May 20 facts for kids

May 20th is a day filled with many interesting events throughout history, from ancient battles to modern discoveries. It's a day when explorers set sail, new inventions changed the world, and important leaders were born.

Historic Events on May 20

Early History (Before 1600)

• 325 – The First Council of Nicaea officially began. This was the first major meeting of Christian leaders to discuss important beliefs.
• 491 – Empress Ariadne married Anastasius I. As a widowed empress, she had the power to choose the next ruler for the Byzantine Empire.
• 685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain took place in Scotland. The Pictish army, led by King Bridei III, won a big victory against the invading Northumbrians.
• 794 – King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was captured and killed while visiting the Mercian court. He had been planning to marry Princess Ælfthryth.
• 1217 – The Second Battle of Lincoln was fought in England. Prince Louis of France was defeated by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
• 1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile created the Estudio de Escuelas de Generales in Spain, which was an early form of a university.
• 1497 – Explorer John Cabot sailed from Bristol, England, on his ship, the Matthew. He was looking for a new route to the west.
• 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovered the sea route to India when he arrived at Kozhikode (Calicut). This was a very important moment for trade and exploration.
• 1520 – Hernan Cortés defeated Pánfilo de Narváez, who had been sent by Spain to stop Cortés.
• 1570 – Mapmaker Abraham Ortelius published Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, which was the first modern collection of maps, known as an atlas.

Later History (1601–1900)

• 1609 – Shakespeare's sonnets were first published in London.
• 1631 – During the Thirty Years' War, the city of Magdeburg in Germany was taken over by forces of the Holy Roman Empire. Many of its people were killed in a very violent event.
• 1645 – The Yangzhou massacre occurred in China. Over ten days, many residents of the city of Yangzhou lost their lives.
• 1741 – The Battle of Cartagena de Indias ended with a Spanish victory. The British navy had to leave with many losses.
• 1775 – The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence was supposedly signed in Charlotte, North Carolina.
• 1802 – Napoleon Bonaparte brought back slavery in French colonies. This reversed a decision made during the French Revolution to end it.
• 1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte led his French troops in the Battle of Bautzen in Germany against armies from Russia and Prussia. The French won the battle.
• 1861 – During the American Civil War, the state of Kentucky declared that it would remain neutral. Also, North Carolina officially left the Union.
• 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law. This law opened up millions of acres of public land for settlers to claim.
• 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a U.S. patent for blue jeans that had copper rivets, making them stronger.
• 1875 – The Metre Convention was signed by 17 nations. This led to the creation of the International System of Units, which is used for measurements worldwide.
• 1882 – The Triple Alliance was formed between Germany, Austria-Hungary, and the Kingdom of Italy. This was an important military agreement.
• 1883 – The Krakatoa volcano began to erupt. It exploded three months later, causing a huge disaster and killing more than 36,000 people.
• 1891 – The first public showing of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope took place. This was an early step in the history of cinema.

Modern History (1901–present)

• 1902 – Cuba gained its independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma became the country's first President.
• 1927 – Charles Lindbergh began his famous flight from New York to Paris. He was the first person to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean, landing about 33 and a half hours later.
• 1932 – Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo and nonstop across the Atlantic Ocean. She landed in Ireland the next day.
• 1940 – During The Holocaust, the first prisoners arrived at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1941 – In World War II, German paratroopers invaded Crete in the Battle of Crete.
• 1948 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek was sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China in Nanjing.
• 1956 – The United States dropped the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean as part of "Operation Redwing."
• 1964 – Scientists Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias discovered the cosmic microwave background radiation. This was a big discovery that supported the Big Bang theory.
• 1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam came to an end.
• 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, Canada, the people voted against a plan to move towards independence from Canada.
• 1983 – The discovery of the HIV virus, which causes AIDS, was first published in the journal Science.
• 1989 – Chinese authorities declared martial law in response to large pro-democracy protests. This led to the events of the Tiananmen Square.
• 1990 – The first elections after the end of communism were held in Romania.
• 1996 – The Supreme Court of the United States made an important ruling in Romer v. Evans. They ruled against a law in Colorado that would have stopped cities from protecting the civil rights of gays and lesbians.
• 2002 – East Timor officially gained independence from Portugal, ending years of Indonesian rule and UN administration.
• 2011 – Mamata Banerjee became the first woman to hold the post of Chief Minister of West Bengal in India.
• 2012 – A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.0 struck northern Italy, killing at least 27 people.
• 2013 – An extremely powerful EF5 tornado hit the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, causing significant damage and killing 24 people.
• 2019 – The International System of Units (SI), which defines how we measure things like weight and length, was redefined. This made the old physical standard for the kilogram no longer needed.
• 2022 – During the Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia claimed full control of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after a long three-month siege.

