May 20

May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 325 – The First Council of Nicea – the first Ecumenical Council of the Christian Church is held.
• 491 – Empress Ariadne marries Anastasius I. The widowed Augusta is able to choose her successor for the Byzantine throne, after Zeno (late emperor) dies of dysentery.
• 526 – An earthquake kills about 250,000 people in what is now Syria and Antiochia.
• 685 – The Battle of Dun Nechtain is fought between a Pictish army under King Bridei III and the invading Northumbrians under King Ecgfrith, who are decisively defeated.
• 794 – King Æthelberht II of East Anglia visits the royal Mercian court at Sutton Walls, with a view to marrying princess Ælfthryth. He is taken captive and beheaded.
• 1217 – The Second Battle of Lincoln is fought near Lincoln, England, resulting in the defeat of Prince Louis of France by William Marshal, 1st Earl of Pembroke.
• 1293 – King Sancho IV of Castile creates the Study of General Schools of Alcalá.
• 1449 – The Battle of Alfarrobeira is fought, establishing the House of Braganza as a principal royal family of Portugal.
• 1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship  Matthew looking for a route to the west (other documents give a May 2 date).
• 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama discovers the sea route to India when he arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India.
• 1520 – The massacre at the festival of Tóxcatl takes place during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, resulting in turning the Aztecs against the Spanish.
• 1521 – Ignatius Loyola is seriously wounded in the Battle of Pampeluna.
• 1570 – Cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum, the first modern atlas.
• 1609 – Shakespeare's sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe.
• 1631 – The city of Magdeburg in Germany is seized by forces of the Holy Roman Empire and most of its inhabitants massacred, in one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War.
• 1645–The Manchurian Qing army occupied the city Yangzhou and the residents get massacred for 10 days long. Hundred thousands of people get killed by the Qing troops
• 1775 – Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is signed in Charlotte, North Carolina
• 1802 – By the Law of 20 May 1802, Napoleon Bonaparte reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition in the French Revolution
• 1813 – Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
• 1840 – York Minster is badly damaged by fire.
• 1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
• 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church – in the Virginia Bermuda Hundred Campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
• 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.
• 1875 – Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.
• 1882 – The Triple Alliance between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy is formed.
• 1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
• 1884 – Dinuzulu kaCetshwayo becomes the king of the Zulu Nation.
• 1891 – History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.
• 1896 – The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier falls on the crowd below resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others.
• 1899 – The first traffic ticket in the US: New York City taxi driver Jacob German was arrested for speeding while driving 12 miles per hour on Lexington Street.
• 1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.
• 1908 – Budi Utomo organization is founded in Dutch East Indies, beginning the Indonesian National Awakening.
• 1916 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes its first cover with a Norman Rockwell painting (Boy with Baby Carriage).
• 1920 – Montreal, Quebec radio station XWA broadcasts the first regularly scheduled radio programming in North America.
• 1927 – Treaty 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.
• 1927 – At 07:52 Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, New York, on the world's first solo non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean. He touched down at Le Bourget Field in Paris at 22:22 the next day.
• 1932 – Amelia 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.
• 1940 – The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.
• 1941 – World War II: Battle of Crete – German paratroops invade Crete.
• 1948 – Chiang Kai-shek is elected as the first President of the Republic of China.
• 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.
• 1964 – Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.
• 1965 – PIA Flight 705, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720-040B, crashes while descending to land at Cairo International Airport, killing 121 of the 127 passengers and crew.
• 1967 – The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
• 1968 – Operation OAU begins during the Nigerian Civil War
• 1969 – The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.
• 1980 – In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects by a 60% vote the proposal from its government to move towards independence from Canada.
• 1983 – First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.
• 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.
• 1985 – Radio 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.
• 1996 – Civil 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.
• 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).
• 2006 – Dhaka wildcat strikes: A series of massive strikes begin, involving nearly 1.8 million garment workers in Bangladesh.
• 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.
• 2014 – More than 118 people are killed in two bombings in Jos, Nigeria.

