February 20

From Wikinfo

February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.

Contents 1 Events 2 Births 3 Deaths 4 Holidays and observances 4.1 References

Events

• 1472 - The Orkneys and Shetlands are annexed to the crown of Scotland.
• 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
• 1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
• 1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
• 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
• 1809 - A decision by the United States Supreme Court states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.
• 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
• 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
• 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
• 1921 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse film, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
• 1929 - American Samoa becomes organized as a territory of the United States.
• 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the United States Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
• 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
• 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
• 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
• 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
• 1952 - The film The African Queen opens at Capitol Theatre in New York City.
• 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
• 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
• 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah a bomb explodes in a computer store.
• 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
• 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
• 2003 - In Rhode Island, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.

Births

• 1751 - Johann Heinrich Vo�, poet (+ 1826)
• 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences (+ 1834)
• 1839 - Revd Benjamin Waugh, founder of NSPCC (+ 1908)
• 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist (+ 1906)
• 1844 - Joshua Slocum, seaman and adventurer (+ 1909)
• 1887 - Carl Ebert, opera manager and director (+ 1980)
• 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada) + 1967)
• 1902 - Ansel Adams, photographer (+ 1984)
• 1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (+ 1980)
• 1912 - Pierre Boulle, author (+ 1994)
• 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, jeans designer and entrepreneur
• 1925 - Robert Altman, film director
• 1925 - Heinz Kluncker, labor union leader
• 1926 - Richard Matheson, author
• 1926 - Rob Richards, track and field athlete
• 1927 - Sidney Poitier, actor
• 1934 - Bobby Unser, automobile racer
• 1937 - Nancy Wilson, singer
• 1937 - Roger Penske, automobile racer
• 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer
• 1942 - Phil Esposito, ice hockey player
• 1943 - Mike Leigh, director
• 1946 - Jerome Geils of the J Geils band
• 1946 - Brenda Blethyn, actress
• 1947 - Peter Osgood, English football player
• 1947 - Peter Strauss, actor
• 1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician
• 1954 - Patty Hearst, socialite
• 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
• 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, actor
• 1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
• 1966 - Cindy Crawford, model
• 1967 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician (+ 1994)
• 1975 - Brian Littrell, musician ("NSYNC")

Deaths

• 1194 - Tancred, King of Sicily
• 1431 - Pope Martin V
• 1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician
• 1626 - John Dowland, composer and lutenist
• 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy
• 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
• 1871 - Paul Kane, painter
• 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate general
• 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer
• 1920 - Robert Peary, explorer
• 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral
• 1968 - Anthony Asquith, director, writer
• 1969 - Ernest Ansermet, conductor
• 1972 - Walter Winchell, journalist
• 1985 - Clarence Nash, Disney voice actor
• 1992 - Dick York, actor
• 1993 - Ferrucio Lamborghini, automobile manufacturer
• 1996 - Toru Takemitsu, composer
• 1996 - Solomon Asch, psychologist
• 1999 - Gene Siskel, film critic
• 1999 - Sarah Kane, playwright
• 2003 - Maurice Blanchot, author
• 2003 - Willi Hoss, politician
• 2003 - Ulrich Roski, singer and cabaret artist

Holidays and observances

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See Also:

February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 -- listing of all days

January, February, March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October, November, December [[fr:20 f�vrier]]

References

• Adapted from the Wikipedia article, "February 20" http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_20 December 27, 2003