Notable Births on May 20

Born Before 1900

• 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg, who became the first wife of John II of France.
• 1470 – Pietro Bembo, an Italian cardinal, poet, and scholar.
• 1537 – Hieronymus Fabricius, an Italian anatomist who studied the human body.
• 1575 – Robert Heath, an English judge and politician.
• 1664 – Andreas Schlüter, a German sculptor and architect.
• 1759 – William Thornton, an American architect who designed the United States Capitol.
• 1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, an English inventor who developed Congreve rockets.
• 1776 – Simon Fraser, an American-Canadian fur trader and explorer.
• 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, a famous French novelist and playwright.
• 1806 – John Stuart Mill, an English economist and philosopher.
• 1818 – William Fargo, an American businessman who helped start Wells Fargo and American Express.
• 1822 – Frédéric Passy, a French economist and academic who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1825 – Antoinette Brown Blackwell, the first woman to be ordained as a mainstream Protestant minister in the U.S.
• 1830 – Hector Malot, a French author.
• 1851 – Emile Berliner, a German-American inventor who invented the Gramophone record.
• 1856 – Henri-Edmond Cross, a French Neo-Impressionist painter.
• 1860 – Eduard Buchner, a German chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1882 – Sigrid Undset, a Danish-Norwegian novelist who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1883 – Faisal I of Iraq, who became King of Iraq.
• 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, a Turkish footballer who founded the Galatasaray Sports Club.
• 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, an English engineer who designed the famous Supermarine Spitfire airplane.

Born After 1900

• 1901 – Max Euwe, a Dutch chess player and mathematician.
• 1908 – James Stewart, a very famous American actor.
• 1913 – William Redington Hewlett, an American engineer who co-founded Hewlett-Packard.
• 1915 – Moshe Dayan, an Israeli general and politician.
• 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, an American biologist and geneticist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1920 – John Cruickshank, a Scottish lieutenant and banker who received the Victoria Cross for bravery.
• 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, a Russian engineer who designed the Tupolev Tu-144 aircraft.
• 1927 – Bud Grant, an American football player and coach.
• 1935 – José Mujica, a Uruguayan leader and politician who became President of Uruguay.
• 1940 – Stan Mikita, a Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player.
• 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, a Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager, famous for his home runs.
• 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, a Singaporean politician who became Prime Minister of Singapore.
• 1944 – Joe Cocker, a well-known English singer-songwriter.
• 1946 – Cher, a famous American singer, songwriter, and actress.
• 1952 – Roger Milla, a Cameroonian footballer known for his goal celebrations.
• 1954 – David Paterson, an American lawyer and politician who became Governor of New York.
• 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, a Japanese politician who became Prime Minister of Japan.
• 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, an American singer-songwriter and guitarist, known from The Go-Go's.
• 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, an American actor and director.
• 1961 – Clive Allen, an English international footballer.
• 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, an American actor.
• 1970 – Louis Theroux, a Singaporean-English journalist and producer.
• 1972 – Busta Rhymes, an American rapper and actor.
• 1977 – Iker Casillas, a famous Spanish footballer and goalkeeper.
• 1981 – Rachel Platten, an American singer and songwriter.
• 1982 – Petr Čech, a Czech footballer and goalkeeper.
• 1985 – Chris Froome, a Kenyan-English cyclist who has won the Tour de France.
• 1992 – Jack Gleeson, an Irish actor known for his role in Game of Thrones.
• 1998 – Jamie Chadwick, an English race car driver.

Notable Deaths on May 20

Died Before 1900

• 685 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria, a king.
• 794 – Æthelberht II, king of East Anglia.
• 965 – Gero the Great, a Saxon ruler.
• 1062 – Bao Zheng, a Chinese magistrate and mayor.
• 1277 – Pope John XXI.
• 1444 – Bernardino of Siena, an Italian missionary and saint.
• 1506 – Christopher Columbus, an Italian explorer famous for his voyages to the Americas.
• 1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, a Japanese shōgun.
• 1622 – Osman II, an Ottoman sultan.
• 1645 – Shi Kefa, a Chinese general and calligrapher.
• 1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, a Polish king.
• 1793 – Charles Bonnet, a Swiss botanist and biologist.
• 1834 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, a French general who fought in the American Revolution.
• 1864 – John Clare, an English poet.
• 1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, a Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician.
• 1896 – Clara Schumann, a German pianist and composer.

Died After 1900

• 1909 – Ernest Hogan, an American actor and composer.
• 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, a Swedish author and poet who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1942 – Hector Guimard, a French architect.
• 1947 – Philipp Lenard, a Slovak-German physicist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1956 – Max Beerbohm, an English essayist and caricaturist.
• 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, an English sculptor.
• 1989 – John Hicks, an English economist who won a Nobel Prize.
• 1989 – Gilda Radner, an American actress and comedian.
• 1996 – Jon Pertwee, an English actor who played the Third Doctor in Doctor Who.
• 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, a French flute player.
• 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, an American paleontologist and biologist.
• 2009 – Arthur Erickson, a Canadian architect.
• 2012 – Robin Gibb, a Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer, known from the Bee Gees.
• 2012 – Eugene Polley, an American engineer who invented the remote control.
• 2013 – Ray Manzarek, an American keyboard player and producer, known from The Doors.
• 2019 – Niki Lauda, a famous Austrian race car driver.
• 2022 – Roger Angell, an American sportswriter.

Special Days and Celebrations

• Christian feast day:
  • Bernardino of Siena
• Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
• Emancipation Day (Florida)
• European Maritime Day (celebrated by the European Council)
• Independence Restoration Day, which celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002.
• National Awakening Day (Indonesia), and its related observances:
  • Indonesian Doctor Day (Indonesia)
• National Day (Cameroon)
• World Bee Day
• World Metrology Day

See also

In Spanish: 20 de mayo para niños