September 20



Events

Up to 1900 
 331 BC  Alexander the Great crosses the Tigris on his way to conquering the Persians.
 1058  Agnes de Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to talk about the border zone in present-day Burgenland.
 1187  Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.
 1260  The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.
 1459  First documented mention of Bucharest.
 1498  An earthquake and tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in in Kamagura, Kanagawa, Japan. Since then, the Buddha statue has sat in open-air.
 1519  Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Spain with 270 crew members, of whom only 18 return home in 1522. Magellan is killed in the Philippines in 1521.
 1596  Diego de Montemayor founds the city of Monterrey, Mexico.
 1697  The Treaty of Rijswijk is signed by France, England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, ending the Nine Years' War.
 1848  The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.
 1854  Crimean War: British and French troops defeat the Russians in the Battle of Alma.
 1859  For the electric oven, American George B. Simpson is given a US patent.
 1860  Future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (then the Prince of Wales), visits the United States.
 1863  American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga ends in Confederate victory.
 1870  The Unification of Italy is completed.
 1881  Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States. This is after the death of James Garfield the previous day, as a result of injuries from being shot on July 2 by Charles J. Guiteau.
 1893  The first gasoline-powered car in America debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1901  2000 
 1906  The Cunard Line's ship RMS Mauretania is launched in Newcastle upon Tyne.
 1908  Near Prince of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska, the barque (a type of ship) Star of Bengal collides with a rock and sinks, killing 110 people.
 1909  The British Parliament passes the South Africa Act of 1909, creating the Union of South Africa from the British colonies of Good Hope, Natal, Orange River and Transvaal.
 1910  The Ocean Liner SS France is launched.
 1911  The White Star line's RMS Olympic collides with British warship HMS Hawke.
 1914  World War I: The cathedral in Reims, France, is severely damaged by German artillery.
 1920  Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
 1932  Mahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike in prison in Pune, India.
 1942  Holocaust: In Letychev, Ukraine, the SS murders 3,000 Jews in two days.
 1946  The first Cannes Film Festival is held. It still takes place every year, in May.
 1961  Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
 1962  African American James Meredith is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.
 1967  The ship RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched at Clydebank near Glasgow.
 1971  Hurricane Irene crosses the Caribbean Sea, through Nicaragua, to the Pacific Ocean to become Hurricane Olivia; This is the first time a hurricane is known to have crossed from the Caribbean to the Pacific.
 1973  Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match in Houston, Texas.
 1977  The Socialist Republic of Vietnam joins the UN.
 1978  Johannes Rau, future President of Germany, is chosen as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, a position he will hold for 20 years.
 1979  In the present-day Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, self-declared Emperor Bokassa I, is overthrown.
 1982  NFL players begin a 57-day strike.
 1984  A bomb attack targets the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
 1990  South Ossetia declares its independence from the Republic of Georgia.

From 2001 
 2001  George W. Bush declares War on Terror.
 2002  A Rock-Ice Slide occurs with the partial collapse of the Kolka Glacier in North Ossetia, southern Russia. The resulting avalanche kills 125 people.
 2003  Voters in Latvia approve entry to the EU in a referendum.
 2004  Wikipedia publishes articles in its 100th language.
 2008  A bomb attack at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad kills 54 people.
 2011  Former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani is assassinated.
 2014  Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key wins a third term in office, after his New Zealand National Party wins the parliamentary election.
 2017  Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico, where it kills thousands of people and cuts the whole island's electricity supply.
 2019  Led by school pupils, worldwide protests take place calling for politicians to act on climate change.

