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February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar . There are 314 days remaining until the end of the year (315 in leap years ).
Events
1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland , due to a dowry payment.1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey .1792 - The Postal Service Act , establishing the United States Post Office Department , is signed by President George Washington .1798 - Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.1810 - Andreas Hofer , Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon 's forces, was executed .1816 - Gioachino Rossini 's The Barber of Seville Teatro Argentina , with a fiasco 1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake .1864 - American Civil War : Battle of Olustee occurs - the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California .1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.1909 - Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro .1913 - King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra .1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge .1933 - The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution , which would end Prohibition in the United States .1935 - Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica .1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace .1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.1943 - The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico .
1944 - World War II: The "Big Week " began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
1947 - State of Prussia ceases to exist.1952 - Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.1959 - The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.1962 - Mercury program : While aboard Friendship 7 , John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts .1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.1987 - Unabomber : In Salt Lake City, Utah , a bomb explodes in a computer store.1989 - An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill , England 1991 - A gigantic statue of Albania 's long-time dictator, Enver Hoxha , is brought down in the Albanian capital, Tirana , by mobs of angry protesters.1998 - American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan .2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt , a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.2003 - During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island , a pyrotechnics display sets the club ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 300 others.2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union , passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
Births
1631 - Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds , English statesman (d. 1712 )1633 - Jan de Baen , Dutch portrait painter (d. 1702 )1745 - Henry James Pye , English poet (d. 1813 )1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß , German poet (d. 1826 )1753 - Louis Alexandre Berthier , French marshal (d. 1815 )1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller , English philanthropist (d. 1834 )1794 - William Carleton , Irish novelist (d. 1869 )1802 - Charles de Bériot , Belgian violinist (d. 1870 )1819 - Alfred Escher , Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882 )1839 - Benjamin Waugh , American minister; founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908 )1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann , Austrian physicist (d. 1906 )1844 - Joshua Slocum , Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909 )
1848 - Edward Henry Harriman , American railroad executive (d. 1909 )1850 - Nérée Beauchemin , Canadian physician and poet (d. 1931 )1866 - Carl Westman , Swedish architect and designer (d. 1936 )1867 - Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (d. 1931 )1918 - Leonore Annenberg American Billionaire1880 - Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen , French aristocrat and novelist (d. 1923 )1887 - Vincent Massey , Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967 )1888 - Georges Bernanos , French writer (d. 1948 )1893 - Russel Crouse , American playwright (d. 1966 )1893 - Elizabeth Holloway Marston , American psychologist (d. 1993 )
1898 - Enzo Ferrari , Italian automobile manufacturer, designer and racing car driver (d. 1988 )1898 - Jimmy Yancey , American pianist (d. 1951 )
1899 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney , American businessman (d. 1992 )1901 - Cecil Harmsworth King , English newspaper owner (d. 1987 )1901 - Muhammad Naguib , President of Egypt (d. 1984 )
1902 - Ansel Adams , American photographer (d. 1984 )1904 - Alexei Kosygin , Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980 )1906 - Gale Gordon , American television and radio actor (d. 1995 )1907 - Malcolm Atterbury , American actor (d. 1992 )1912 - Pierre Boulle , French author (d. 1994 )1914 - John Daly , South African-born broadcaster (d. 2001 )1920 - Evgeny Dragunov , Russian weapons designer (d. 1991 )1923 - Forbes Burnham , President of Guyana (d. 1985 )1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt , American socialite and clothing designer1925 - Robert Altman , American film director (d. 2006 )1925 - Heinz Kluncker , German trade union leader
