What Happened On August 20

What Happened On Aug 20 Events

1648 Aug 20 Battle of Lens
The Battle of Lens (20 August 1648) was a French victory under Louis II de Bourbon, Prince de Condé against the Spanish army under Archduke Leopold in the Thirty Years' War (1618-1648). I...
1823 Aug 20 Pope Pius VII dies
Discontent centered perhaps in the Carbonari, a Liberal secret society condemned by the pope in 1821. The chief triumphs of Consalvi were the negotiation of a series of valuable concordat...
1847 Aug 20 Battle Of Churubusco
The Battles of Churubusco took place on August 20, 1847, in the immediate aftermath of the Battle of Contreras (Padierna) during the Mexican-American War. The defeat of the Mexican army a...
1858 Aug 20 Charles Darwin Publishes 'On the Tendency of Species to form Varieties'
This famous paper originally appeared in the Journal of the Linnean Society of London, Zoology, but has been printed in books, in part or in whole, several times since. The events and cor...
1862 Aug 20
to 1862 Aug 22
 Battle of Fort Ridgely - Failed Sioux Attack on the Union
Fort Ridgely was built in 1851. It wasn't much of a fort though, but it was the only military post between the Sioux Reservations and the settlers. On August 18, 1862, the Lower Sioux Age...
1864 Aug 20 Battle of Lovejoy's Station
The Battle of Lovejoy's Station was fought on August 20, 1864, near what is now Lovejoy, Georgia, in Clayton County, during the Atlanta Campaign of the American Civil War. The two sides h...
1866 Aug 20 National Labor Union Advocates For An Eight-Hour Work Day
On August 20, 1866, the newly organized National Labor Union called on Congress to mandate an eight-hour workday. A coalition of skilled and unskilled workers, farmers, and reformers, the...
1890 Aug 20 H. P. Lovecraft is Born
Howard Phillips Lovecraft—known as H. P. Lovecraft—was an American author of horror, fantasy and science fiction, especially the subgenre known as weird fiction. Lovecraft's guiding ae...
1910 Aug 20
to 1910 Aug 21
 Great Fire of 1910
Official reports after the Big Blowup estimated that 1,736 total fires burned more than 3 million acres of private and federal land and consumed an estimated 7.5 billion board feet of tim...
1914 Aug 20 Battle of Gumbinnen
The Battle of Gumbinnen, initiated by forces of the German Empire on August 20, 1914, was the first major German offensive on the Eastern Front during the First World War. Due to the hast...
1914 Aug 20 Germany Occupies Brussels
Leaving a garrison of 3000 behind to guard Louvain, the German army swept forward toward Brussels. The Belgians had thought to defend their capital, but now, fearing its destruction by bo...
1914 Aug 20 Pope Pius X dies
In 1913 Pius X suffered a heart attack, and subsequently lived in the shadow of poor health. In 1914, the Pope fell ill on the Feast of the Assumption of Mary (15 August), an illness from...
1920 Aug 20 First Commercial Radio Station Begins Operations in Detroit
The Scripps family founded 8MK, which claims that on Aug. 20, 1920, it 'became the first radio station in the world to broadcast regularly scheduled programs.' According to this claim the...
1936 Aug 20 "Romeo And Juliet" Is Released
Romeo and Juliet is a 1936 film adaptation of the play by Shakespeare, directed by George Cukor from a screenplay by Talbot Jennings. The film stars Leslie Howard as Romeo and Norma Shear...
1937 Aug 20 Sky Saxon is born
Sky "Sunlight" Saxon (August 20, 1937 – June 25, 2009) was an American rock and roll musician who was best known as the leader and singer of the 1960s Los Angeles garage rock band The Seeds.
1944 Aug 20
to 1944 Aug 29
 Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944) (Battle of Romania)
The Jassy-Kishinev Operation (Russian: Ясско-кишинёвская стратегическая наступательная операция, translation: Jassy-Kishinev Strategic Offensive Operation), named after the two major citi...