Births

Up to 1900 
 524  Kan B'alam I, ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque (d. 583)
 1486  Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII of England (d. 1502)
 1503  Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Polish scholar, humanist and theologian (d. 1572)
 1593  Gottfried Scheidt, German composer and organist (d. 1661)
 1599  Christian the Younger of Brunswick, German Protestant military leader (d. 1626)
 1685  Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, Italian baroque composer and violinist (d. 1751)
 1710  Thomas Simpson, English mathematician (d. 1761)
 1735  James Keir, Scottish chemist, geologist and inventor (d. 1820)
 1746  Maurice Benyovszky, Hungarian explorer and writer (d. 1786)
 1758  Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Emperor of Haiti (d. 1806)
 1778  Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian naval officer and explorer (d. 1852)
 1800  Benjamin Franklin White, American singer and composer (d. 1879)
 1815  Richard Dry, Australian politician, 7th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1869)
 1820  John F. Reynolds, American general (d. 1863)
 1830  Yoshida Shoin, Japanese intellectual, teacher and revolutionary (d. 1859)
 1831  Kate Harrington, American teacher, writer and poet (d. 1917)
 1832  Johann Joseph Abert, German-Bohemian composer and conductor (d. 1915)
 1833  Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist (d. 1918)
 1842  James Dewar, Scottish chemist and physicist (d. 1923)
 1843  Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (d. 1865)
 1851  Henry Arthur Jones, English writer (d. 1929)
 1853  Rama V, King of Siam (d. 1910)
 1860  James Gillett, 22nd Governor of California (d. 1937)
 1861  Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress (d. 1955)
 1872  Maurice Gamelin, French army general (d. 1958)
 1873  Sidney Olcott, Canadian movie director (d. 1949)
 1873  Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian racing driver (d. 1944)
 1875  Matthias Erzberger, German publicist and politician (d. 1921)
 1878  Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968)
 1884  Maxwell Perkins, American editor and publisher (d. 1947)
 1885  Jelly Roll Morton, American jazz pianist (d. 1941)
 1885  Enrico Mizzi, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1950)
 1889  Charles Reidpath, American city planner and athlete (d. 1975)
 1890  Linda Eenpalu, Estonian politician and activist (d. 1962)
 1893  Hans Scharoun, German architect (d. 1972)
 1897  Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, President of Brazil (d. 1967)
 1899  Leo Strauss, German-born philosopher (d. 1973)
 1900  Nikolay Timofeev-Ressowski, Russian geneticist (d. 1981)

1901  1950 
 1908  Ernest Manning, Canadian preacher and politician, Premier of Alberta (d. 1996)
 1911  Pandit Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, Indian philosopher (d. 1991)
 1914  Kenneth More, English actor (d. 1982)
 1916  Malik Meraj Khalid, Pakistani politician (d. 2003)
 1917  Red Auerbach, American basketball coach (d. 2006)
 1917  Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (d. 1994)
 1917  Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1996)
 1920  Alberto de Lacerda, Portuguese poet (d. 2007)
 1920  Jay Ward, American animator, producer and screenwriter (d. 1989)
 1921  Chico Hamilton, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 2013)
 1921  Carlo Parola, Italian footballer (d. 2000)
 1923  Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Indian actor and producer (d. 2014)
 1924  Gogi Grant, American singer (d. 2016)
 1925  Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand (d. 1946)
 1925  James Bernard, English movie composer (d. 2001)
 1925  Bobby Nunn, American singer (d. 1986)
 1926  Libero Liberati, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 1962)
 1927  John Dankworth, English jazz musician (d. 2010)
 1927  Rachel Roberts, Welsh actress (d. 1980)
 1928  William J. Edwards, American politician (d. 2019)
 1928  Donald Hall, American poet (d. 2018)
 1929  Anne Meara, American comic and actress (d. 2015)
 1929  Hans von Borsody, Austrian-German actor (d. 2013)
 1929  Joe Temperley, Scottish jazz saxophonist (d. 2016)
 1934  Sophia Loren, Italian actress
 1935  Walter Eschweiler, German football referee
 1936  Andrew Davies, Welsh writer
 1937  Birgitta Dahl, Swedish politician
 1937  Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (d. 2005)
 1940  Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan
 1942  Gerald Tremblay, 41st Mayor of Montreal
 1942  Rose Francine Rogombé, Interim President of Gabon (d. 2015)
 1943  Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria (d. 1998)
 1946  Dorothy Hukill, American politician (d. 2018)
 1947  Wojciech Kurtyka, Polish mountaineer
 1947  Mia Martini, Italian singer and actress (d. 1995)
 1948  George R. R. Martin, American writer, screenwriter and producer
 1948  Chuck Panozzo, American musician
 1948  John Panozzo, American musician (d. 1996)
 1949  Anthony Denison, American actor
 1949  Mahesh Bhatt, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
 1949  Victoria Mallory, American singer and actress (d. 2014)

