On This Day — 20 October

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

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

1948

A KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashes on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 40.

KLM

1947

Cold War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.

Cold War

1944

World War II: The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade.

Red Army

1944

Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people.

Liquefied natural gas

1944

World War II: American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he comes ashore during the Battle of Leyte.

Douglas MacArthur

1941

World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.

World War II

1935

The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.

Long March

1910

British ocean liner RMS Olympic is launched.

Ocean liner

1904

Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.

Treaty of Peace and Friendship (1904)

1883

Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.

Treaty of Ancón

1827

Greek War of Independence: In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships.

Greek War of Independence

1818

The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.

Treaty of 1818

1803

The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.

Louisiana Purchase

1781

The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Austria.

Patent of Toleration

1774

American Revolution: The Continental Association, a nonconsumption and nonimportation agreement against the British Isles and the British West Indies, is adopted by the First Continental Congress.

American Revolution

1740

France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.

Pragmatic Sanction of 1713

1572

Eighty Years' War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the relief of Goes.

Eighty Years' War

1568

The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo, 3rd Duke of Alba