September 20......

September 20 is the 263rd day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (264th in leap years). There are 102 days remaining.

EVENTS

● 451- According to some sources, this was the date of the Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius' victory over Attila the Hun.

● 1187 - Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.

● 1377 - Cardinal Robert of Geneva, called by some the Butcher of Cesena, is elected as Avignon Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism.

● 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan - set sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Spain with about 270 men on his expedition to circumnavigate the globe and to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia.

● 1596 - Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey in New Spain.

● 1737 - Runner Edward Marshall completes his journey in the Walking Purchase forcing the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,860 km²) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.

● 1854 - Battle of Alma: British and French troops defeat Russians in the Crimea.

● 1860 - The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) visits the United States.

● 1863 - American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga ends.

● 1870 - Bersaglieri corps enters Rome through Porta Pia taking control of the Papal States and completes the unification of Italy

● 1873 - Panic swept the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of railroad bond defaults and bank failures.

● 1881 - Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States, succeeding James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated.

● 1891 - The first gasoline-powered car debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States.

● 1906 - Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania is launched at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle, England.

● 1917 - Paraguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty.

● 1920 - Foundation of the Spanish Legion

● 1939 - A German Messerschmitt Bf 109 is shot down by Fairey Battle gunner Sgt. F. Letchard during a patrol near Aachen. This is the RAF's first aerial victory of the Second World War.

● 1940 - Genevieve Grotjan completes the decryption of the Japanese Purple code

● 1946 - The first Cannes Film Festival is held.

● 1954 - New Zealand's Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents reports just ten days after concluding hearings.

● 1962 - James Meredith, an African-American, is barred from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Governor Ross R. Barnett.

● 1967 - The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched by the Queen at John Brown & Company, Clydebank, Scotland. It is operated by the Cunard Line.

● 1970 - Soviet probe collects moon rock; The Russian space probe, Luna 16, is the first to land on the Moon and collect rock samples to bring back to Earth.

● 1970 - Syrian tanks roll into Jordan in response to continued fighting between Jordan and the fedayeen. The Jordanians knock out 30 of the Syrian tanks.

● 1973 - Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a $100,000 winner-take-all, battle-of-the-sexes tennis match.

● 1973 - Singer Jim Croce is killed in a plane crash.

● 1977 - The first wave of Southeast Asian ''boat people'' arrived in San Francisco under a U.S. resettlement program.

● 1978 - Police hunt Bridgewater killers; Police launch a massive manhunt for the killers of a young paperboy.

● 1979 - Lee Iacocca is elected president of the Chrysler Corporation.

● 1979 - A coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I

● 1979 - The Punjab wing of the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist) formally splits and constitutes a parallel UCCRI(ML).

● 1979 - Assassination of French left-wing militant Pierre Goldman.

● 1981 - A coup d'état in the Central African Republic overthrows President David Dacko.

● 1984 - A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy annex in north Beirut, Lebanon, killing twelve (BBC says 20) people

● 1989 - Miss Saigon makes its world premeire in London

● 1998 - Baseball: After playing in a record 2,632 consecutive games over 16 seasons, Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles sat out a game against the New York Yankees.

● 1999 - Lawrence Russell Brewer was convicted in the dragging death of a black man, James Byrd Jr., in Jasper, Texas.

● 1999 - UN force arrives in East Timor; A multinational peacekeeping force lands in East Timor in an attempt to restore law and order to the territory.

● 2000 - Last performance of the musical Cats (musical) on Broadway.

● 2000 - Independent Counsel Robert Ray announced the end of the Whitewater investigation, saying there was insufficient evidence to warrant charges against President Bill Clinton or his wife, Hillary Rodham Clinton.

● 2001 - George W. Bush delivers his "Freedom at War with Fear" speech to a joint session of Congress regarding the terrorist attacks and named Pennsylvania Gov. Tom Ridge to head the new Office of Homeland Security.

● 2002 - Kolka-Karmadon rock/ice slide started.