1951  1975 
 1952  Manuel Zelaya, former President of Honduras
 1954  Anne McIntosh, Scottish politician
 1956  Gary Cole, American actor
 1956  Steve Coleman, American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer
 1959  Joseph Alessi, American trombonist
 1960  Dave Hemingway, English singer-songwriter
 1961  Caroline Flint, English politician
 1962  Jim Al-Khalili, English physicist, writer and broadcaster
 1966  Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer
 1966  Douglas Gordon, Scottish artist
 1967  Kristen Johnston, American actress
 1967  Gunnar Nelson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
 1967  Matthew Nelson, American singer-songwriter and bass player
 1969  Richard Witschge, Dutch footballer
 1971  Tinna Björk Baldvinsdóttir, Icelandic footballer and psychologist
 1971  Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
 1972  Victor Ponta, former Prime Minister of Romania
 1973  Jo Pavey, English runner
 1975  Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombian race car driver
 1975  Asia Argento, Italian actress

From 1976 
 1976  Jon Bernthal, American actor
 1977  Namie Amuro, Japanese pop singer
 1979  Dan Gillespie Sells, British musician (The Feeling)
 1980  Judith Schalansky, German writer, book designer and publisher
 1980  Robert Koren, Slovenian footballer
 1980  Igor Vori, Croatian handball player
 1981  Feliciano López, Spanish tennis player
 1981  Ryan Tandy, Australian rugby league player (d. 2014)
 1982  Aaron Burkart, German rally driver
 1982  Brian Fortuna, American dancer and choreographer
 1983  Freya Murray, Scottish athlete
 1984  Brian Joubert, French figure skater
 1987  Gain, South Korean singer, actress and entertainer
 1987  Deon McCaulay, Belizean footballer
 1987  Reza Ghoochannejhad, Iranian footballer
 1988  Sergei Bobrovsky, Russian ice hockey player
 1990  John Tavares, Canadian ice hockey player
 1990  Phillip Phillips, American Idol winner
 1990  Waylon Francis, Costa Rican footballer
 1991  Spencer Locke, American actress
 1992  Safura Alizadeh, Azerbaijani singer
 1992  Peter Prevc, Slovenian ski jumper
 1993  Julian Draxler, German footballer
 1995  Laura Dekker, Dutch-New Zealand sailor
 1995  Sammi Hanratty, American actress
 1996  Marlos Moreno, Colombian footballer

Deaths

Up to 1950 
 911  Louis the Child, King of the East Franks (b. 893)
 1328  Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian theologian and scholar (b. 1263)
 1384  King Louis of Naples (b. 1339)
 1460  Gilles Binchois, Flemish composer (b. 1400)
 1590  Lodovico Agostini, Italian composer (b. 1534)
 1629  Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Dutch colonial governor (b. 1587)
 1630  Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (b. 1586)
 1684  Kim Seok-ju, Korean scholar, politician and author (b. 1634)
 1793  Fletcher Christian, English mutineer (b. 1764)
 1839  Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, British admiral (b. 1769)
 1840  Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, Paraguayan politician (b. 1766)
 1845  Matvei Gedenschtorm, Russian explorer (b. 1780)
 1852  Philander Chase, American bishop and educator (b. 1775)
 1863  Jacob Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1785)
 1898  Theodor Fontane, German writer (b. 1819)
 1908  Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (b. 1844)
 1919  Ramón Barros Luco, President of Chile (b. 1835)
 1927  George Nichols, American actor (b. 1864)
 1930  Gombojab Tsybikov, Russian anthropologist and explorer (b. 1873)
 1932  John Ellis, English executioner (b. 1874)
 1933  Annie Besant, British writer, philosopher and journalist (b. 1847)
 1945  Augusto Tasso Fragoso, President of Brazil (b. 1869)
 1945  William Seabrook, American occultist, journalist and explorer (b. 1884)
 1946  Raimu, French actor (b. 1883)
 1947  Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City (b. 1882)
 1948  Husain Salaahudin, Maldivian scholar, poet and writer (b. 1881)

