May 20

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{{This date in recent years}}

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Events

=Pre-1600=

=1601–1900=

=1901–present=

  • 1902Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.
  • 1927Treaty of Jeddah: The United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
  • 1927Charles Lindbergh takes off for Paris from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, landing {{frac|33|1|2}} hours later.{{cite web| title = Charles Lindbergh: An American Aviator | url=http://www.charleslindbergh.com/ | website = www.charleslindbergh.com/ | access-date = 19 May 2022}}
  • 1932Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.
  • 1940The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
  • 1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete: German paratroops invade Crete.
  • 1943 – The Luttra Woman, a bog body from the Early Neolithic period (radiocarbon-dated {{circa|3928–3651 BC}}),{{cite journal |title=Early Neolithic human bog finds from Falbygden, western Sweden: New isotopic, osteological and histological investigations |first1=Karl-Göran |last1=Sjögren |first2=Torbjörn |last2=Ahlström |first3=Malou |last3=Blank |first4=T. Douglas |last4=Price |first5=Karin Margarita |last5=Frei |journal=Journal of Neolithic Archaeology |issue=19 |date=2017 |pages=101 |doi=10.12766/jna.2017.4 |doi-access=free |issn=2197-649X |publisher=Institute of Prehistoric and Protohistoric Archaeology at Kiel University |location=Germany}} was discovered near Luttra, Sweden.{{cite web |url=https://www.falkoping.se/falbygdens-museum/upptack-falbygden/historien-om-hallonflickan |title=Historien om Hallonflickan |trans-title=Story of the Raspberry Girl |language=sv |access-date=2023-01-23 |first=Cecilia |last=Jensen |publisher=Falbygdens Museum |date=2021 |archive-date=26 August 2022 |location=Falköping |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220826223842/https://www.falkoping.se/falbygdens-museum/upptack-falbygden/historien-om-hallonflickan |url-status=live}}
  • 1948 – Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wins the 1948 Republic of China presidential election and is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China at Nanjing.
  • 1949 – In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.
  • 1956 – In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
  • 1958Capital Airlines Flight 300 collides in mid-air with a United States Air Force Lockheed T-33 over Brunswick, Maryland, killing 12.{{cite news |date=21 May 1958 |title=AF jet, airliner collide; 12 killed |url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=99INAAAAIBAJ&sjid=RHYDAAAAIBAJ&pg=4935%2C5591 |work=St. Petersburg Times |location=(Florida) |page=1 |agency=Associated Press}}
  • 1964Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
  • 1965 – One hundred twenty-one people are killed when Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 crashes at Cairo International Airport.{{Cite web|last=Ranter|first=Harro|title=ASN Aircraft accident Boeing 720-040B AP-AMH Cairo International Airport (CAI)|url=https://aviation-safety.net/database/record.php?id=19650520-0|access-date=2022-02-19|website=aviation-safety.net|publisher=Aviation Safety Network}}
  • 1967 – The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
  • 1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
  • 1971 – In the Chuknagar massacre, Pakistani forces massacre thousands, mostly Bengali Hindus.
  • 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, with 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.
  • 1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by a team of French scientists including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Jean-Claude Chermann, and Luc Montagnier.{{Cite journal|last1=Barré-Sinoussi|first1=F.|last2=Chermann|first2=J. C.|last3=Rey|first3=F.|last4=Nugeyre|first4=M. T.|last5=Chamaret|first5=S.|last6=Gruest|first6=J.|last7=Dauguet|first7=C.|last8=Axler-Blin|first8=C.|last9=Vézinet-Brun|first9=F.|last10=Rouzioux|first10=C.|last11=Rozenbaum|first11=W.|last12=Montagnier|first12=L.|title=Isolation of a T-lymphotropic retrovirus from a patient at risk for acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS) |journal=Science |volume=220 |issue=4599 |pages=868–871 |year=1983 |pmid=6189183 |doi=10.1126/science.6189183 |bibcode=1983Sci...220..868B}}
  • 1983 – Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by UMkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.
  • 1985Radio Martí, part of the Voice of America service, begins broadcasting to Cuba.
  • 1989 – The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.
  • 1990 – The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.
  • 1996Civil rights: The Supreme Court of the United States rules in Romer v. Evans against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state of Colorado from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians.{{cite book|last=Hudson|first=David L.|title=Equal Protection: Documents Decoded|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2018|isbn=9781440858048|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=nxVbDwAAQBAJ|page=179}}
  • 2002 – The independence of East Timor is recognized by Portugal, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).
  • 2009 – An Indonesian Air Force Lockheed L-100 Hercules crashes in Magetan Regency, killing 99.{{cite news |date=2009-05-20 |title=Indonesia says 98 killed in military plane crash |url=https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE54J0WC20090520 |url-status=live |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090523110353/https://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE54J0WC20090520 |archivedate=23 May 2009 |accessdate=2009-05-20 |work=Reuters}}
  • 2011Mamata Banerjee is sworn in as the Chief Minister of West Bengal, the first woman to hold this post.{{cite news |title=Mamata Banerjee sworn in as West Bengal chief minister |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-south-asia-13465915 |access-date=3 January 2021 |work=BBC News |date=20 May 2011}}
  • 2012 – At least 27 people are killed and 50 others injured when a 6.0-magnitude earthquake strikes northern Italy.
  • 2013 – An EF5 tornado strikes the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing 24 people and injuring 377 others.
  • 2016 – The government of Singapore authorised the controversial execution of convicted murderer Kho Jabing for the murder of a Chinese construction worker despite the international pleas for clemency, notably from Amnesty International and the United Nations.{{Cite web|date=20 May 2016|title=Kho Jabing hanged after bid to defer execution fails, lawyers receive ticking-off from court|url=https://www.todayonline.com/singapore/kho-jabing-hanged-after-bid-defer-execution-fails-lawyers-receive-ticking-court?cid=h3_referral_inarticlelinks_03092019_todayonline|website=Today Singapore|access-date=10 March 2021}}{{Cite web|date=18 May 2016|url=https://theindependent.sg/un-calls-on-the-singapore-government-to-halt-the-execution-of-kho-jabing/|title=UN calls on the Singapore Government to halt the execution of Kho Jabing|website=The Independent|access-date=10 March 2021}}{{Cite web|title=Amnesty urges Singapore to grant Malaysian man clemency|date=2015-11-06|url=https://www.asiaone.com/singapore/amnesty-urges-singapore-grant-malaysian-man-clemency|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171023133453/http://www.asiaone.com/singapore/amnesty-urges-singapore-grant-malaysian-man-clemency|url-status=dead|archive-date=October 23, 2017|website=AsiaOne|access-date=10 March 2021}}
  • 2019 – The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.
  • 2022Russo-Ukrainian War: Russia claims full control of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after a nearly three-month siege.{{cite web|title=Russia claims to have taken full control of Mariupol|url=https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-prisoners-of-war-71d0dfb842caaaad30b92671637c1f3b|author1=Becatoros, Elena|author2=Oleksandr Stashevskyi|author3=Ciaran McQuillan|website=APNews.com|date=May 20, 2022|access-date=June 8, 2022}}

