February 20 facts for kids

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 314 days remain until the end of the year (315 in leap years).

February 20th is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history! From important discoveries and new laws to exciting premieres and major world events, people around the globe have made history on this date. Let's explore some of the most notable happenings and the lives of famous people born or who passed away on February 20th.

Historical Events

Early History (Before 1600)

• 1339 – A big battle called the Battle of Parabiago happened in Italy. The army from Milan fought against mercenaries led by Lodrisio Visconti, who was defeated.
• 1472 – The islands of Orkney and Shetland were given by Norway to Scotland. This happened because Norway owed a dowry (money or property given by a bride's family) for Margaret of Denmark when she married the Scottish king.
• 1521 – Explorer Juan Ponce de León left Spain with about 200 people. They were heading to Florida to start a new colony.
• 1547 – Edward VI of England became the King of England. He was crowned in a special ceremony at Westminster Abbey.

From 1601 to 1900

• 1685 – René-Robert Cavelier built Fort St. Louis in Matagorda Bay, Texas. This fort helped France claim land in Texas.
• 1792 – The United States Post Office Department was created! President George Washington signed the Postal Service Act to make it official.
• 1798 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a French general, removed Pope Pius VI from his position of power.
• 1813 – General Manuel Belgrano led his army to victory in the Battle of Salta. They defeated the royalist army in South America.
• 1816 – A famous opera called The Barber of Seville by Rossini was performed for the very first time. It happened at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
• 1824 – The name Megalosaurus was officially announced by William Buckland. This was the first time a non-bird dinosaur species was given a scientific name!
• 1835 – A strong earthquake completely destroyed the city of Concepción in Chile.
• 1846 – People in Kraków, Poland, started an uprising. They wanted to fight for their country's independence.
• 1864 – During the American Civil War, the Battle of Olustee took place. This was the biggest battle fought in Florida during the war.
• 1865 – The Uruguayan War ended with a peace agreement. This set the stage for the very destructive War of the Triple Alliance.
• 1872 – The famous Metropolitan Museum of Art opened its doors in New York City. It's one of the largest art museums in the world.
• 1877 – Tchaikovsky's beautiful ballet Swan Lake had its first performance. It premiered at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

Modern History (1901–Present)

• 1901 – The government of Hawaii Territory met for the very first time.
• 1905 – The U.S. Supreme Court decided that Massachusetts could make people get the smallpox vaccination. This was an important ruling about public health.
• 1909 – The Futurist Manifesto was published in a French newspaper. This was a very important document for the Futurist art movement.
• 1913 – King O'Malley placed the first survey peg to start building Canberra. Canberra is now the capital city of Australia.
• 1920 – A strong earthquake hit Georgia. It killed over 100 people and badly damaged the town of Gori.
• 1931 – The U.S. Congress approved the building of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge in California. This is a huge bridge that connects San Francisco and Oakland.
• 1933 – The U.S. Congress approved a law to end Prohibition in the United States. This meant that making and selling alcohol would soon be legal again.
• 1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen became the first woman ever to step foot on Antarctica.
• 1939 – A large pro-Nazi rally was held at Madison Square Garden in New York City. About 20,000 people attended this event organized by the German American Bund.
• 1942 – World War II: Lieutenant Edward O'Hare became America's first World War II flying ace. This means he shot down five or more enemy aircraft.
• 1943 – World War II: American movie studios agreed to let the government's Office of War Information check movies. They wanted to make sure movies supported the war effort.
• 1944 – World War II: The "Big Week" began. American bombers started major raids on German factories that made aircraft.
• 1952 – Emmett Ashford became the first African-American umpire in organized baseball.
• 1959 – The Avro Arrow program was cancelled in Canada. This program was designing very fast jet fighters.
• 1962 – Mercury program: Astronaut John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth. He went around the Earth three times in less than five hours aboard Friendship 7.
• 1965 – The Ranger 8 spacecraft crashed into the Moon. It had successfully taken many pictures to help plan future Apollo program missions.
• 1968 – The China Academy of Space Technology was created in Beijing. This is China's main organization for developing space satellites.
• 1971 – The United States Emergency Broadcast System was accidentally turned on. This caused a false national alert.
• 1979 – An earthquake caused a volcanic crater in Indonesia to crack open. It released poisonous gas, killing 149 villagers.
• 1986 – The Soviet Union launched its Mir spacecraft. This space station stayed in orbit for 15 years and was used by astronauts for ten of those years.
• 1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to leave Azerbaijan and join Armenia. This led to the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
• 1991 – In Tirana, Albania, a huge statue of the country's former leader, Enver Hoxha, was pulled down by angry protesters.
• 1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at just 15 years old, became the youngest Olympic figure skating gold medalist. This happened at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
• 2003 – During a concert in Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display started a fire at The Station nightclub. This terrible event killed 100 people and injured over 200 others.
• 2010 – Heavy rain caused terrible floods and mudslides on Madeira Island, Portugal. At least 43 people died in this disaster.
• 2015 – Two trains collided in Rafz, Switzerland. This accident injured 49 people and caused some train services to be cancelled.

