20th March
March 20 is the 79th day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar (80th in Leap years). There are 286 days remaining.
Events
- 1413 - Henry V becomes King of England.
- 1602 - The Dutch East India Company is established.
- 1739 - Nadir Shah occupies Delhi in India and sacks the city stealing the jewels of the Peacock Throne.
- 1760 - The "Great Fire" of Boston destroyers 349 buildings.
- 1815 - Napoleon enters Paris after escaping from Elba with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000 beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
- 1848 - King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
- 1852 - Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
- 1899 - At Sing Sing prison, Martha M. Place becomes the first woman executed in an electric chair.
- 1913 - Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese nationalist party (KMT), is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days after.
- 1914 - In New Haven, Connecticut the first international figure skating championship takes place.
- 1922 - The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
- 1933 - Dachau, the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed.
- 1952 - The United States Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
- 1956 - Tunisia gains independence from France.
- 1964 - The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organization) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
- 1966- The World Cup is stolen from Central Hall, London
- 1974- A failed kidnap attempt is made on Her Royal Highness Princess Anne and her husband Captain Mark Phillips in The Mall, outside Buckingham Palace, London.
- 1976 - Patty Hearst is found guilty of armed robbery of a San Francisco Bank.
- 1985 - Libby Riddles becomes the first women to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod dog sled race.
- 1986 - Jacques Chirac becomes Prime Minister of France
- 1987 - The Food and Drug Administration approves anti-AIDS drug AZT.
- 1990 - Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
- 1993- An Irish Republican Army bomb explodes in Warrington, North West England, killing two children.
- 1995 - Sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway
- 1996 - In Los Angeles, California, Erik and Lyle Menendez are found guilty of first-degree murder for the shotgun killing of their parents.
- 2000 - Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther, is captured after gun battle that left a sheriff's deputy dead.
Births
- 43 BC - Ovid, poet († 17/18)
- 1770 - Friedrich Hölderlin, German poet, novelist, and dramatist († 1843)
- 1811 - Napoleon II of France († 1832)
- 1823 - Ned Buntline, "dime novelist", publisher, writer, publicist († 1886)
- 1828 - Henrik Ibsen, playwright and dramatist († 1906)
- 1856 - Frederick Winslow Taylor, inventor, efficiency expert
- 1874 - Börries von Münchhausen, poet († 1945)
- 1890 - Beniamino Gigli, tenor († 1957)
- 1890 - Lauritz Melchior, opera singer († 1973)
- 1904 - B. F. Skinner, behavioral psychologist († 1990)
- 1906 - Ozzie Nelson, actor, band leader († 1975)
- 1908 - Sir Michael Redgrave, actor († 1985)
- 1915 - Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian President († 2000)
- 1917 - Dame Vera Lynn, actress, singer
- 1921 - Rudolf Noelte, film director († 2002)
- 1921 - Sister Rosetta Tharpe, singer († 1973)
- 1922 - Carl Reiner, director, producer, actor, comedian
- 1928 - Fred Rogers, children's television host († 2003)
- 1934 - Willie Brown, mayor of San Francisco, California
- 1937 - Jerry Reed, country musician
- 1939 - Brian Mulroney, eighteenth Prime Minister of Canada
- 1948 - Bobby Orr, ice hockey player
- 1950 - William Hurt, actor
- 1958 - Holly Hunter, actress
- 1957 - Spike Lee, film director, actor
- 1964 - Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer
- 1964 - Tracy Chapman, musician
- 1974 - Carsten Ramelow, football player, National Team of Germany
- 1974 - Paula Garces, actress
- 1976 - Chester Bennington, musician ("Linkin Park")
Deaths
Holidays and observances
See Also:
March 19 - March 21 - February 20 - April 20 -- listing of all days
January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December
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