August 20 facts for kids

2025 Calendar

August 20 in recent years

August 20 is the 232nd day of the year (233rd in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 133 days remain until the end of the year.

August 20th is a day filled with many interesting historical events, notable births, and important observances around the world. From ancient battles to modern space missions, this date has seen significant moments that have shaped history and continue to be remembered.

Historical Events on August 20
Famous Births on August 20
Notable Deaths on August 20
Holidays and Observances
See also

Historical Events on August 20

Ancient Times and Middle Ages

In the year AD 14, Agrippa Postumus, a grandson of the Roman Emperor Augustus, passed away mysteriously while in exile.
In 636, the Battle of Yarmouk took place. Arab forces, led by Khalid ibn al-Walid, gained control of the Levant region from the Byzantine Empire. This battle was a big step in the early spread of Islam outside Arabia.
In 917, Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria won a major victory against the Byzantine Empire's army in the Battle of Acheloos.
In 1083, Saint Stephen, who was the first King of Hungary, and his son Saint Emeric were officially recognized as saints. This day is now celebrated as a National Day in Hungary.
In 1308, Pope Clement V pardoned Jacques de Molay, the last leader of the Knights Templar, clearing him of serious accusations.
In 1391, Konrad von Wallenrode became the 24th Grand Master of the Teutonic Order, a powerful group of knights.
In 1467, the Second Battle of Olmedo happened as part of a conflict over who would rule between Henry IV of Castile and his half-brother Alfonso.
In 1519, the philosopher and general Wang Yangming defeated Zhu Chenhao, ending a rebellion against the Ming dynasty's Zhengde Emperor in China.

From the 1600s to the 1900s

In 1648, the Battle of Lens was the final major battle of the Thirty Years' War. This battle helped lead to the signing of the Peace of Westphalia later that year.
In 1707, the first Siege of Pensacola ended when the British failed to capture Pensacola, Florida.
In 1710, during the War of the Spanish Succession, an army led by Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg defeated the Spanish-Bourbon army in the Battle of Saragossa.
In 1775, the Spanish established the Presidio San Augustin del Tucson in the area that would become Tucson, Arizona.
In 1794, during the Northwest Indian War, United States troops caused a group of Native American warriors to retreat in the Battle of Fallen Timbers.
In 1852, the steamboat Atlantic sank on Lake Erie after a collision, leading to the loss of many lives.
In 1858, Charles Darwin first published his theory of evolution through natural selection in a scientific journal, along with Alfred Russel Wallace's similar ideas.
In 1864, during the Bakumatsu period in Japan, the Chōshū Domain tried to remove the Satsuma and Aizu Domains from Japan's imperial court in what was known as the Kinmon incident.
In 1866, President Andrew Johnson officially declared the American Civil War to be over.
In 1882, Tchaikovsky's famous 1812 Overture was performed for the first time in Moscow, Russia.

The 20th and 21st Centuries

In 1905, Sun Yat-sen, Song Jiaoren, and others formed the Tongmenghui in Tokyo, Japan. This was a revolutionary group that wanted to create a republic and end the Qing dynasty.
In 1910, very dry and windy weather in the Inland Northwest of the United States caused many small wildfires to combine into the huge Great Fire of 1910. This fire burned a vast area and sadly killed 87 people.
In 1914, during World War I, Brussels was captured by German forces as part of their invasion of Belgium.
In 1920, the first commercial radio station, 8MK (now WWJ), began broadcasting in Detroit.
Also in 1920, the National Football League was formed as the American Professional Football Conference in Canton, Ohio.
In 1926, Japan's public broadcasting company, Nippon Hōsō Kyōkai (NHK), was established.
In 1938, baseball legend Lou Gehrig hit his 23rd career grand slam. This record stood for 75 years!
In 1940, in Mexico City, the Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was seriously injured and died the next day.
Also in 1940, during World War II, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill gave one of his famous speeches, which included the line "Never was so much owed by so many to so few".
In 1944, during World War II, 168 captured Allied airmen arrived at Buchenwald concentration camp.
Also in 1944, World War II's Battle of Romania began with a major attack by the Soviet Union.
In 1949, Hungary adopted its new constitution and became a People's Republic.
In 1955, in Morocco, a group of Berbers attacked two villages, resulting in the deaths of 77 French citizens.
In 1960, Senegal declared its independence, separating from the Mali Federation.
In 1962, the NS Savannah, which was the world's first civilian ship powered by nuclear energy, began its first journey.
In 1968, during the Cold War, troops from the Warsaw Pact invaded Czechoslovakia, ending the period known as the Prague Spring.
In 1975, NASA launched the Viking 1 probe towards Mars as part of the Viking program.
Also in 1975, ČSA Flight 540 crashed while approaching Damascus International Airport in Damascus, Syria, tragically killing 126 people.
In 1977, NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft, which would go on to explore the outer planets.
In 1988, "Black Saturday" occurred during the Yellowstone fire in Yellowstone National Park, marking a very intense day of burning.
Also in 1988, a ceasefire was agreed upon in the Iran–Iraq War after nearly eight years of fighting.
In 1989, the pleasure boat Marchioness sank on the River Thames after a collision, and 51 people lost their lives.
In 1991, during the August Coup in the Soviet Union, over 100,000 people gathered outside the parliament building to protest the attempt to remove President Mikhail Gorbachev.
Also in 1991, Estonia, which had been part of the Soviet Union since 1940, officially re-established its independence.
In 1992, the Meitei language (also known as Manipuri language) was added to India's official languages list.
In 1993, the Oslo Accords, which were peace agreements, were signed after secret talks in Norway.
In 1995, the Firozabad rail disaster in Firozabad, India, tragically killed 358 people.
In 1998, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that Quebec could not legally separate from Canada without the federal government's approval.
In 2002, a group of Iraqis who were against the government of Saddam Hussein took over the Iraqi embassy in Berlin, Germany, for five hours.
In 2006, Sri Lankan Tamil politician S. Sivamaharajah was killed at his home.
In 2007, China Airlines Flight 120 caught fire and exploded after landing at Naha Airport in Okinawa, Japan.
In 2008, Spanair Flight 5022 crashed at Barajas Airport in Madrid, Spain. Out of 172 people on board, 146 died immediately, and more later from their injuries.
In 2012, a prison riot in Caracas, Venezuela, resulted in at least 20 deaths.
In 2014, 72 people were killed in Japan's Hiroshima Prefecture by a series of landslides. These were caused by a month's worth of rain falling in just one day.
In 2020, Joe Biden gave his acceptance speech virtually for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination.