Births

• 1315 – Bonne of Bohemia (d. 1349)
• 1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
• 1554 – Paolo Bellasio, Italian organist and composer (d. 1594)
• 1593 – Salomo Glassius, German theologian and critic (d. 1656)
• 1663 – William Bradford, English-American printer (d. 1752)
• 1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor and architect (d. 1714)
• 1706 – Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
• 1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
• 1759 – William Thornton, Virgin Islander-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1828)
• 1768 – Dolley Madison, American wife of James Madison, 4th First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
• 1769 – Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
• 1772 – Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, English inventor, developed Congreve rockets (d. 1828)
• 1776 – Simon Fraser, American-Canadian explorer (d. 1862)
• 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French author and playwright (d. 1850)
• 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English economist, civil servant, and philosopher (d. 1873)
• 1809 – Albert Newsam, American artist (d. 1864)
• 1818 – William Fargo, American businessman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
• 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1912)
• 1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, American general (d. 1890)
• 1830 – Hector Malot, French author (d. 1907)
• 1838 – Jules Méline, French politician, 65th Prime Minister of France (d. 1925)
• 1848 – Howard Vernon, Australian actor (d. 1921)
• 1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
• 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
• 1875 – Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
• 1877 – Pat Leahy, Irish jumper (d. 1927)
• 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
• 1883 – Johnny Arthur, American actor (d. 1951)
• 1883 – Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
• 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
• 1889 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (d. 1978)
• 1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru (d. 1994)
• 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B (d. 1937)
• 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (d. 1983)
• 1897 – Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower (d. 1986)
• 1899 – Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter (d. 1969)
• 1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, American jurist (d. 1971)
• 1900 – Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet (d. 1977)
• 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (d. 1981)
• 1901 – Doris Fleeson, American journalist (d. 1970)
• 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
• 1907 – Carl Mydans, American photographer (d. 2004)
• 1908 – Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
• 1908 – Francis Raymond Fosberg, American botanist and author (d. 1993)
• 1908 – James Stewart, American actor and singer (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Gardner Fox, American author (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Annie M.G. Schmidt, Dutch author and playwright (d. 1995)
• 1913 – Teodoro Fernández, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
• 1913 – William Redington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (d. 1995)
• 1915 – Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
• 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician, 5th Minister of Foreign Affairs for Israel) (d. 1981)
• 1916 – Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic
• 1916 – Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Ondina Valla, Italian sprinter and hurdler (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Guy Favreau, French-Canadian lawyer and politician, 28th Minister of Justice for Canada (d. 1967)
• 1917 – Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic journalist and politician (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
• 1919 – George Gobel, American actor and singer (d. 1991)
• 1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish lieutenant, Victoria Cross recipient
• 1920 – Betty Driver, English actress and singer (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (d. 1947)
• 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player and scout (d. 1998)
• 1923 – Hugh Beach, English general
• 1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress and singer (d. 2011)
• 1924 – David Chavchavadze, London-born Russian-American CIA officer and author (d. 2014)
• 1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (d. 1976)
• 1925 – Chester Ludgin, American opera singer (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (d. 2001)
• 1926 – George Hurst, Scottish-English conductor (d. 2012)
• 1926 – John Lucarotti, English-Canadian screenwriter (d. 1994)
• 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
• 1927 – Bud Grant, American football player and coach
• 1927 – David Hedison, American actor
• 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal
• 1929 – Ahmed Hamdi, Egyptian general and engineer (d. 1973)
• 1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician
• 1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1982)
• 1931 – Paul R. Evans, American furniture designer and sculptor (d. 1987)
• 1932 – Bob Florence, American pianist and composer (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Constance Towers, American actress and singer
