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 233rd day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 133 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Tuesday.
Under the Julian calendar, this day is August 7, 2024 – a Tuesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?
When this day started, 28,735,200 minutes 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 ‘dihectatriacontatrigon’ day.
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 162 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 4,260 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.
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August 20 Historical Events
- 636 –Battle of Yarmouk: Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid take control of Syria and Palestine away from the Byzantine Empire, marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests and the rapid advance of Islam outside Arabia.
- 1000 –The foundation of the Hungarian state by Saint Stephen. Today celebrated as a National Day in Hungary.
- 1920 –The National Football League, (NFL), is founded in the United States.
- 1926 –Japan’s public broadcasting company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK) is established.
- 1986 –In Edmond, Oklahoma, U.S. Postal employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers and then commits suicide.
- 1989 –The pleasure boat Marchioness sinks on the River Thames following a collision, 51 people are killed.
- 1997 –Souhane massacre in Algeria; over 60 people are killed and 15 kidnapped.
- 1998 –U.S. embassy bombings: the United States launches cruise missile attacks against alleged al-Qaida camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania.
- 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.
- 2008 –Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport. 146 people are killed in the crash, and 8 more die later. Only 18 people survive.
Who were born on August 20?
- 1885 –Dino Campana, Italian poet (d. 1932)
- 1905 –Jack Teagarden, American musician (d. 1964)
- 1916 –Paul Felix Schmidt, Estonian–German chess player (d. 1984)
- 1921 –Jack Wilson, Australian cricketer (d. 1985)
- 1923 –Jim Reeves, US country music singer (d. 1964)
- 1941 –Robin Oakley, British journalist
- 1942 –Isaac Hayes, American singer, songwriter, and actor (d. 2008)
- 1951 –Greg Bear, American author
- 1958 –John Stehr, American journalist
- 1966 –David Rees Snell, American actor (The Shield)
Who died on August 20?
- 535 –Mochta of Louth, disciple of St. Patrick
- 1672 –Johan de Witt, Dutch politician (b. 1625)
- 1773 –Enrique Florez, Spanish historian (b. 1701)
- 1930 –Charles Bannerman, Australian cricketer (b. 1851)
- 1961 –Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1882)
- 1965 –Jonathan Myrick Daniels, American activist (b. 1939)
- 1971 –Rashid Minhas, Pakistani Air Force pilot (b. 1951)
- 2005 –Krzysztof Raczkowski, Polish drummer (b. 1970)
- 2006 –Claude Blanchard, French-Canadian singer, comedian and actor (b. 1932)
- 2008 –Hua Guofeng, Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party (b. 1921)
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