1926 - Richard Matheson , American author1927 - Roy Cohn , American lawyer (d. 1986 )1927 - Ibrahim Ferrer , Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club ) (d. 2005 )
1927 - Sidney Poitier , American actor
1929 - Amanda Blake , American actress (d. 1989 )1930 - Willie Cunningham , Northern Irish footballer1932 - Adrian Cristobal , Filipino writer (d. 2007 )1934 - Bobby Unser , American racing driver1936 - Marj Dusay , American actress1936 - Larry Hovis , American actor (d. 2003 )
1936 - Shigeo Nagashima , Japanese baseball player and coach
1937 - Robert Huber , German chemist, Nobel laureate 1937 - Roger Penske , American racing driver, race team owner and entrepreneur
1937 - Nancy Wilson , American singer
1938 - Richard Beymer , American actor1939 - Frank Arundel , English footballer1940 - Jimmy Greaves , English footballer1941 - Lim Kit Siang , Democratic Socialist opposition party in Malaysia1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie , Canadian singer1942 - Phil Esposito , Canadian ice hockey player1942 - Charlie Gillett , British radio DJ
1942 - Mitch McConnell , American politician
1942 - Claude Miller , French film director and screenwriter
1943 - Moshe Cotel , American composer and pianist1943 - Antonio Inoki , Japanese professional wrestler
1943 - Mike Leigh , British film director
1944 - Robert de Cotret , French Canadian politician (d. 1999 )1944 - Willem van Hanegem , Dutch footballer and coach
1945 - Andrew Bergman , American screenwriter and film director1945 - Brion James , American actor (d. 1999 )
1945 - Annu Kapoor , Indian actor1946 - Brenda Blethyn , English actress1946 - Richard Cocciante , French-Italian singer and songwriter
1946 - Sandy Duncan , American singer and actress
1946 - J. Geils , American guitarist (The J. Geils Band )
1947 - André van Duin , Dutch comedian1947 - Eggert Magnusson , Icelandic football executive
1947 - Peter Osgood , English footballer (d. 2006 )
1947 - Peter Strauss , American actor
1948 - Pierre Bouchard , Canadian ice hockey player1948 - Jennifer O'Neill , Brazilian-born actress
1949 - Ivana Trump , Czech-born American socialite1950 - Walter Becker , American guitarist (Steely Dan )1950 - Ken Shimura , Japanese performer and actor
1950 - Tony Wilson , British journalist and impresario (d. 2007 )
1951 - Edward Albert , American actor (d. 2006 )1951 - Gordon Brown , Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1951 - Randy California , American guitarist (Spirit ) (d. 1997 )
1951 - Phil Neal , English footballer
1953 - Riccardo Chailly , Italian conductor1953 - Poison Ivy , American musician (The Cramps )
1954 - Jon Brant , American musician (Cheap Trick )1954 - Anthony Stewart Head , English actor
1954 - Patty Hearst , American socialite
1956 - Rick Green , Canadian ice hockey player1956 - Charlie Adler , American voice actor
1957 - Glen Hanlon , Canadian ice hockey coach1959 - Bill Gullickson , American baseball player1960 - Joel Hodgson , American comedian (Mystery Science Theater 3000 1960 - Kee Marcello , Swedish guitarist
1962 - Kenn Nesbitt , American children's author1963 - Charles Barkley , American basketball player1963 - Ian Brown , English singer (The Stone Roses )
1963 - Jon Lynn Christensen , former Nebraska Congressman
1963 - Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou , Greek politician
1964 - French Stewart , American actor1964 - Rodney Rowland , American actor
1966 - Cindy Crawford , American model1967 - Kurt Cobain , American musician (Nirvana ) (d. 1994 )1967 - Katherine Soucie , American voice actress
1967 - Andrew Shue , American television actor
1967 - Lili Taylor , American actress
1968 - Ted Hankey , English darts player1969 - Vaginal Davis , American drag queen and performance artist1969 - Gedo , Japanese professional wrestler
1969 - Danis Tanovic , Bosnian film director and screenwriter
1969 - Tommy Vardell , National Football League fullback
1971 - Jari Litmanen , Finnish footballer1971 - Shawn McKenzie , American programmer1972 - Brent Gretzky , Canadian ice hockey player1972 - K-OS , Canadian musician/rapper
1974 - Ophelie Winter , French actress1975 - Liván Hernández , Cuban baseball player1975 - Brian Littrell , American singer (Backstreet Boys )
1976 - Rohan Gavaskar , Left-handed batsman, India ODI 2004 (son of Sunil Gavaskar )
1976 - Ed Graham , English drummer (The Darkness )1976 - Gail Kim , Canadian professional wrestler
1977 - Bartosz Kizierowski , Polish swimmer1977 - Stephon Marbury , American basketball player
1977 - T.J. Slaughter , American football player
1977 - Amal Hijazi , Lebanese singer and model
1978 - Lauren Ambrose , American actress1978 - Jakki Degg , English glamour model/actress
1978 - Jay Hernandez , American actor
1978 - Julia Jentsch , German actress
1980 - Artur Boruc , Polish footballer1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy , French rugby union footballer
