February 20
February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the
Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in
leap years.
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Events
\n* 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.\n* 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.\n* 1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.\n* 1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.\n* 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.\n* 1809 - A decision by the United States Supreme Court states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state. \n* 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.\n* 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.\n* 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.\n* 1921 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse film, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.\n* 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the United States Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.\n* 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.\n* 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.\n* 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.\n* 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.\n* 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League. \n* 1952 - The film The African Queen opens at Capitol Theatre in New York City.\n* 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth. \n* 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.\n* 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.\n* 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah a bomb explodes in a computer store. \n* 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years. \n* 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.\n* 2003 - In Rhode Island, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.
Births
\n* 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)\n* 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences (d. 1834)\n* 1839 - Revd Benjamin Waugh, founder of NSPCC (d. 1908)\n* 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist (d. 1906)\n* 1844 - Joshua Slocum, seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)\n* 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, railroad executive (d. 1909)\n* 1887 - Carl Ebert, opera manager and director (d. 1980)\n* 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)\n* 1902 - Ansel Adams, photographer (d. 1984)\n* 1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)\n* 1912 - Pierre Boulle, author (d. 1994)\n* 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, jeans designer and entrepreneur\n* 1925 - Robert Altman, film director\n* 1925 - Heinz Kluncker, labor union leader\n* 1926 - Richard Matheson, author\n* 1926 - Rob Richards, track and field athlete\n* 1927 - Sidney Poitier, actor\n* 1934 - Bobby Unser, automobile racer\n* 1937 - Roger Penske, automobile racer\n* 1937 - Nancy Wilson, singer\n* 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer\n* 1942 - Phil Esposito, ice hockey player\n* 1943 - Mike Leigh, director\n* 1946 - Brenda Blethyn, actress\n* 1946 - Jerome Geils of the J Geils band\n* 1947 - Peter Osgood, English football player\n* 1947 - Peter Strauss, actor\n* 1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician\n* 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor\n* 1954 - Patty Hearst, socialite\n* 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, actor\n* 1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player\n* 1966 - Cindy Crawford, model\n* 1967 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician (d. 1994)\n* 1975 - Brian Littrell, musician ("Backstreet Boys")\n* 1977 - Stephon Marbury, basketball player
Deaths
\n* 1171 - Conan IV, Duke of Brittany\n* 1194 - Tancred, King of Sicily\n* 1431 - Pope Martin V\n* 1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)\n* 1626 - John Dowland, composer and lutenist (b. 1563)\n* 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy (b. 1701)\n* 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)\n* 1871 - Paul Kane, painter (b. 1810)\n* 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate general (b. 1818)\n* 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American, abolitionist writer (b. ca. 1818)\n* 1920 - Robert Peary, explorer (b. 1856)\n* 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)\n* 1968 - Anthony Asquith, director, writer\n* 1969 - Ernest Ansermet, conductor (b. 1883)\n* 1972 - Walter Winchell, journalist, (b. 1897)\n* 1985 - Clarence Nash, Disney voice actor (b. 1904)\n* 1992 - Dick York, actor (b. 1928)\n* 1993 - Ferrucio Lamborghini, automobile manufacturer\n* 1996 - Toru Takemitsu, composer (b. 1930)\n* 1996 - Solomon Asch, psychologist (b. 1907)\n* 1999 - Sarah Kane, playwright (b. 1971)\n* 1999 - Gene Siskel, film critic (b. 1946)\n* 2003 - Maurice Blanchot, author (b. 1907)\n* 2003 - Willi Hoss, politician\n* 2003 - Ulrich Roski, singer and cabaret artist
Holidays and observances
February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 -- listing of all days
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