Famous Births

Born Before 1900

• 1469 – Thomas Cajetan, an Italian philosopher.
• 1549 – Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, the last Duke of Urbino.
• 1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, an English politician.
• 1705 – Nicolas Chédeville, a French musician and composer.
• 1726 – William Prescott, an American colonel.
• 1748 – Luther Martin, an American politician.
• 1753 – Louis-Alexandre Berthier, a French general and politician.
• 1756 – Angelica Schuyler Church, an American socialite.
• 1759 – Johann Christian Reil, a German physician and scientist.
• 1794 – William Carleton, an Irish author.
• 1802 – Charles Auguste de Bériot, a Belgian violinist and composer.
• 1819 – Alfred Escher, a Swiss businessman and politician.
• 1839 – Benjamin Waugh, an English activist who started the NSPCC.
• 1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, an Austrian physicist and philosopher.
• 1844 – Joshua Slocum, a Canadian sailor and adventurer.
• 1848 – E. H. Harriman, an American businessman.
• 1866 – Carl Westman, a Swedish architect.
• 1867 – Louise, Princess Royal of England.
• 1874 – Mary Garden, a Scottish-American singer and actress.
• 1879 – Hod Stuart, a Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1887 – Vincent Massey, the 18th Governor General of Canada.
• 1888 – Georges Bernanos, a French soldier and author.
• 1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, an American psychologist and author.
• 1898 – Enzo Ferrari, an Italian motor racing driver and businessman who founded Ferrari.
• 1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, an American businessman.

