What Happened on May 20

Syria Earthquake of 1202

The 1202 Syria earthquake struck at about dawn on 20 May 1202 (598 AH) with an epicenter in southwestern Syria. Up to 1,100,000 deaths have been... Read more

Salomo Glassius Is Born

Salomo Glassius (May 20, 1593 – July 27, 1656) was a German theologian and biblical critic born at Sondershausen, in the principality of... Read more

Battle of Les Avins

The Battle of Les Avins or Battle of Avein was fought on May 20, 1635 during the Thirty Years' War between a French and a Spanish army. The... Read more

Toussaint L'ouverture Is Born

François-Dominique Toussaint L'ouverture Fr-François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture.ogg pronunciation (help·info), also Toussaint Bréda,... Read more

Administration of Justice Act

Parliament’s offensive against Massachusetts, the perpetrator of the Boston Tea Party, included an effort to afford legal protections to officials... Read more

Massachusetts Government Act

The Massachusetts Government Act (citation 14 Geo. III c. 45) was passed by the Parliament of Great Britain and became a law on May 20, 1774. The... Read more

Battle of Barren Hill

On May 20, the British launched their attack. The militia scattered at the sight of the British troops, not offering any resistance and failing to... Read more

Slavery Is Restored In Guadeloupe

Political conflicts in Guadeloupe and in Saint-Domingue grew with the restoration of slavery on May 20, 1802, and the defection of leading French... Read more

Abraham Lincoln Signs the Homestead Act

President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act on May 20, 1862. The act provided settlers with 160 acres of surveyed public land after payment... Read more

Amelia Earhart Becomes First Woman to Fly Solo across the Atlantic

On May 20-21, 1932, Earhart accomplished her goal of flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She took off from Newfoundland, Canada, at 7:12 p.m. on... Read more

Germany Launches Airborne Attack on the Island of Crete

The Battle of Crete (German: Luftlandeschlacht um Kreta; Greek: Μάχη της Κρήτης) was a battle during World War II on the Greek island of Crete. The... Read more

Ronald Reagan Plays Lieutenant Commander Masterson in "The Ford Television Theatre" - Season 2, Episode 34: Beneath These Waters

Ford Theatre (spelled Ford Theater for the radio version) is a radio and television anthology series broadcast in the United States in the 1940s... Read more

Falcon Lake Incident

One of the best documented cases of physical trace evidence is known as the "Falcon Lake Encounter." Occurring on May 19, 1967, the lone... Read more

1979 NBA Finals

The 1979 NBA World Championship Series at the conclusion of the 1978-79 season were won by the Seattle SuperSonics defeating the Washington Bullets... Read more

Kiss releases Unmasked

Unmasked is an album by the American band Kiss released in 1980. It is the group's 8th studio album. At the time it was the last studio album from... Read more

Gallo and Montagnier Identify the Cause of AIDS

In 1983, two separate research groups led by Robert Gallo and Luc Montagnier independently declared that a novel retrovirus may have been infecting... Read more

Savatage release Power of the Night

Power of the Night is the third album by the heavy metal band Savatage and was released in 1985. This record was produced by the hot producer of... Read more

Beverly Hills Cop II released

Beverly Hills Cop II is a 1987 action-comedy film starring Eddie Murphy and directed by Tony Scott. It is the first sequel in the Beverly Hills Cop... Read more

"The Pilot, Part 1" - Season 4 Episode 23 of Seinfeld Premiers

"The Pilot" is the two-part season finale episode from fourth season of Seinfeld. It is the sixty-third and sixty-fourth episode and aired on May... Read more

"The Pilot, Part 2" - Season 4 Episode 24 of Seinfeld First Airs

"The Pilot" is the two-part season finale episode from fourth season of Seinfeld. It is the sixty-third and sixty-fourth episode and aired on May... Read more

Jay-Z releases "Who You Wit" single

"Who You Wit" is a 1997 single by rapper Jay-Z that is produced by Ski. It was released in promotion of the 1997 comedy film Sprung and appears on... Read more

South Park Episode 203 - "Chickenlover"

The Booktastic bus is in town and soon everyone finds out that Officer Barbrady can't read. He is whisked off to school with the boys so he can... Read more

Destiny's Child releases "Bootylicious" single

"Bootylicious" is a song by American R&B group Destiny's Child. It was written and produced by Rob Fusari, Faltone Moore, and band member Beyoncé... Read more

Deftones release their self-titled fourth album

Deftones is the fourth studio album by the American alternative metal band Deftones. It was released on May 20, 2003 through Maverick Records.... Read more

America's Next Top Model Cycle 1 Episode 1

Twenty semi-finalists arrived to casting and were told that only ten would move on to the finals. After the auditions however, Tyra revealed that... Read more