Births

=Pre-1600=

=1601–1900=

=1901–present=

Deaths

=Pre-1600=

=1601–1900=

=1901–present=

  • 1909Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (born 1859)
  • 1917Valentine Fleming, Scottish soldier and politician (born 1887)
  • 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (born 1850)
  • 1924Bogd Khan, Mongolian ruler (c. 1869)
  • 1925Joseph Howard, Maltese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (born 1862)
  • 1931Ernest Noel, Scottish businessman and politician (born 1831)
  • 1940Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1859)
  • 1942Hector Guimard, French Architect (born 1867)
  • 1946Jacob Ellehammer, Danish pilot and engineer (born 1871)
  • 1947Philipp Lenard, Slovak-German physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1862)
  • 1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek sergeant and politician (born 1890)
  • 1949Damaskinos of Athens, Greek archbishop and politician, 137th Prime Minister of Greece (born 1891)
  • 1956Max Beerbohm, English essayist, parodist, and caricaturist (born 1872)
  • 1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer and trainer (born 1881)
  • 1961Josef Priller, German colonel and pilot (born 1915)
  • 1962Timothy (Szretter), a Polish Orthodox clergyman, the third Metropolitan of Warsaw and all Poland (born 1901){{Cite book |last=Mironowicz |first=Antoni |title=Kościół prawosławny na ziemiach polskich w XIX i XX wieku |publisher=Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu w Białymstoku |year=2001 |isbn=83-7431-046-4 |location=Białystok}}
  • 1964Rudy Lewis, American singer (born 1936)
  • 1971Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (born 1904)
  • 1973Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (born 1938)
  • 1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (born 1945)
  • 1975Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and lithographer (born 1903)
  • 1976Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (born 1911)
  • 1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (born 1924)
  • 1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (born 1934)
  • 1989John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1904)
  • 1989 – Gilda Radner, American actress and comedian (born 1946)
  • 1995Les Cowie, Australian rugby league player (born 1925)
  • 1996Jon Pertwee, English actor, portrayed the Third Doctor (born 1919)
  • 1998Robert Normann, Norwegian guitarist (born 1916)
  • 2000Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (born 1922)
  • 2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (born 1970)
  • 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (born 1933)
  • 2001Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (born 1920)
  • 2002Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist, biologist, and academic (born 1941)
  • 2005Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (born 1913)
  • 2005 – William Seawell, American general (born 1918)
  • 2007Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (born 1914)
  • 2008Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (born 1944)
  • 2009Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect and urban planner, designed Roy Thomson Hall (born 1924)
  • 2009 – Lucy Gordon, American actress and model (born 1980){{cite web|url=http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/British-Actress-Lucy-Gordon-In-Paris-Suicide-Spider-Man-3-Star-Takes-Her-Own-Life/Article/200905315285957 |title=Spider-Man's Lucy Gordon In Paris Suicide |publisher=Sky News |date=21 May 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110603202221/http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/UK-News/British-Actress-Lucy-Gordon-In-Paris-Suicide-Spider-Man-3-Star-Takes-Her-Own-Life/Article/200905315285957 |archive-date=3 June 2011}}
  • 2009 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (born 1919)
  • 2011Randy Savage, American wrestler and actor (born 1952)
  • 2012Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (born 1923)
  • 2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1949)
  • 2012 – David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (born 1933)
