What Happened on 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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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,... Read more

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.... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

"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... Read more

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... Read more

Jassy–Kishinev Offensive (August 1944) (Battle of Romania)

The Jassy-Kishinev Operation (Russian: Ясско-кишинёвская стратегическая наступательная операция, translation: Jassy-Kishinev Strategic Offensive... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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,... Read more

"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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more

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... Read more