● 2003 - A referendum is held in Latvia to decide the country's accession to the European Union

● 2003 - Maldives civil unrest: the death of prisoner Hassan Evan Naseem sparks a day of rioting in Malé.

● 2004 - CBS News apologized for a ''mistake in judgment'' in its story questioning President George W. Bush's National Guard service, saying it could not vouch for the authenticity of documents featured in the report.

BIRTHS

● 1486 - Arthur Tudor, Prince of Wales, son of King Henry VII of England (d. 1502)

● 1599 - Christian, Duke of Brunswick-Lüneburg-Wolfenbüttel, German protestant military leader (d. 1623)

● 1778 - Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian naval officer and explorer (d. 1852)

● 1784 - Sir Richard Griffith, Irish geologist and civil engineer (d. 1878)

● 1809 - Sterling Price, American governor of Missouri and Confederate general (d. 1867)

● 1833 - Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1918)

● 1842 - Sir James Dewar, Scottish chemist and physicist (d. 1923)

● 1853 - Chulalongkorn, Rama V, King of Thailand (d. 1910)

● 1861 - Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress (1899-1939) (d. 1955)

● 1872 - Maurice Gamelin, French army general (d. 1958)

● 1873 - Sidney Olcott, Canadian film director (d. 1949)

● 1873 - Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian-born race car driver (d. 1944)

● 1878 - Upton Sinclair, American writer ("The Jungle"), politician and passionate crusader for social reform. (d. 1968)

● 1884 - Maxwell Perkins, American editor (d. 1947)

● 1888 - Sue Sophia Dauser, American nurse; oversaw the Navy Nurse Corps in World War II (d. 1972)

● 1889 - Charles Reidpath, American athlete (d. 1975)

● 1899 - Leo Strauss, German-born American political Philosopher (d. 1973)

● 1902 - Stevie Smith, British poet, novelist and short story writer (d. 1971)

● 1916 - Sid Chaplin, English novelist and short story writer (d. 1986)

● 1917 - Red Auerbach, American basketball coach, executive and Hall of Fame member

● 1917 - Fernando Rey, Spanish-born actor (d. 1994)

● 1922 - William Kapell, American pianist (d. 1953)

● 1923 - Geraldine Clinton Little, Irish-born poet (d. 1997)

● 1924 - Gogi Grant, American singer

● 1925 - Ananda Mahidol, Rama VIII, King of Thailand (d. 1946)

● 1927 - Johnny Dankworth, English musician and composer

● 1927 - Rachel Roberts, English actress (d. 1980)

● 1928 - Joyce Brothers, American psychologist and advice columnist

● 1929 - Anne Meara, American comic and actress

● 1934 - Sophia Loren, Italian actress

● 1935 - Jim Taylor, National Football League player

● 1937 - Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (d. 2005)

● 1939 - Robert L. Gerry III, American businessman

● 1941 - Dale Chihuly, American glass artist

● 1942 - Gérald Tremblay, Québec politician, Mayor of Montreal

● 1947 - Mia Martini, Italian singer (d. 1995)

● 1947 - Bruce Pasternack, American CEO

● 1947 - Chuck Panozzo, Rock musician (Styx)

● 1948 - George R. R. Martin, American writer

● 1948 - Chuck Panozzo and John Panozzo, American musician twins in the band Styx

● 1951 - Guy Lafleur, Canadian hockey player and Hall of Fame member

● 1954 - Henry Samueli, American NHL team owner

● 1954 - Peter White, Jazz guitarist

● 1955 - Betsy Brantley, Actress

● 1956 - Gary Cole, American actor

● 1964 - Maggie Cheung, Hong Kong actress

● 1965 - Robert Rusler, American actor

● 1966 - Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese-born rock musician

● 1967 - Kristen Johnston, American actress (''3rd Rock From the Sun'')

● 1967 - Gunnar and Matthew Nelson, Americans musicians (Nelson)

● 1968 - Leah Pinsent, Canadian actress

● 1968 - Darrell Russell, American race car driver (d. 2004)