1975 Aug 20
9:22PM
 NASA Launches Mars Probe Viking 1
Viking 1 was the first of two spacecraft sent to Mars as part of NASA's Viking program. It was the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars and perform its mission, and held the reco...
1976 Aug 20 Allagash Alien Abductions
The Allagash incident would involve multiple witnesses, four to be exact, twin brothers Jack and Jim Weiner, along with their friends Chuck Rak and Charlie Foltz. The four men had met whi...
1977 Aug 20
2:29PM
 NASA Launches Voyager 2
The Voyager 2 spacecraft is an unmanned interplanetary space probe launched on August 20, 1977. Both the Voyager 2 and the Voyager 1 space probes were designed, developed, and built at th...
1978 Aug 20 Cinema Rex Fire
On August 20, 1978, in the Cinema Rex fire, the Cinema Rex in Abadan, Iran, was set ablaze, killing over 400 individuals. The ruling shah, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi, said that Islamic mili...
1981 Aug 20 "Lola" Is Released
Lola is a 1981 West German film directed by Rainer Werner Fassbinder. It is the third in his BRD Trilogy: the previous films are The Marriage of Maria Braun (BRD 1) and Veronika Voss (BRD...
1982 Aug 20 Stephen King publishes Creepshow
Creepshow is an American horror-comedy anthology film directed by George A. Romero (of Night of the Living Dead and Dawn of the Dead fame), and written by Stephen King (Carrie, The Shinin...
1986 Aug 20 United States Postal Worker Patrick Henry Sherrill Kills 14 Coworkers in Edmond, Oklahoma
From the mid 1980s to the mid 1990s, there was a rash of workplace homicides at various U.S. Post Offices, which resulted in coining the term going postal. One of the cases was the Edmond...
1988 Aug 20 Iran and Iraq Declare Cease-Fire
US threatened to impose sanctions against Iran if it did not accept the ceasefire the next day. American vessels an also attacked Iranian vessel laying mines in the Persian Gulf and sank ...
1988 Aug 20 Monsters of Rock 1988
1988 was the biggest ever Donington,107,000 turned up. Given dry conditions that would not have been a problem, however, the festival was marred by bad weather in the week previous to the...
1989 Aug 20 Formation of al-Qaeda
With the Afghan jihad winding down, Osama bin Laden gathered his most loyal followers together to discuss their future. They were determined to keep jihad alive, following the inevitable ...
1989 Aug 20 Marchioness Disaster
At least 30 people died when a pleasure cruiser, packed with young party-goers, and a barge collided on the River Thames. The captain and second mate of the barge, the dredger Bowbelle...
1990 Aug 20 Living Colour release Time's Up
Time's Up is the second album by Living Colour, released on August 20, 1990. It was the follow-up to the successful Vivid. The album features a wide range of genres and also includes came...
1990 Aug 20 Queensrÿche release Empire
Grammy Nominated Empire is the fourth full-length album by Queensrÿche, released on August 20, 1990. The power ballad "Silent Lucidity" was a cross-over hit, reaching #1 on the Mainstream...
1992 Aug 20 Demi Lovato Is Born
Demetria Devonne "Demi" Lovato (born August 20, 1992) is an American actress and singer-songwriter. She is best known for her role as Mitchie Torres in the Disney Channel Original Movie C...
1994 Aug 20 MST3K Ep. 605 - "Colossus and the Headhunters"
A Greek hero's men battle a tribe of savages who have abducted a king.
1995 Aug 20 Firozabad Rail Disaster
A collision between two trains in northern India kills 358 people on this day in 1995. It was the worst train accident in the country’s history, eclipsing a deadly 1981 accident. Both of ...
1995 Aug 20 Wild Woody for the Sega CD is Released
Wild Woody is a game for the Sega CD that was released just before the death of the system by Sega of America in 1995. The Entertainment Software Ratings Board gave the title a "Kids To A...
