What are the important events that happened on August 20? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
August 20: Facts & Myths About This Day
August 20 is the 232nd day of the year 2017 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 133 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Sunday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 7, 2017 – a Sunday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,503,187,200 seconds has elapsed since midnight of January 1, 1970 – the Unix epoch.
Strange as it may, if we name this day after a polygon then it will be called ‘dihectatriacontadigon’ day.
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Leo is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Peridot is the modern birthstone for this month. Diamond is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 183 days remaining before the start of the next Chinese New Year.
The ancient Maya civilization believes that the end of the world will happen on December 21, 2012. There are now 1,703 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 20 Historical Events
- 1000 –The foundation of the Hungarian state by Saint Stephen. Today celebrated as a National Day in Hungary.
- 1672 –Former Grand Pensionary Johan de Witt and his brother Cornelis are brutally murdered by an angry mob in The Hague.
- 1882 –Peter Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s 1812 Overture debuts in Moscow.
- 1914 –World War I: German forces occupy Brussels.
- 1926 –Japan’s public broadcasting company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) is established.
- 1938 –Lou Gehrig hits his 23rd career grand slam – a record that still stands.
- 1977 –Voyager Program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.
- 1988 –The Troubles: Eight British Army soldiers are killed and 28 wounded when their bus is hit by a Provisional Irish Republican Army roadside bomb in Northern Ireland (see Ballygawley bus bombing).
- 1989 –The pleasure boat Marchioness sinks on the River Thames following a collision, 51 people are killed.
- 2002 –A group of Iraqis opposed to the regime of Saddam Hussein take over the Iraqi Embassy in Berlin for five hours before releasing their hostages and surrendering.
Who were born on August 20?
- 1845 –St. Albert Chmielowski, Polish Catholic Saint (d. 1916)
- 1860 –Raymond Poincaré, French statesman (d. 1934)
- 1897 –Tarjei Vesaas, Norwegian writer (d. 1970)
- 1908 –Al Lopez, American baseball player and manager (d. 2005)
- 1910 –Eero Saarinen, Finnish architect (d. 1961)
- 1929 –Kevin Heffernan, Gaelic footballer
- 1936 –Hideki Shirakawa, Japanese chemist, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1965 –KRS-One, American rapper
- 1972 –Chaney Kley, American actor (d. 2007)
- 1982 –Joshua Kennedy, Australian footballer
Who died on August 20?
- 1701 –Charles Sedley, English playwright (b. 1639)
- 1919 –Greg MacGregor, England cricketer (b. 1869)
- 1971 –Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951)
- 1979 –Christian Dotremont, Belgian painter and writer (b. 1922)
- 1986 –Milton Acorn, Canadian poet (b. 1923)
- 1997 –Léon Dion, French-Canadian political scientist (b. 1922)
- 2001 –Kim Stanley, American actress (b. 1925)
- 2006 –Joe Rosenthal, American photographer (b. 1911)
- 2007 –Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor (b. 1920)
- 2008 –Gene Upshaw, American football player and union leader (b. 1945)
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