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
- 1217 –The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
- 1813 –Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
- 1861 –American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
- 1864 –American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church – in the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
- 1875 –Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
- 1883 –Krakatoa begins to erupt. The volcano’s final and most notable explosion occurs on August 26.
- 1896 –The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd below resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
- 1916 –The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting (Boy with Baby Carriage).
- 1940 –Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
- 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.
Who were born on May 20?
- 1660 –Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)
- 1806 –John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
- 1901 –Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
- 1917 –Guy Favreau, French Canadian lawyer (d. 1967)
- 1927 –Franciszek Macharski, Polish Catholic cardinal
- 1931 –Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)
- 1933 –Constance Towers, American actress
- 1945 –Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian politician
- 1981 –Morgan Knabe, Canadian swimmer
- 1986 –Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
Who died on May 20?
- 685 –King Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
- 1277 –Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
- 1444 –Saint Bernardino of Siena, Italian Franciscan missionary (b. 1380)
- 1782 –William Emerson, British mathematician (b. 1701)
- 1917 –Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
- 1976 –Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan National Party politician (b. 1934)
- 1976 –Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan Christian-Democrat Party politician (b. 1924)
- 2002 –Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
- 2005 –Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)
- 2008 –Hamilton Jordan, American White House Chief of Staff under President Carter (b. 1944)
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