✦ DateLore

On This Day · The 293rd day of the year

October 20

A look at October 20 through the almanac — historic events, famous birthdays including Arthur Rimbaud and Snoop Dogg, and the day's notable deaths and observances.

♎ZodiacLibra ◈BirthstoneOpal ❀Birth flowerMarigold
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Events

10 notable moments
  1. 2005

    UNESCO

    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.

    Specialized agency of the
  2. 1986

    Aeroflot Flight 6502

    Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashes while landing at Kuibyshev Airport (now Kuromoch International Airport) in Kuibyshev (now present-day Samara, Russia), killing 70 people.

    1986 Tu-134 crash in
  3. 1982

    FC Spartak Moscow

    During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.

    Association football club in
  4. 1977

    Lynyrd Skynyrd

    A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed.

    American Southern rock band
  5. 1973

    Watergate scandal

    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.

    1970s political scandal in
  6. 1962

    China

    China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.

    Country in East Asia
  7. 1951

    Johnny Bright incident

    The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.

    1951 on-field assault during
  8. 1947

    Cold War

    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.

    1947–1991 geopolitical rivalry between
  9. 1941

    World War II

    World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.

    1939–1945 global conflict
  10. 1740

    Pragmatic Sanction of 1713

    France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.

    Holy Roman edict allowing
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Famous birthday twins

Born on October 20

Arthur Rimbaud

b. 1854

French soldier and poet

Snoop Dogg

b. 1971

American rapper, producer, and actor

Sam Witwer

b. 1977

American actor and musician

AD 888

b. 888

emperor of Later Liang

Bela Lugosi

b. 1882

Hungarian-American actor

Patrick Volkerding

b. 1966

American computer scientist and engineer, founded Slackware

Elfriede Jelinek

b. 1946

Austrian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate

Hilda Solis

b. 1957

American academic and politician, 25th United States Secretary of Labor

Deaths

  • 2011Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan colonel and politician, Prime Minister of Libya
  • 1984Paul Dirac, English-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate
  • 1964Herbert Hoover, American engineer and politician, 31st President of the United States
  • 1953Werner Baumbach, German colonel and pilot
  • 1900Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet and translator
  • 1401Klaus Störtebeker, German pirate

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)

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