September 20

## Events 
### Up to 1900 
* 331 BC &ndash; Alexander the Great crosses the Tigris on his way to conquering the Persians.
* 1058 &ndash; Agnes de Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to talk about the border zone in present–day Burgenland.
* 1187 &ndash; Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.
* 1260 &ndash; The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.
* 1459 &ndash; First documented mention of Bucharest.
* 1498 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Diego de Montemayor founds the city of Monterrey, Mexico.
* 1697 &ndash; The Treaty of Rijswijk is signed by France, England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, ending the Nine Years' War.
* 1848 &ndash; The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.
* 1854 &ndash; Crimean War: British and French troops defeat the Russians in the Battle of Alma.
* 1859 &ndash; For the electric oven, American George B. Simpson is given a US patent.
* 1860 &ndash; Future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (then the Prince of Wales), visits the United States.
* 1863 &ndash; American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga ends in Confederate victory.
* 1870 &ndash; The Unification of Italy is completed.
* 1881 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The first gasoline–powered car in America debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts.

### 1901 &ndash; 2000 
* 1906 &ndash; The Cunard Line's ship RMS *Mauretania* is launched in Newcastle upon Tyne.
* 1908 &ndash; 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 &ndash; 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 &ndash; The Ocean Liner SS *France* is launched.
* 1911 &ndash; The White Star line's RMS *Olympic* collides with British warship HMS *Hawke*.
* 1914 &ndash; World War I: The cathedral in Reims, France, is severely damaged by German artillery.
* 1920 &ndash; Foundation of the Spanish Legion.
* 1932 &ndash; Mahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike in prison in Pune, India.
* 1942 &ndash; Holocaust: In Letychev, Ukraine, the SS murders 3,000 Jews in two days.
* 1946 &ndash; The first Cannes Film Festival is held. It still takes place every year, in May.
* 1961 &ndash; Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.
* 1962 &ndash; African American James Meredith is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.
* 1967 &ndash; The ship RMS *Queen Elizabeth 2* is launched at Clydebank near Glasgow.
* 1971 &ndash; 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 &ndash; Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match in Houston, Texas.
* 1977 &ndash; The Socialist Republic of Vietnam joins the UN.
* 1978 &ndash; Johannes Rau, future President of Germany, is chosen as Minister–President of North Rhine-Westphalia, a position he will hold for 20 years.
* 1979 &ndash; In the present–day Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, self–declared Emperor Bokassa I, is overthrown.
* 1982 &ndash; NFL players begin a 57–day strike.
* 1984 &ndash; A bomb attack targets the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.
* 1990 &ndash; South Ossetia declares its independence from the Republic of Georgia.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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