashion designer (1932–2014)
Christophe de Margerie
d. 2014
French businessman (1951–2014)
Jovanka Broz
d. 2013
First Lady of Yugoslavia
Don James (American football)
d. 2013
American football player and coach (1932–2013)
Lawrence Klein
d. 2013
American economist (1920–2013)
On This Day in History
All 38 ›
2022
Liz Truss steps down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party amid the country's political crisis, serving for the least time of any British Prime Minister (49 days).
Liz Truss
2017
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign.
Syrian civil war
2011
Libyan Crisis: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill them shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war.
Libyan crisis
2005
The general conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passes the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
UNESCO
2003
The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University.
Sloan Great Wall
2002
Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premieres on BBC.
Top Gear (2002 TV series)
1995
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-73.
Space Shuttle Columbia
1991
A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
Moment magnitude scale
1991
A massive firestorm breaks out in the hills of Oakland and Berkeley, California killing 25 people and destroying more than 3,000 homes, apartments and condominiums.
Firestorm
1986
Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashes while landing at Kuibyshev Airport (now Kuromoch International Airport) in Kuibyshev (now present-day Samara, Russia), killing 70 people.
Aeroflot Flight 6502
1982
During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
FC Spartak Moscow
1981
Two police officers and a Brink's armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground in Nanuet, New York.
Brink's
1977
A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
1976
The Luling–Destrehan Ferry MV George Prince is struck by the Norwegian freighter SS Frosta while crossing the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die, and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.
Luling–Destrehan Ferry
1973
Watergate scandal: "Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Solicitor General Robert Bork.
Watergate scandal
1973
The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
Sydney Opera House
1962
China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
China
1961
The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
Soviet Navy
1952
The Governor of Kenya Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising.
Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale
1951
The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.
Johnny Bright incident