1981 - Tony Hibbert , English footballer1981 - Chris Thile , American musician
1982 - Jason Hirsh , American baseball player1983 - Jose Morales , Puerto Rican baseball player1983 - Justin Verlander , American baseball player
1985 - Ryan Sweeney , American baseball player1985 - Yulia Volkova , Russian singer (t.A.T.u. )
1988 - Rihanna , Barbadian singer1989 - Melanie Leishman , Canadian actress
Deaths
702 - K'inich Kan B'alam II , king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635 )1154 - Saint Wulfric of Haselbury Plucknett 1171 - Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138 )1194 - King Tancred of Sicily 1258 - Al-Musta'sim , last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad1408 - Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland , English statesman (b. 1342 )1431 - Pope Martin V (b. 1368 )1524 - Tecún Umán , last leader of the Quiché -Maya1579 - Nicholas Bacon , English politician (b. 1509 )1618 - Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554 )1626 - John Dowland , English composer and lutenist (b. 1563 )1762 - Tobias Mayer , German astronomer (b. 1723 )1771 - Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan , French geophysicist (b. 1678 )1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701 )1778 - Laura Bassi , Italian scholar (b. 1711 )1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741 )1803 - Marie Dumesnil , French actress (b. 1713 )1806 - Lachlan McIntosh , Scottish-born American military and political leader (b. 1725 )1810 - Andreas Hofer , Tyrolean national hero (executed) (b. 1767 )1862 - William Wallace Lincoln , son of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln 1871 - Paul Kane , Irish-born painter (b. 1810 )1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard , American Confederate general (b. 1818 )1895 - Frederick Douglass , American abolitionist writer (b. 1818 )1905 - Jeremiah W. Farnham , American merchant captain1907 - Henri Moissan , French chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1852 )1916 - Klas Pontus Arnoldson , Swedish writer and pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1844 )1920 - Robert Peary , American explorer (b. 1856 )1936 - Max Schreck , German actor (b. 1879 )1941 - La Bolduc , French Canadian singer and songwriter (b. 1894 )1961 - Percy Grainger , Australian composer (b. 1882 )1963 - Ferenc Fricsay , Hungarian conductor (b. 1914 )1963 - Jacob Gade , Danish composer(b. 1879 )1965 - Fred Immler , German actor (b. 1880 )1966 - Chester Nimitz , American admiral (b. 1885 )1968 - Anthony Asquith , British film director and writer (b. 1902 )1969 - Ernest Ansermet , Swiss conductor (b. 1883 )1970 - Sophie Treadwell , American playwright and journalist (b. 1885 )1972 - Maria Goeppert-Mayer , German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906 )1972 - Walter Winchell , American journalist (b. 1897 )
1974 - David Monrad Johansen , Norwegian composer (b. 1888 )1976 - René Cassin , French judge, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (b. 1887 )1976 - Kathryn Kuhlman , American evangelist (b. 1907 )
1981 - Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg , magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904 )1983 - Fritz Köberle , Austrian-Brazilian physician (b. 1910 )1984 - Paul Dirac , British theoretical physicist, Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1902 )1985 - Clarence "Ducky" Nash , American voice actor (b. 1904 )1992 - Roberto D'Aubuisson , Salvadoran politician (b. 1944 )1992 - Dick York , American actor (b. 1928 )
1993 - Ferruccio Lamborghini , Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916 )1994 - Burt Lancaster , American actor (b. 1913 )1996 - Solomon Asch , American psychologist (b. 1907 )1996 - Tōru Takemitsu , Japanese composer (b. 1930 )
1997 - Zachary Breaux , American jazz guitarist (b. 1960 )1999 - Sarah Kane , English playwright (b. 1971 )1999 - Gene Siskel , American film critic (b. 1946 )
2000 - Anatoly Sobchak , Russian politician (b. 1937 )2001 - Rosemary DeCamp , American actress (b. 1910 )2003 - Maurice Blanchot , French author (b. 1907 )2003 - Orville Freeman , American politician (b. 1918 )
2003 - Harry Jacunski , American football player
2003 - Ty Longley , American guitarist (Great White ) (b. 1971 )
2003 - Mushaf Ali Mir , Pakistani Chief of the Air Staff (b. 1947 )
2005 - Pam Bricker , American jazz singer and Thievery Corporation vocalist (b. 1954 )2005 - Sandra Dee , American actress (b. 1944 )
2005 - John Raitt , American actor (b. 1917 )
2005 - Hunter S. Thompson , American journalist and author (b. 1937 )
2005 - Tom Willmore , English geometer (b. 1919 )
2006 - Curt Gowdy , American sportscaster (b. 1919 )2006 - Lucjan Wolanowski , Polish journalist, writer and traveller (b. 1920 )
2007 - F. Albert Cotton , American chemist (b. 1930 )2007 - Carl-Henning Pedersen , Danish artist, member of the CoBrA movement (b. 1913 )
2007 - Mike Awesome , Pro Wrestler (b. 1965 )
2008 - Emily Perry , English Actress (b. 1907 )2008 - Larry Davis (criminal)
Holidays and observances
External links
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