What are the important events that happened on February 20? Here are historical events, facts, and some myths about this day.

February 20: Facts & Myths About This Day

February 20 is the 51^st day of the year 2025 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 314 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Thursday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is February 7, 2025 – a Thursday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 1,740,009,600 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 ‘pentacontahenagon’ day.

Pisces is the zodiac sign of a person born on this day. Amethyst is the modern birthstone for this month. Bloodstone is the mystical birthstone from Tibetan origin that dates back over a thousand years.

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 362 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 4,444 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

February 20 Historical Events

• 1685 –
  René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France’s claim to Texas.
• 1873 –
  The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
• 1877 –
  Tchaikovsky’s ballet Swan Lake receives its première performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
• 1935 –
  Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
• 1943 –
  The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell’s Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt’s 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
• 1944 –
  World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1965 –
  Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1985 –
  New Year’s Day in Chinese calendar. Start of the year of the Wood Ox in Chinese astrology.
• 1998 –
  American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
• 2003 –
  During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the club ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.

Who were born on February 20?

• 1757 –
  John ‘Mad Jack’Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
• 1819 –
  Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
• 1939 –
  Frank Arundel, English footballer (d.1994)
• 1948 –
  Jennifer O'Neill, Brazilian-born actress
• 1951 –
  Phil Neal, English footballer
• 1971 –
  Shawn McKenzie, American programmer
• 1977 –
  Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
• 1978 –
  Lauren Ambrose, American actress
• 1981 –
  Chris Thile, American musician
• 1981 –
  Tony Hibbert, English footballer

Who died on February 20?

• 1431 –
  Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
• 1579 –
  Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
• 1771 –
  Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (b. 1678)
• 1871 –
  Paul Kane, Irish-born painter (b. 1810)
• 1916 –
  Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1844)
• 1992 –
  Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician (b. 1944)
• 2003 –
  Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani Chief of the Air Staff (b. 1947)
• 2003 –
  Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White) (b. 1971)
• 2005 –
  Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
• 2006 –
  Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)