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 Rogombe, 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 Bjork Baldvinsdottir, 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 Lopez, 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 Ramon 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 Erdos, 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 Seamus Hegarty, Irish Roman Catholic prelate (b. 1940)
2019 Jan Merlin, American actor (b. 1925)
2019 Gregorio Martinez Sacristan, 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