1951  2010 
 1957  Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (b. 1865)
 1970  Alexandros Othonaios, Greek general and Prime Minister (b. 1879)
 1971  Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet (b. 1900)
 1973  Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)
 1975  Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer (b. 1887)
 1979  Ludvik Svoboda, Czechoslovakian politician (b. 1895)
 1993  Erich Hartmann, German pilot and fighter ace (b. 1922)
 1994  Abioseh Nicol, Sierra Leonean diplomat and author (b. 1921)
 1996  Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1913)
 1996  Reuben Kamenga, 1st Vice president of Zambia (b. 1929)
 1998  Muriel Humphrey Brown, United States Senator and wife of Hubert Humphrey (b. 1912)
 1999  Raisa Gorbachova, wife of Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1932)
 2002  Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Russian actor (b. 1971)
 2003  Gordon Mitchell, American actor (b. 1923)
 2003  Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwean politician (b. 1922)
 2004  Brian Clough, English football manager (b. 1935)
 2005  Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (b. 1908)
 2006  Sven Nykvist, Swedish cameraman and director (b. 1922)
 2010  Fud Leclerc, Belgian singer (b. 1924)

From 2011 
 2011  Burhanuddin Rabbani, President of Afghanistan (b. 1940)
 2012  Fortunato Baldelli, Italian cardinal (b. 1935)
 2014  Anatoly Berezovoy, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut (b. 1942)
 2014  Polly Bergen, American actress (b. 1930)
 2014  Rob Bironas, American football player (b. 1978)
 2014  Vince Callahan, American politician (b. 1931)
 2014  Pino Cerami, Italian-Belgian cyclist (b. 1922)
 2014  Takako Doi, Japanese politician (b. 1928)
 2014  George Sluizer, Dutch film director (b. 1932)
 2015  Jack Larson, American actor, screenwriter and producer (b. 1928)
 2015  C. K. Williams, American poet (b. 1936)
 2015  Siegfried Gottwald, German mathematician (b. 1943)
 2016  Richie Dunn, American ice hockey player (b. 1957)
 2016  Peter Leo Gerety, American bishop (b. 1912)
 2016  Curtis Hanson, American movie director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
 2017  Ene Mihkelson, Estonian novelist (b. 1944)
 2017  Lillian Ross, American journalist and author (b. 1918)
 2017  Teddy Taylor, British politician (b. 1937)
 2017  Arne Solli, Norwegian military officer (b. 1938)
 2018  Fadhil Jalil al-Barwari, Iraqi military officer (b. 1966)
 2018  John Cunliffe, English children's writer (b. 1933)
 2018  Inge Feltrinelli, German-Italian publisher and photographer (b. 1930)
 2018  George N. Hatsopoulos, Greek-born American chemical engineer (b. 1927)
 2018  Laurie Mitchell, American actress (b. 1928)
 2018  K-Run's Park Me In First, American-bred show dog (b. 2005)
 2018  Mohamed Sahnoun, Algerian politician and diplomat (b. 1931)
 2018  Reinhard Tritscher, German skier (b. 1946)
 2018  Henry Wessel Jr., American photographer (b. 1942)
 2019  Robert Boyd, American journalist (b. 1928)
 2019  Howard Cassady, American football player (b. 1934)
 2019  Séamus Hegarty, Irish Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1940)
 2019  Jan Merlin, American actor (b. 1925)
 2019  Gregorio Martínez Sacristán, Spanish Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1946)
 2019  Yonrico Scott, American drummer (b. 1955)
 2019  Su Beng, Taiwanese dissident (b. 1918)

Observances 
 National Youth Day (Thailand)
 Constitution Day (Nepal)

Days of the year