1997 Aug 20 South Park Episode 102 - "Weight Gain 4000"
Weight Gain 4000 is the second episode of the first season of the animated television series South Park. It originally aired on Comedy Central in the United States on August 20, 1997. In ...
1998 Aug 20 Operation Infinite Reach
The United State launched cruise missile strikes in Afghanistan and Sudan in response to the US Embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania. The attacks in Afghanistan were directed at known ...
2004 Aug 20 Boston Red Sox defeat Chicago White Sox, 10-1
2005 Aug 20 Los Angeles Angels defeat Boston Red Sox, 4-2
ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Forget about the price of gas, Jennifer Aniston's heartache, Tony Blair's secret vacation site, Big Dig tunnel leaks, steroids in professional sports, the Yankees being...
2005 Aug 20 UFC 54: Boiling Point
UFC 54: Boiling Point was a mixed martial arts event held by the Ultimate Fighting Championship on August 20, 2005, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada. The event was broadcast li...
2006 Aug 20 DJ AM Appears in Entourage Episode "What About Bob?"
[Goldstein's] reality television appearances include Punk'd, where his former fiancée, Nicole Richie, was the subject of a practical joke, and the third season of The Simple Life. Goldste...
2006 Aug 20 Entourage Season 3 Episode 11
Eric, Ari, and Bob pitch the Ramones film project to the studios. which causes a power struggle between Ari and Bob. Turtle wants a pair of limited-edition shoes which Vince tries to buy ...
2006 Aug 20 New York Yankees defeat Boston Red Sox, 8-5
How could it get worse? Here's how it could get worse. The Red Sox can't hold a 5-3 lead entering the eighth. Derek Jeter fists a two-out game-tying single to right in the ninth. The R...
2007 Aug 20 Boston Red Sox defeat Tampa Bay Rays, 6-0
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- Don Slaught, who was with Tim Wakefield when the knuckleballer was a Pirates rookie, caught him in the 1992 National League playoffs. "Catching him today," Slau...
2008 Aug 20 Baltimore Orioles defeat Boston Red Sox, 11-6
BALTIMORE - Even he knew, as he walked off the mound, as he walked out of the major leagues (for now), what his fate would be. There was little else to do, little leeway, on a team for wh...
2008 Aug 20 DragonForce releases Ultra Beatdown
Ultra Beatdown is the fourth studio album by English power metal band DragonForce, released on 20 August 2008 in Japan through JVC and on 26 August 2008 worldwide through Roadrunner Recor...
2008 Aug 20 Slipknot releases All Hope Is Gone
All Hope Is Gone is the fourth studio album by American alternative metal band Slipknot. Released on August 20, 2008 by Roadrunner Records, the album was published in two versions: the st...
2008 Aug 20 Spanair Flight 5022 Crash
Spanair Flight JK 5022, from Barajas Airport in Madrid to Gran Canaria Airport in Gran Canaria, Spain, crashed just after take off from runway 36L of Barajas Airport at 14:25 CEST (12:25 ...
2009 Aug 20 Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrahi, the Convicted "Lockerbie Bomber", Granted Release by Scottish Officials
On 20 August 2009, despite protests from political figures on both sides of the Atlantic, the Scottish Government Justice Secretary Kenny MacAskill granted Abdelbaset Ali Mohmed Al Megrah...
2009 Aug 20 Atlanta Braves defeat New York Mets, 3-2
Claimed on waivers earlier this month and pulled back by the Mets, Gary Sheffield is unhappy that he "essentially is being held hostage" from moving on to a contender for the remainder of...
2009 Aug 20 Baltimore Orioles defeat Tampa Bay Rays, 8-7
ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. -- On a night when the Orioles' young phenom pitcher was at his most effective, their veteran second baseman hit a grand slam and their sleep-deprived closer had to h...
2009 Aug 20 Boston Red Sox defeat Toronto Blue Jays, 8-1
TORONTO - While desperation might not have crept into their minds as they limped out of Texas Sunday, the games have become more urgent for the Red Sox. Each at-bat, each pitch has gained...