Date·Lore

On This Day · The 293rd day of the year

October 20

This year marks the 75th anniversary of Johnny Bright incident — October 20 carries the weight of round numbers. Its center of gravity is the 20th century, and conflict is a recurring thread.

♎ZodiacLibra ◈BirthstoneOpal ❀Birth flowerMarigold

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

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on October 20?

October 20 is the 293rd day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1740 and 2005. Famous people born on October 20 include Arthur Rimbaud, Snoop Dogg and Sam Witwer.

Released on October 20

Movies, games, albums & shows

2023

  • Game Marvel's Spider-Man 2

2022

  • Game Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope
  • Game New Tales from the Borderlands
  • Game Batora: Lost Haven

2021

  • Game They Always Run

Release data from TMDB & IGDB.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1740

    Pragmatic Sanction of 1713

  2. 1941

    World War II

  3. 1947

    Cold War

  4. 1951

    Johnny Bright incident

  5. 1962

    China

  6. 1973

    Watergate scandal

  7. 1977

    Lynyrd Skynyrd

  8. 1982

    FC Spartak Moscow

  9. 1986

    Aeroflot Flight 6502

  10. 2005

    UNESCO

Famous birthday twins

Born on October 20

Arthur Rimbaud

b. 1854

Snoop Dogg

b. 1971

Sam Witwer

b. 1977

Bela Lugosi

b. 1882

Patrick Volkerding

b. 1966

Elfriede Jelinek

b. 1946

Hilda Solis

b. 1957

Deaths

  • 2011Muammar Gaddafi
  • 1984Paul Dirac
  • 1964Herbert Hoover
  • 1953Werner Baumbach
  • 1900Naim Frashëri
  • 1401Klaus Störtebeker

Holidays & observances

  • —Christian feast days: Acca of Hexham
  • —Christian feast days: Aderald
  • —Christian feast days: Artemius
  • —Christian feast days: Caprasius of Agen
  • —Christian feast days: Hedwig (in Canada, moved from Oct. 16)
  • —Christian feast days: Irene of Tomar
  • —Christian feast days: Magdalene of Nagasaki
  • —Christian feast days: Margaret Marie Alacoque (in Canada, moved from Oct. 16)

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn 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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