• 1935 – José Mujica, Uruguayan politician, 40th President of Uruguay
• 1935 – Mickey Rose, American screenwriter (d. 2013)
• 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
• 1938 – Marinella, Greek singer and actress
• 1938 – Alan Smithers, English physiologist and academic
• 1939 – Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
• 1939 – John David Bingham Younger, Scottish politician, Lord Lieutenant of Tweeddale
• 1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1969)
• 1940 – Stan Mikita, Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
• 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager
• 1940 – Michel Vastel, Canadian journalist and author (d. 2008)
• 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
• 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor
• 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
• 1942 – Lynn Davies, Welsh long jumper
• 1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American sergeant (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Simon Keswick, Scottish businessman
• 1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker (Al Bano and Romina Power)
• 1943 – Vernon Fougère, Canadian bishop (d. 2013)
• 1943 – Martin Honeysett, English illustrator
• 1943 – Iain Vallance, Baron Vallance of Tummel, English businessman and politician
• 1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (The Grease Band) (d. 2014)
• 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
• 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founded Red Bull GmbH
• 1944 – Kathrin Thomas, Welsh politician, Lord Lieutenant of Mid Glamorgan
• 1945 – Clive Hollick, Baron Hollick, English businessman
• 1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian intelligence officer
• 1946 – Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress (Sonny & Cher)
• 1946 – Robert Chua, Singaporean broadcaster, founded China Entertainment Television
• 1946 – Dave Despain, American journalist
• 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
• 1947 – John Corapi, American priest
• 1947 – Greg Dyke, English journalist
• 1949 – Robert Morin, Canadian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
• 1949 – Mary Pope Osborne, American author
• 1949 – Michèle Roberts, English author and poet
• 1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1950 – Andy Johns, English-American record producer (d. 2013)
• 1950 – Yvon Lambert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentinian footballer and coach
• 1951 – Thomas Akers, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
• 1951 – Mike Crapo, American lawyer and politician
• 1951 – Thomas Woodcock, English genealogist
• 1952 – Tim Albery, English director and producer
• 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer and manager
• 1952 – Michael Wills, English politician, Minister of Justice for the United Kingdom
• 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne
• 1953 – Norbert Siegmann, German footballer and manager
• 1953 – Sheila Watson, English priest and cleric
• 1954 – Guy Hoffman, American singer, drummer, and composer (Violent Femmes, Oil Tasters, and BoDeans)
• 1954 – Cindy McCain, American businesswoman and philanthropist
• 1954 – David Paterson, American politician, 55th Governor of New York
• 1954 – Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway, Scottish judge
• 1954 – Robert Van de Walle, Belgian martial artist
• 1955 – Anton Corbijn, Dutch photographer and director
• 1955 – Vivienne Faull, English priest
• 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer
• 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
• 1956 – Dean Butler, Canadian-American actor, producer, and screenwriter
• 1956 – William Michaelian, American author and poet
• 1956 – Douglas Preston, American author
• 1956 – Marlene Zuk, American biologist and ecologist
• 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan
• 1958 – Ron Reagan, American radio host
• 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress (The Go-Go's and Frosted)
• 1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Cowsills and Continental Drifters)
• 1959 – Daniel Darc, French singer-songwriter (Taxi Girl) (d. 2013)
• 1959 – Annabel Giles, Welsh-English radio and television host
• 1959 – Israel Kamakawiwoʻole, American singer-songwriter and ukulele player (Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau) (d. 1997)
• 1959 – Bronson Pinchot, American actor
• 1960 – John Billingsley, American actor
• 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor and director
• 1960 – Jay Schellen, American drummer (Hurricane, Asia, GPS, Circa, and World Trade)
• 1961 – Clive Allen, English footballer and manager
• 1961 – Owen Teale, Welsh actor
• 1962 – Mike Jeffries, American soccer player and coach
• 1963 – David Wells, American baseball player
• 1964 – Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Minister for Foreign Affairs for Japan
• 1964 – Edin Osmanović, Slovenian footballer, coach, and manager
• 1964 – Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist
• 1965 – Ted Allen, American television host and author
• 1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Dan Abrams, American journalist
• 1966 – Mindy Cohn, American actress
• 1966 – Emma Johnson, English clarinet player
• 1967 – Graham Brady, English politician
• 1967 – Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