  • 2012 – Ken Lyons, American bass guitarist (born 1953)
  • 2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (born 1915)
  • 2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (born 1958)
  • 2013Flavio Costantini, Italian painter and illustrator (born 1926)
  • 2013 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (born 1924)
  • 2013 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (born 1947)
  • 2013 – Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (born 1924)
  • 2013 – Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (born 1939)
  • 2013 – Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (born 1923)
  • 2013 – Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (born 1995)
  • 2014Sandra Bem, American psychologist and academic (born 1944)
  • 2014 – Ross Brown, New Zealand rugby player (born 1934)
  • 2014 – Robyn Denny, English-French painter (born 1930)
  • 2014 – Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (born 1924)
  • 2014 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (born 1933)
  • 2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (born 1929){{cite web |title=Barbara Murray obituary |url=https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2014/jun/01/barbara-murray |website=the Guardian |access-date=24 September 2020 |language=en |date=1 June 2014}}
  • 2015Bob Belden, American saxophonist, composer, and producer (born 1956)
  • 2015 – Femi Robinson, Nigerian actor and playwright (born 1940)
  • 2016Kho Jabing, Malaysian convicted murderer who was executed by hanging in Singapore (born 1984){{Cite web|last=Lum|first=Selina|date=20 May 2016|title=Convicted murderer Jabing Kho hanged after latest bid to escape gallows fails|url=https://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/courts-crime/convicted-murderer-jabing-kho-hanged-after-latest-bid-to-escape-gallows-fails|access-date=10 March 2021|website=The Straits Times|language=en}}
  • 2019Niki Lauda, Austrian race car driver (born 1949){{Cite web|title=Niki Lauda, Formula One great, has died at 70|url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/niki-lauda-formula-one-great-has-died-at-70/|access-date=1 November 2020|website=www.cbsnews.com|date=21 May 2019 |language=en-US}}
  • 2021Gary Wilson, American anti-pornography activist (born 1956){{Cite web |title=Gary Wilson's Life |url=https://www.garywilson.life/ |access-date=2024-02-26 |website=www.garywilson.life}}
  • 2022Roger Angell, American sportswriter and author (born 1920)[https://www.sfchronicle.com/sports/article/Longtime-New-Yorker-writer-editor-Roger-Angell-17187964.php Longtime New Yorker writer, editor Roger Angell dies]
  • 2022 – Susan Roces, Filipino actress (born 1941){{Cite news|url=https://entertainment.inquirer.net/449826/susan-roces-80-iconic-in-film-low-key-in-charity|title=Susan Roces, 80: Iconic in film, low key in charity|first=Marinel|last=Cruz|date=22 May 2022|newspaper=Philippine Daily Inquirer|access-date=3 September 2022|archive-date=22 May 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220522150314/https://entertainment.inquirer.net/449826/susan-roces-80-iconic-in-film-low-key-in-charity|url-status=live}}
  • 2024Ivan Boesky, American stock trader (born 1937){{Cite news |last=Wayne |first=Leslie |date=2024-05-20 |title=Ivan F. Boesky, Rogue Trader in 1980s Wall Street Scandal, Dies at 87 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/20/business/ivan-f-boesky-dead.html |access-date=2024-05-20 |work=The New York Times |language=en-US |issn=0362-4331}}
  • 2025George Wendt, American actor and comedian (born 1948)[https://variety.com/2025/tv/obituaries-people-news/george-wendt-dead-cheers-1236404992/ George Wendt, Who Played Norm on ‘Cheers,’ Dies at 76]

Holidays and observances

Notes

{{reflist|group=note}}

References

{{reflist}}

Bibliography

  • {{cite book|last=Aung-Thwin|first=Michael A.|title=Myanmar in the Fifteenth Century|publisher=University of Hawai'i Press|year=2017|location=Honolulu|isbn=978-0-8248-6783-6}}
  • {{cite book|last=Kala|first=U|author-link=U Kala|title=Maha Yazawin|publisher=Ya-Pyei Publishing|location=Yangon|orig-year=1724|year=2006|edition=4th printing|language=Burmese|volume=1–3}}