Born 1901 to Present

• 1901 – Ansel Adams, a famous American photographer and environmentalist.
• 1901 – Louis Kahn, an American architect.
• 1901 – Muhammad Naguib, the first President of Egypt.
• 1906 – Gale Gordon, an American actor.
• 1912 – Pierre Boulle, a French soldier and author.
• 1913 – Tommy Henrich, an American baseball player.
• 1914 – John Charles Daly, a South African–American journalist.
• 1916 – Jean Erdman, an American dancer and choreographer.
• 1918 – Leonore Annenberg, an American businesswoman and diplomat.
• 1920 – Karl Albrecht, a German businessman who co-founded Aldi.
• 1921 – Buddy Rogers, an American wrestler.
• 1923 – Victor G. Atiyeh, the 32nd Governor of Oregon.
• 1923 – Forbes Burnham, the 2nd President of Guyana.
• 1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, an American fashion designer and socialite.
• 1925 – Robert Altman, an American director and screenwriter.
• 1926 – Gillian Lynne, an English ballerina and choreographer.
• 1926 – Richard Matheson, an American author and screenwriter.
• 1926 – Bob Richards, an American Olympic track and field athlete.
• 1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, a Cuban singer.
• 1927 – Hubert de Givenchy, a French fashion designer.
• 1927 – Sidney Poitier, a Bahamian-American actor and director.
• 1928 – Jean Kennedy Smith, an American diplomat.
• 1929 – Amanda Blake, an American actress.
• 1931 – John Milnor, an American mathematician.
• 1934 – Bobby Unser, an American race car driver.
• 1936 – Marj Dusay, an American actress.
• 1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, a Japanese baseball player.
• 1937 – Robert Huber, a German biochemist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1937 – Roger Penske, an American race car driver and businessman.
• 1937 – Nancy Wilson, an American singer and actress.
• 1940 – Jimmy Greaves, an English footballer.
• 1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, a Canadian singer-songwriter.
• 1942 – Phil Esposito, a Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1942 – Mitch McConnell, an American politician.
• 1943 – Antonio Inoki, a Japanese wrestler and politician.
• 1943 – Mike Leigh, an English director and screenwriter.
• 1945 – Alan Hull, an English singer-songwriter.
• 1946 – Brenda Blethyn, an English actress.
• 1946 – Sandy Duncan, an American actress and singer.
• 1947 – Peter Osgood, an English footballer.
• 1947 – Peter Strauss, an American actor.
• 1948 – Jennifer O'Neill, an American model and actress.
• 1949 – Ivana Trump, a Czech-American socialite.
• 1950 – Walter Becker, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1950 – Tony Wilson, an English journalist and businessman.
• 1951 – Edward Albert, an American actor.
• 1951 – Gordon Brown, a Scottish politician and former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1951 – Randy California, an American singer-songwriter.
• 1953 – Poison Ivy, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist.
• 1954 – Anthony Head, an English actor.
• 1954 – Patty Hearst, an American actress and author.
• 1957 – Glen Hanlon, a Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1958 – James Wilby, an English actor.
• 1959 – Joel Hodgson, an American comedian and actor.
• 1961 – Steve Lundquist, an American swimmer.
• 1962 – Dwayne McDuffie, an American author and screenwriter.
• 1963 – Charles Barkley, an American basketball player.
• 1963 – Ian Brown, an English singer.
• 1964 – Cindy Crawford, a famous American model.
• 1967 – Kurt Cobain, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist from the band Nirvana.
• 1967 – Lili Taylor, an American actress.
• 1969 – Siniša Mihajlović, a Serbian footballer.
• 1971 – Jari Litmanen, a Finnish footballer.
• 1971 – Joost van der Westhuizen, a South African rugby player.
• 1973 – Andrea Savage, an American actress and comedian.
• 1975 – Brian Littrell, an American singer from the Backstreet Boys.
• 1977 – Gail Kim, a Canadian wrestler.
• 1977 – Stephon Marbury, an American basketball player.
• 1978 – Lauren Ambrose, an American actress.
• 1978 – Jay Hernandez, an American actor.
• 1978 – Chelsea Peretti, an American actress and comedian.
• 1980 – Artur Boruc, a Polish footballer.
• 1981 – Majandra Delfino, an American actress and singer.
• 1981 – Tony Hibbert, an English footballer.
• 1983 – Justin Verlander, an American baseball player.
• 1984 – Brian McCann, an American baseball player.
• 1984 – Trevor Noah, a South African comedian and television host.
• 1985 – Julia Volkova, a Russian singer from the group t.A.T.u.
• 1987 – Miles Teller, an American actor.
• 1988 – Rihanna, a Barbadian singer, songwriter, and actress.
• 1990 – Ciro Immobile, an Italian footballer.
• 1991 – Hidilyn Diaz, a Filipino weightlifter.
• 1993 – Jurickson Profar, a Curaçaoan baseball player.
• 1994 – Kateryna Baindl, a Ukrainian tennis player.
• 1994 – Luis Severino, a Dominican baseball player.
• 2003 – Olivia Rodrigo, an American actress and singer.

