Date·Lore

On This Day · The 232nd day of the year

August 20

August 20 carries 10 recorded events spanning between 1707 and 2008. The first Siege of Pensacola comes to an end with the failure of the British to capture Pensacola, Florida.

♌ZodiacLeo ◈BirthstonePeridot ❀Birth flowerGladiolus

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed July 13, 2026

What happened on August 20?

August 20 is the 232nd day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1707 and 2008. Famous people born on August 20 include Rajiv Gandhi, Ron Paul and Andrew Garfield.

The shape of the day

From 1707 to 2008, August 20 gathers 301 years of history. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

Leo is the sign for August 20 — read more on the Leo page, or see August's birthstone & birth flower.

Released on August 20

Movies, games, albums & shows

2025

  • Game The Rogue Prince of Persia

2024

  • Game Black Myth: Wukong

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1707

    Siege of Pensacola (1707)

    The first Siege of Pensacola comes to an end with the failure of the British to capture Pensacola, Florida.

  2. 1710

    War of the Spanish Succession

    War of the Spanish Succession: A multinational army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg defeats the Spanish-Bourbon army commanded by Alexandre Maître, Marquis de Bay in the Battle of Saragossa.

  3. 1914

    World War I

    World War I: Brussels is captured during the German invasion of Belgium.

  4. 1920

    National Football League

    The National Football League is organized as the American Professional Football Conference in Canton, Ohio

  5. 1940

    World War II

    World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes the fourth of his famous wartime speeches, containing the line "Never was so much owed by so many to so few".

  6. 1948

    New York City

    Soviet Consul General in New York, Jacob M. Lomakin is expelled by the United States, due to the Kasenkina Case.

  7. 1949

    Hungary

    Hungary adopts the Hungarian Constitution of 1949 and becomes a People's Republic.

  8. 1988

    The Troubles

    The Troubles: Eight British soldiers are killed and 28 wounded when their bus is hit by an IRA roadside bomb in Ballygawley, County Tyrone.

  9. 1991

    Estonia

    Estonia, occupied by and incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, issues a decision on the re-establishment of independence on the basis of legal continuity of its pre-occupation statehood.

  10. 2008

    Spanair Flight 5022

    Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid, Spain to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport. Of the 172 people on board, 146 die immediately, and eight more later die of injuries sustained in the crash.

Famous birthday twins

Born on August 20

Rajiv Gandhi

b. 1944

Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of India

Ron Paul

b. 1935

American captain, physician, and politician

Andrew Garfield

b. 1983

American-English actor

Bernardo O'Higgins

b. 1778

Chilean general and politician, 2nd Supreme Director of Chile

Benjamin Harrison

b. 1833

American general, lawyer, and politician, 23rd President of the United States

Bernard Mendy

b. 1981

French footballer

Demi Lovato

b. 1992

American singer-songwriter and actress

Fred Durst

b. 1970

American singer-songwriter

Deaths

  • 2008Hua Guofeng
  • 1995Hugo Pratt
  • 1982Ulla Jacobsson
  • 1914Pope Pius X
  • 1528Georg von Frundsberg

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast day: Amadour
  • —Christian feast day: Bernard of Clairvaux
  • —Christian feast day: Blessed Georg Häfner
  • —Christian feast day: Heliodorus of Bet Zabdai
  • —Christian feast day: Maria De Mattias
  • —Christian feast day: Oswine of Deira
  • —Christian feast day: Philibert of Jumièges
  • —Christian feast day: Samuel (prophet)

Historical facts, event summaries, and biographical lines above are adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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