What Happened on October 20th in History
60 historical events on this date
Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of AncĂłn, by which the TarapacĂĄ province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
The Treaty of AncĂłn was a peace treaty signed by Chile and Peru on 20 October 1883, in AncĂłn, near Lima. It was intended to settle the two nations' remaining territorial differences at the...
Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of AncĂłn, by which the TarapacĂĄ province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
The Treaty of AncĂłn was a peace treaty signed by Chile and Peru on 20 October 1883, in AncĂłn, near Lima. It was intended to settle the two nations' remaining territorial differences at the...
Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
The Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1904 between Chile and Bolivia was signed in Santiago de Chile on 20 October 1904, to delineate the boundary through 96 specified points between Cerro Zapaleri...
Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
The Treaty of Peace and Friendship of 1904 between Chile and Bolivia was signed in Santiago de Chile on 20 October 1904, to delineate the boundary through 96 specified points between Cerro Zapaleri...
British ocean liner RMS Olympic is launched.
An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship that was primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes....
British ocean liner RMS Olympic is launched.
An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship that was primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes....
The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
The Long March was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang (KMT) forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934...
The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
The Long March was a military retreat by the Chinese Red Army and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) from advancing Kuomintang (KMT) forces during the Chinese Civil War, occurring between October 1934...
World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.
World War II, or the Second World War, was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all of the world's countries participated. Tanks and aircraft played major...
World War II: The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade.
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was...
Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or...
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 was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I;...
World War II: The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade.
The Workers' and Peasants' Red Army, often referred by its shortened name as the Red Army, was the army and air force of the Russian Soviet Republic and, from 1922, the Soviet Union. The army was...
Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or...
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 was an American general who served as a top commander during World War II and the Korean War, achieving the rank of General of the Army. He served with distinction in World War I;...
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.
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist...
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.
The Cold War was a period of international geopolitical rivalry between the United States (US) and the Soviet Union (USSR) and their respective allies, the capitalist Western Bloc and communist...
A KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashes on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 40.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM, is the flag carrier of the Netherlands. KLM's headquarters are located in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It is a subsidiary...
A KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashes on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 40.
KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, or simply KLM, is the flag carrier of the Netherlands. KLM's headquarters are located in Amstelveen, with its hub at nearby Amsterdam Airport Schiphol. It is a subsidiary...
The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.
The Johnny Bright incident was a violent on-field assault against African-American player Johnny Bright by Wilbanks Smith, a white opposing player during an American college football game held on...
The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.
The Johnny Bright incident was a violent on-field assault against African-American player Johnny Bright by Wilbanks Smith, a white opposing player during an American college football game held on...
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, was Governor of Southern Rhodesia from 1942 to 1944, High Commissioner for Southern Africa from 1944 to 1951, and Governor of Kenya from 1952 to 1959....
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, was Governor of Southern Rhodesia from 1942 to 1944, High Commissioner for Southern Africa from 1944 to 1951, and Governor of Kenya from 1952 to 1959....
The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic...
The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
The Soviet Navy was the naval warfare uniform service branch of the Soviet Armed Forces. Often referred to as the Red Fleet, the Soviet Navy made up a large part of the Soviet Union's strategic...
China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the second-most populous country after India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, across an area of...
China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the second-most populous country after India, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, across an area of...
Watergate scandal: "Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Solicitor General Robert Bork.
The Watergate scandal, or simply Watergate, was a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. On June 17, 1972, operatives associated with Nixon's...
The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most...
Watergate scandal: "Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Solicitor General Robert Bork.
The Watergate scandal, or simply Watergate, was a political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. On June 17, 1972, operatives associated with Nixon's...
The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most...
The LulingâDestrehan 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.
The LulingâDestrehan Ferry was a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting Luling and Destrehan. The ferry was one of three routes then operated by the Louisiana...
The LulingâDestrehan 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.
The LulingâDestrehan Ferry was a ferry across the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana, connecting Luling and Destrehan. The ferry was one of three routes then operated by the Louisiana...
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 is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen...
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 is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida, in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Ronnie Van Zant (vocals), Gary Rossington (guitar), Allen...
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.
The Brink's Company is an American cash handling company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Its operations include cash-in-transit, ATM replenishment & maintenance, and cash management & payment...
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.
The Brink's Company is an American cash handling company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Its operations include cash-in-transit, ATM replenishment & maintenance, and cash management & payment...
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 is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships and 10 Russian championships, it is the country's most successful club. They have also...
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 is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships and 10 Russian championships, it is the country's most successful club. They have also...
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 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight operated by a Tupolev Tu-134A from Sverdlovsk to Grozny via Kuibyshev, which crashed in Kuibyshev on 20 October 1986. 70 of the 94...
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 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight operated by a Tupolev Tu-134A from Sverdlovsk to Grozny via Kuibyshev, which crashed in Kuibyshev on 20 October 1986. 70 of the 94...
A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
The moment magnitude scale is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude based on its seismic moment. MwâŻwas defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Similar to the local...
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.
A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires...
A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
The moment magnitude scale is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude based on its seismic moment. MwâŻwas defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Similar to the local...
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.
A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires...
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-73.
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the...
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-73.
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the...
Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premieres on BBC.
Top Gear is a British motoring-themed magazine television programme. It is a revival of the 1977â2001 show of the same name for the BBC, devised by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman, which premiered...
Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premieres on BBC.
Top Gear is a British motoring-themed magazine television programme. It is a revival of the 1977â2001 show of the same name for the BBC, devised by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman, which premiered...
The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University.
The Sloan Great Wall (SGW) is a cosmic structure formed by a giant wall of galaxies. Its discovery was announced from Princeton University on October 20, 2003, by J. Richard Gott III, Mario JuriÄ,...
The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University.
The Sloan Great Wall (SGW) is a cosmic structure formed by a giant wall of galaxies. Its discovery was announced from Princeton University on October 20, 2003, by J. Richard Gott III, Mario JuriÄ,...
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.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international...
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.
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international...
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.
The Libyan crisis is the current humanitarian crisis and political-military instability occurring in Libya, beginning with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, which led to two civil wars, foreign...
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.
The Libyan crisis is the current humanitarian crisis and political-military instability occurring in Libya, beginning with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, which led to two civil wars, foreign...
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign.
The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale...
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign.
The Syrian civil war was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale...
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).
Mary Elizabeth Truss is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she...
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).
Mary Elizabeth Truss is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she...