Notable Deaths

Passed Away Before 1900

• 789 – Leo of Catania, a saint and bishop.
• 922 – Theodora, a Byzantine empress.
• 1054 – Yaroslav the Wise, a grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kyiv.
• 1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany.
• 1194 – Tancred, King of Sicily.
• 1258 – Al-Musta'sim, an Iraqi caliph.
• 1431 – Pope Martin V.
• 1458 – Lazar Branković, a ruler of Serbia.
• 1513 – King John of Denmark, Norway, and Sweden.
• 1524 – Tecun Uman, a Mayan ruler.
• 1579 – Nicholas Bacon, an English politician.
• 1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange.
• 1626 – John Dowland, an English lute player and composer.
• 1762 – Tobias Mayer, a German astronomer.
• 1773 – Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia.
• 1778 – Laura Bassi, an Italian physicist and scholar.
• 1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor.
• 1810 – Andreas Hofer, a Tyrolean rebel leader.
• 1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, the son of Abraham Lincoln.
• 1871 – Paul Kane, an Irish-Canadian painter.
• 1893 – P. G. T. Beauregard, an American general.
• 1895 – Frederick Douglass, a famous American author and activist.
• 1900 – Washakie, an American tribal leader.

Passed Away 1901 to Present

• 1907 – Henri Moissan, a French chemist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, a Swedish journalist and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
• 1920 – Jacinta Marto, a Portuguese saint.
• 1920 – Robert Peary, an American admiral and explorer.
• 1933 – Takiji Kobayashi, a Japanese writer.
• 1936 – Max Schreck, a German actor.
• 1957 – Sadri Maksudi Arsal, a Turkish scholar and politician.
• 1961 – Percy Grainger, an Australian-American pianist and composer.
• 1963 – Jacob Gade, a Danish violinist and composer.
• 1965 – Michał Waszyński, a Polish film director.
• 1966 – Chester W. Nimitz, an American admiral.
• 1968 – Anthony Asquith, an English director.
• 1969 – Ernest Ansermet, a Swiss conductor.
• 1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, a German-American physicist and Nobel Prize winner.
• 1972 – Walter Winchell, an American journalist.
• 1976 – René Cassin, a French lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize winner.
• 1981 – Nicolas de Gunzburg, a French-American banker.
• 1987 – Wayne Boring, an American illustrator.
• 1992 – A. J. Casson, a Canadian painter.
• 1992 – Dick York, an American actor.
• 1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, an Italian businessman who founded Lamborghini.
• 1996 – Solomon Asch, an American psychologist.
• 1996 – Toru Takemitsu, a Japanese composer.
• 1999 – Sarah Kane, an English playwright.
• 1999 – Gene Siskel, an American journalist and critic.
• 2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, an American actress.
• 2001 – Donella Meadows, an American environmentalist and author.
• 2003 – Maurice Blanchot, a French philosopher.
• 2003 – Orville Freeman, a former Governor of Minnesota.
• 2005 – Sandra Dee, an American actress.
• 2005 – John Raitt, an American actor and singer.
• 2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, an American journalist and author.
• 2006 – Curt Gowdy, an American sportscaster.
• 2008 – Emily Perry, an English actress.
• 2009 – Larry H. Miller, an American businessman.
• 2010 – Alexander Haig, an American general and politician.
• 2012 – Knut Torbjørn Eggen, a Norwegian footballer.
• 2013 – Kenji Eno, a Japanese game designer.
• 2014 – Rafael Addiego Bruno, a former President of Uruguay.
• 2014 – Walter D. Ehlers, an American lieutenant and Medal of Honor recipient.
• 2015 – Govind Pansare, an Indian author and activist.
• 2015 – Henry Segerstrom, an American businessman.
• 2016 – Fernando Cardenal, a Nicaraguan priest and politician.
• 2017 – Vitaly Churkin, the Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations.
• 2017 – Mildred Dresselhaus, an American physicist.
• 2020 – Joaquim Pina Moura, a Portuguese politician.
• 2021 – Mauro Bellugi, an Italian footballer.
• 2024 – Andreas Brehme, a German footballer.

Holidays and Observances

• Christian feast day:
  • Eleutherius of Tournai
  • Eucherius of Orléans
  • Francisco Marto and Jacinta Marto
  • Frederick Douglass (Episcopal Church (USA))
  • Wulfric of Haselbury
  • February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Day of Heavenly Hundred Heroes (Ukraine)
• World Day of Social Justice

See also

In Spanish: 20 de febrero para niños