• 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1967 – Ramzi Yousef, Kuwaiti-Pakistani terrorist, conducted the World Trade Center bombing
• 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor
• 1968 – Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby player and coach
• 1969 – Road Dogg, American wrestler, producer, and soldier
• 1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
• 1970 – Louis Theroux, Singaporean-English journalist
• 1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper
• 1971 – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
• 1972 – Tina Hobley, English actress
• 1972 – Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor (The Conglomerate and Leaders of the New School)
• 1973 – Elsa Lunghini, French singer-songwriter and actress
• 1973 – Juris Razgulajevs, Latvian figure skater
• 1975 – Pascal Denis, Canadian figure skater
• 1975 – Isaac Gálvez, Spanish cyclist (d. 2006)
• 1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentinian actor
• 1975 – Tahmoh Penikett, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Miriam Quiambao, Filipino actress, host, Miss Universe 1999 1st runner-up
• 1975 – Andrew Sega, American keyboard player and composer (Iris, Stromkern, and Five Musicians)
• 1975 – Mark Zupan, American rugby player and actor
• 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
• 1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
• 1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
• 1977 – Leo Franco, Argentinian footballer
• 1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
• 1977 – Chad Muska, American skateboarder
• 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1977 – Tiger Tyson, American porn actor and director
• 1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
• 1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech pole vaulter
• 1978 – Nils Schumann, German runner
• 1979 – Rick Edwards, English television host
• 1979 – Alessandro Hirata, Brazilian academic and jurist
• 1979 – Jana Pallaske, German actress and singer (Spitting Off Tall Buildings)
• 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 35th Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
• 1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
• 1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
• 1980 – Agnes Kittelsen, Norwegian actress
• 1980 – Kassim Osgood, American football player
• 1980 – Cauã Reymond, Brazilian actor
• 1980 – Mantas Jankavičius, Lithuanian actor and singer
• 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Sean Conlon, English singer-songwriter (Five)
• 1981 – Morgan Knabe, Canadian swimmer
• 1981 – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
• 1981 – Mark Winterbottom, Australian race car driver
• 1982 – Jack Anthony, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1982 – Candace Bailey, American actress
• 1982 – Sierra Boggess, American actress and singer
• 1982 – Petr Čech, Czech footballer
• 1982 – Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
• 1982 – Natalia Podolskaya, Belarusian singer
• 1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
• 1982 – Aleksei Saks, Estonian figure skater
• 1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
• 1983 – Chad Connell, Canadian actor
• 1983 – Roger Huerta, American mixed martial artist
• 1983 – Matthew Langridge, English rower
• 1983 – Manchu Manoj, Indian actor
• 1983 – Michaela McManus, American actress
• 1983 – N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Indian actor and singer
• 1983 – Emma Williams, English actress
• 1984 – Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
• 1984 – Keith Grennan, American football player
• 1984 – Augusto Midana, Bissau-Guinean wrestler
• 1984 – Naturi Naughton, American singer-songwriter and actress (3LW)
• 1984 – Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1984 – Kenny Vasoli, American singer-songwriter and bass player (The Starting Line, Person L, and Vacationer)
• 1985 – Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist
• 1985 – Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer
• 1986 – Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
• 1986 – Robert Emms, English actor
• 1986 – Vitória Frate, Brazilian actress
• 1986 – Yon González, Spanish actor
• 1986 – Louisa Krause, American actress
• 1986 – Eilidh MacQueen, Scottish-Thai actress
• 1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
• 1986 – Anthony Neely, American-Taiwanese singer
• 1986 – Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
• 1987 – Fra Fee, Northern Irish actor and singer
• 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer
• 1987 – Kristopher Van Varenberg, American actor
• 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
• 1988 – Nathaniel Brown, American actor and director
• 1988 – Carla Humphries, American-Filipino actress
• 1988 – Robin Juhkental, Estonian singer-songwriter (Malcolm Lincoln)
• 1988 – Yusuf Kasal, Turkish footballer
• 1988 – Miyu Nagase, Japanese singer and guitarist (Zone)
• 1988 – Trīna Šlapeka, Latvian tennis player
• 1989 – Tonia Couch, English diver
• 1991 – Mara Lopez, American-Filipino actress and surfer
• 1991 – Henrik Ojamaa, Estonian footballer
• 1992 – Cate Campbell, Australian swimmer
• 1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
• 1992 – Christian Antidormi, Australian actor
• 1992 – AJ Muhlach, Filipino actor and singer (XLR8)
• 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
• 1993 – Devon Seron, Filipino actress
• 1994 – Frida Sandén, Swedish singer
• 1995 – Brandon Zibaka, English footballer