Famous Births on August 20

Born Before 1600

1377 – Shahrukh Mirza, a ruler of Persia and Transoxiania.
1517 – Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, a French cardinal and art collector.
1561 – Jacopo Peri, an Italian singer and composer.

Born Between 1601 and 1900

1625 – Thomas Corneille, a French playwright.
1659 – Henry Every, a famous English pirate.
1710 – Thomas Simpson, an English mathematician.
1778 – Bernardo O'Higgins, a Chilean general and politician, who was the second Supreme Director of Chile.
1779 – Jöns Jacob Berzelius, a Swedish chemist.
1833 – Benjamin Harrison, an American general and politician, who became the 23rd President of the United States.
1860 – Raymond Poincaré, a French lawyer and politician, who was the 10th President of France.
1890 – H. P. Lovecraft, an American writer known for his horror stories.

Born After 1900

1901 – Salvatore Quasimodo, an Italian novelist and poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
1910 – Eero Saarinen, a Finnish-American architect who designed the Gateway Arch.
1913 – Roger Wolcott Sperry, an American neuropsychologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1931 – Don King, a well-known American boxing promoter.
1936 – Hideki Shirakawa, a Japanese chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1942 – Isaac Hayes, an American singer-songwriter and actor.
1944 – Rajiv Gandhi, an Indian lawyer and politician, who was the 6th Prime Minister of India.
1948 – Robert Plant, an English singer-songwriter, famous for being the lead singer of Led Zeppelin.
1971 – Ke Huy Quan, a Vietnamese-American actor who won an Academy Award.
1974 – Amy Adams, a popular American actress.
1983 – Andrew Garfield, an American-English actor.
1992 – Demi Lovato, an American singer-songwriter and actress.
2003 – Prince Gabriel of Belgium.

Notable Deaths on August 20

Passed Away Before 1600

AD 14 – Agrippa Postumus, a Roman figure.
984 – Pope John XIV.
1153 – Bernard of Clairvaux, a French theologian and saint.
1572 – Miguel López de Legazpi, a Spanish navigator and the first Governor-General of the Philippines.

Passed Away Between 1601 and 1900

1611 – Tomás Luis de Victoria, a Spanish priest and composer.
1672 – Cornelis de Witt and Johan de Witt, Dutch politicians.
1823 – Pope Pius VII.
1887 – Jules Laforgue, a French poet.

Passed Away After 1900

1912 – William Booth, an English preacher who co-founded The Salvation Army.
1914 – Pope Pius X.
1915 – Paul Ehrlich, a German physician who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
1917 – Adolf von Baeyer, a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
1961 – Percy Williams Bridgman, an American physicist who won the Nobel Prize in Physics.
1980 – Joe Dassin, an American-French singer-songwriter.
2001 – Fred Hoyle, an English astronomer and author.
2012 – Phyllis Diller, an American actress and comedian.
2013 – Elmore Leonard, an American novelist and short story writer.
2014 – B. K. S. Iyengar, an Indian yoga instructor who founded Iyengar Yoga.
2017 – Jerry Lewis, a famous American actor and comedian.

Holidays and Observances

Indian Akshay Urja Day (India)
Independence Restoration Day (Estonia), celebrating Estonia's re-declaration of independence from the Soviet Union in 1991.
Meitei Language Day, also known as Manipuri Language Day, which celebrates the day the Meitei (Manipuri) was made one of India's official languages.
Revolution of the King and the People (Morocco)
Saint Stephen's Day (Hungary)
World Mosquito Day