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

March 20: Facts & Myths About This Day

March 20 is the 80^th day of the year 2024 in the Gregorian calendar. There are 286 days remaining until the end of this year. The day of the week is Wednesday.

Under the Julian calendar, this day is March 7, 2024 – a Wednesday. Both day of the week are the same but did you notice the difference with the Gregorian calendar?

When this day started, 28,514,880 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 ‘octacontagon’ day.

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

According to the lunisolar Chinese calendar, there are 315 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 4,107 days since this fabled cataclysmic event.

March 20 Historical Events

• 1602 –
  The Dutch East India Company is established.
• 1861 –
  An earthquake completely destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
• 1916 –
  Albert Einstein publishes his general theory of relativity.
• 1942 –
  World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: “I came out of Bataan and I shall return”.
• 1956 –
  Tunisia gains independence from France.
• 1964 –
  The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
• 1980 –
  The Radio Caroline ship, Mi Amigo founders in a gale off the English coast.
• 1985 –
  Canadian paraplegic athlete and humanitarian Rick Hansen begins his circumnavigation of the globe in a wheelchair in the name of spinal cord injury medical research.
• 1988 –
  Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People’s Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
• 2003 –
  2003 invasion of Iraq: In the early hours of the morning, the United States and three other countries begin military operations in Iraq.

Who were born on March 20?

• 43 BC –
  Ovid, Roman poet (d. 17 AD)
• 1917 –
  Vera Lynn, English actress and singer
• 1922 –
  Ray Goulding, American comedian (d. 1990)
• 1931 –
  Hal Linden, American actor
• 1934 –
  Willie Brown, American politician
• 1948 –
  John de Lancie, American actor
• 1960 –
  Norm Magnusson, American fine artist
• 1961 –
  Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer
• 1964 –
  Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
• 1973 –
  Cedric Yarbrough, American actor

Who died on March 20?

• 1835 –
  Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (b. 1794)
• 1916 –
  Ota Benga, Congolese pygmy (b. 1884)
• 1929 –
  Ferdinand Foch, French commander of allied forces in World War I (b. 1851)
• 1981 –
  Gerry Bertier, American wheelchair Olympian (b. 1953)
• 1993 –
  Polykarp Kusch, German-born American physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1911)
• 2001 –
  Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican baseball player (b. 1949)
• 2005 –
  Armand Lohikoski, Finnish film director (b. 1912)
• 2008 –
  Klaus Dinger, German musician (b. 1946)
• 2008 –
  Shoban Babu, Indian actor (b. 1937)
• 2010 –
  Liz Carpenter, American feminist writer (b. 1920)