Deaths

• 685 – Ecgfrith of Northumbria (b. 645)
• 1277 – Pope John XXI (b. 1215)
• 1285 – John II of Jerusalem (b. 1259)
• 1444 – Bernardino of Siena, Italian-Spanish missionary and saint (b. 1380)
• 1503 – Lorenzo di Pierfrancesco de' Medici, Italian banker and politician (b. 1463)
• 1506 – Christopher Columbus, Italian explorer, discovered the Americas (b. 1451)
• 1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun (b. 1510)
• 1622 – Osman II, Ottoman sultan (b. 1604)
• 1645 – Shi Kefa, Chinese general and calligrapher （b. 1601）
• 1648 – Władysław IV Vasa, Polish son of Sigismund III Vasa (b. 1595)
• 1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, Spanish-English politician, English Secretary of State (b. 1612)
• 1713 – Thomas Sprat, English bishop (b. 1635)
• 1717 – John Trevor, English politician, 102nd Speaker of the House of Commons (b. 1637)
• 1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)
• 1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish author and educator (b. 1676)
• 1782 – William Emerson, English mathematician (b. 1701)
• 1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss botanist and biologist (b. 1720)
• 1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Austrian archbishop (b. 1732)
• 1834 – Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French general (b. 1757)
• 1841 – Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (b. 1775)
• 1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian politician, 9th Premier of East Canada (b. 1814)
• 1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse (b. 1814)
• 1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
• 1909 – Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
• 1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
• 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
• 1925 – Joseph Howard, Maltese politician, 1st Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1862)
• 1931 – Ernest Noel, Scottish businessman and politician (b. 1831)
• 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish author and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1859)
• 1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish engineer (b. 1871)
• 1947 – Philipp Lenard, German physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1862)
• 1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek politician (b. 1890)
• 1949 – Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens (b. 1891)
• 1956 – Max Beerbohm, English author and illustrator (b. 1872)
• 1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer (b. 1881)
• 1961 – Josef Priller, German pilot (b. 1915)
• 1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (The Drifters) (b. 1936)
• 1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet and academic (b. 1904)
• 1973 – Renzo Pasolini, Italian motorcycle racer (b. 1938)
• 1973 – Jarno Saarinen, Finnish motorcycle racer (b. 1945)
• 1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor (b. 1903)
• 1976 – Syd Howe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1911)
• 1976 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (b. 1924)
• 1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (b. 1934)
• 1989 – John Hicks, English economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Gilda Radner, American actress (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Roger Keith Coleman, American coal miner and murderer (b. 1958)
• 1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor (b. 1919)
• 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flute player (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player and actor (b. 1970)
• 2000 – Yevgeny Khrunov, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut (b. 1933)
• 2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Paul Ricœur, French philosopher and academic (b. 1913)
• 2005 – William Seawell, American general (b. 1918)
• 2007 – Norman Von Nida, Australian golfer (b. 1914)
• 2008 – Hamilton Jordan, American politician, 8th White House Chief of Staff (b. 1944)
• 2009 – Arthur Erickson, Canadian architect, designed Roy Thomson Hall (b. 1924)
• 2009 – Pierre Gamarra, French author, poet, and critic (b. 1919)
• 2009 – Lucy Gordon, English model and actress (b. 1980)
• 2011 – Randy Savage, American wrestler and actor (b. 1952)
• 2012 – Abdelbaset al-Megrahi, Libyan terrorist, conducted the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing (b. 1952)
• 2012 – Bob Bethell, American politician (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Geoffrey Evans, Irish serial killer (b. 1943)
• 2012 – Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (Bee Gees, The Rattlesnakes, and One World Project) (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, invented the remote control (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer (b. 1958)
• 2013 – Flavio Costantini, Italian illustrator (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (b. 1947)
• 2013 – Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (b. 1924)
• 2013 – Ray Manzarek American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (The Doors, Rick & the Ravens, Manzarek–Krieger, and Nite City) (b. 1939)
• 2013 – Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (b. 1923)
• 2013 – Zach Sobiech, American singer (b. 1995)
• 2014 – Sandra Bem, American psychologist and academic (b. 1944)
• 2014 – Ross Brown, New Zealand rugby player (b. 1934)
• 2014 – Robyn Denny, English-French painter (b. 1930)
• 2014 – Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (b. 1924)
• 2014 – Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (b. 1933)
• 2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)

Holidays and observances

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Abercius and Helena
  • Aurea of Ostia
  • Austregisilus
  • Baudilus
  • Bernardino of Siena
  • Ivo of Chartres
  • Lucifer of Cagliari
  • Sanctan
  • May 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

• Day of Remembrance (Cambodia)
• Emancipation Day (Florida)
• European Maritime Day (European Council)
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Cuba from the United States in 1902.
• Independence Day, celebrates the independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002.
• Josephine Baker Day (NAACP)
• National Awakening Day (Indonesia)
• National Day (Cameroon)
• World Metrology Day

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to May 20.

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada