What are the important events that happened on May 20? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.
May 20: Facts & Myths About This Day
May 20 is the 141st day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Monday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is May 7, 2024 – a Monday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 1,716,163,200 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 ‘hectatetracontahenagon’ day.
Taurus is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Emerald is the modern birthstone for this month. Sapphire is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.
According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 254 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 4,168 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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May 20 Historical Events
- 1497 –John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship Ship looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
- 1775 –Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence signed in Charlotte, North Carolina
- 1864 –American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church – in the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
- 1882 –The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.
- 1927 –Treaty of Jedda: the United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
- 1941 –World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.
- 1949 –In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
- 1965 –PIA Flight 705, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720 – 040 B, crashes while descending to land at Cairo International Airport, killing 119 of the 125 passengers and crew.
- 1989 –The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
- 1990 –The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
Who were born on May 20?
- 1769 –Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
- 1918 –Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
- 1930 –Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
- 1940 –Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
- 1945 –Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian politician
- 1956 –Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
- 1967 –Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
- 1968 –Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby union and rugby sevens footballer
- 1972 –Tina Hobley, British television actress
- 1983 –N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Indian film actor
Who died on May 20?
- 1444 –Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
- 1503 –Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian banker, politician and patron of the arts (b. 1463)
- 1717 –John Trevor, British statesman (b. 1637)
- 1825 –Papaflessas, Greek priest and government official (b. 1788)
- 1947 –Philipp Lenard, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)
- 1961 –Josef “Pips” Priller, German flying ace (b. 1915)
- 1976 –Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan Christian-Democrat Party politician (b. 1924)
- 2005 –William Seawell, U.S. Army Brigadier General (b. 1918)
- 2009 –Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect (b.1924)
- 2011 –Randy Savage, American Pro-Wrestler (b. 1952)
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