● 1968 - Ben Shepherd, Rock musician

● 1971 - Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer

● 1975 - Asia Argento, Italian actress

● 1975 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombian race car driver

● 1976 - Yui Horie, Japanese voice actress and singer

● 1976 - Reuben Singh, British entrepreneur

● 1977 - Namie Amuro, Japanese singer

● 1978 - Jason Bay, Canadian Major League Baseball player

● 1978 - Sarit Hadad, Israeli singer

● 1978 - T.J. Tucker, Professional baseball player

● 1979 - Phil Waugh, Australian Rugby Union player

● 1979 - Rick Woolstenhulme, Rock musician (Lifehouse)

● 1980 - Mariacarla Boscono, Italian fashion model

● 1981 - Joanie Dodds, ANTM contestant

● 1981 - Feliciano López, Spanish tennis player

● 1981 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Greek football player

● 1991 - Spencer Locke, American actress

● 1993 - Kenny Kim, Korean-American actor

DEATHS

● 1246 - Mikhail of Chernigov, ruler of Kiev

● 1384 - King Louis I of Naples (b. 1339)

● 1460 - Gilles Binchois, Flemish composer

● 1586 - Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet (executed) (b. 1558)

● 1590 - Lodovico Agostini, Italian composer (b. 1534)

● 1625 - Heinrich Meibom, German historian and critic (b. 1555)

● 1627 - Jan Gruter, Dutch critic (b. 1560)

● 1630 - Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (b. 1586)

● 1639 - Johannes Meursius, Dutch classical scholar (b. 1579)

● 1643 - Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland, English politician and writer

● 1721 - Thomas Doggett, Irish actor

● 1803 - Robert Emmet, Irish patriot (b. 1780)

● 1815 - Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist (b. 1725)

● 1852 - Philander Chase, American university founder (b. 1775)

● 1863 - Jacob Grimm, German folklorist (b. 1785)

● 1884 - Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist (b.1802)

● 1898 - Theodor Fontane, German writer (b. 1819)

● 1908 - Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (b. 1844)

● 1932 - Wovoka, Paiute visionary

● 1946 - Raimu, French actor (b. 1883)

● 1947 - Fiorello LaGuardia, Former Mayor of New York City (b. 1882)

● 1957 - Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (b. 1865)

● 1971 - Giorgos Seferis, Greek writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1900)

● 1973 - Jim Croce, American singer and songwriter died in a plane crash near Natchitoches, LA. (b. 1943)

● 1975 - Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1887)

● 1979 - Ludvík Svoboda, President of Czechoslovakia (b. 1895)

● 1989 - Richie Ginther, American racing driver (b. 1930)

● 1993 - Erich Hartmann, German pilot (b. 1922)

● 1994 - Jules Styne, American songwriter (b. 1905)

● 1995 - Orville Redenbacher, Popcorn company founder (b. 1907)

● 1996 - Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1913)

● 1999 - Raisa Gorbachev, wife of the last Soviet leader, Mikhail Gorbachev, died at age 67.

● 2000 - Gherman Titov, cosmonaut (b. 1935)

● 2003 - Lord Williams of Mostyn, British politician (b. 1941)

● 2003 - Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwe politician (b. 1922)

● 2004 - Brian Clough, English footballer and football manager (b. 1935)

● 2004 - Townsend Hoopes, American politician (b. 1922)

● 2005 - Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian-Polish Nazi hunter (b. 1908)

HOLIDAYS AND OBSERVANCES

● In ancient Greece, the seventh day of the Eleusinian Mysteries, when the secret rites in the Telesterion began.

● Feast day of the following saints in the Roman Catholic Church:

● The Korean Martyrs
● Eustace
● Vincent Madelgaire
● Yves Mayeuc
● Francis de Posadas
● Thomas Johnson, John Davy, and companions (martyrs).

● Feast day of the following saint(s) in the Anglican Church:

● John Coleridge Patteson

● Also see September 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)


Click on this LINK to see original Wikipedia list with many having links with details.

Additional facts taken from:

The BBC Take on the day

On this day in the New York Times