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On This Day
May
20 May

On This Day: 20 May

Emperor Constantine calls the first ecumenical council at Nicaea (modern Turkey), to attempt to define the beliefs required to obtain the Grace of God Click to show or hide the answer
Battle (or Fair) of Lincoln: the Earl of Pembroke defeats the French Click to show or hide the answer
John Cabot sets sail from Bristol on his ship Matthew looking for a route to the west (Wikipedia: other sources say 2 May) Click to show or hide the answer
Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India, having discovered the sea route Click to show or hide the answer
Joao da Nova Castell discovers Ascension Island Click to show or hide the answer
Ignatius of Loyola is seriously wounded in the Battle of Pampeluna (Pamplona) – his leg shattered by a cannonball; his meditations during his long recovery set him on the road to conversion from soldier to priest Click to show or hide the answer
Brabantian (Dutch) cartographer Abraham Ortelius issues Theatrum Orbis Terrarum – the first modern atlas Click to show or hide the answer
Shakespeare's Sonnets are published for the first time – possibly without the author's consent – by Thomas Thorpe Click to show or hide the answer
In one of the bloodiest incidents of the Thirty Years' War, forces of the Holy Roman Empire seize the city of Magdeburg in Germany and massacre most of its inhabitants Click to show or hide the answer
During the 'Transition from Ming to Qing' (a.k.a. the Manchu conquest of China), a ten–day massacre of 800,000 residents of the city of Yangzhou (in central Jiangsu Province, on the north bank of the Yangtze) begins Click to show or hide the answer
Spanish troops recover Minorca Click to show or hide the answer
The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is (allegedly) adopted at Charlotte, North Carolina. If the claims are true, this was the first declaration of independence made in Britain's American colonies – preceding the US Declaration of Independence by over a year Click to show or hide the answer
Napoleon reinstates slavery in the French colonies, revoking its abolition during the French Revolution Click to show or hide the answer
Napoleon leads his troops into the Battle of Bautzen in Saxony, against the combined armies of Russia and Prussia; the battle ends the next day with a French victory Click to show or hide the answer
York Minster is badly damaged by fire Click to show or hide the answer
Kentucky proclaims its neutrality in the American Civil War; North Carolina secedes from the Union Click to show or hide the answer
US President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law – allowing applicants to acquire government land free of charge Click to show or hide the answer
Queen Victoria lays the foundation stone of the Royal Albert Hall Click to show or hide the answer
Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a US patent for blue jeans with copper rivets Click to show or hide the answer
Seventeen nations (Wikipedia actually lists 18: Argentina, Brazil, Peru, Venezuela, the Ottoman Empire and the United States, and twelve European nations, including Russia and Austria–Hungary but excluding the UK) sign the Metre Convention, leading to the establishment of the International System of Units Click to show or hide the answer
The German Empire, Austria–Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy form the Triple Alliance Click to show or hide the answer
Thomas Edison displays his prototype 'kinetoscope' in public for the first time Click to show or hide the answer
US Supreme Court rules that a national income tax is unconstitutional Click to show or hide the answer
Siege of Mafeking relieved Click to show or hide the answer
Cuba gains independence from the United States Click to show or hide the answer
Earth passes through the tail of Halley's Comet – and survives Click to show or hide the answer
P&O liner Ushant sinks after a collision off Ushant; 87 die Click to show or hide the answer
Stanley Baldwin becomes prime minister Click to show or hide the answer
Charles Lindbergh takes off from Roosevelt field, Long Island, New York Click to show or hide the answer
Treaty of Jedda: the UK recognizes the sovereignty of King ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Click to show or hide the answer
Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland, on the first solo flight across the Atlantic by a female pilot Click to show or hide the answer
200,000 people attend the first day of the first Chelsea Flower Show Click to show or hide the answer
PanAm inaugurates its first commercial service to Europe Click to show or hide the answer
A new concentration camp at Auschwitz receives its first prisoners Click to show or hide the answer
German forces begin an aerial invasion of Crete Click to show or hide the answer
Chiang Kai–shek is elected as the first President of the Republic of China (Taiwan) Click to show or hide the answer
Operation Redwing: the USA explodes the first airborne hydrogen bomb over Bikini Atoll Click to show or hide the answer
Guy Trebert, in Paris, is the first person to be arrested after identification from an Identikit picture Click to show or hide the answer
Orient Express leaves Paris for Istanbul for the last time Click to show or hide the answer
US astronomers Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias discover the cosmic microwave background radiation Click to show or hide the answer
Home Secretary Sir Frank Soskice announces that Britain's police are to be armed with tear gas guns and grenades, to be used against armed criminals or dangerous individuals Click to show or hide the answer
In Vietnam, the Battle of Hamburger Hill ends Click to show or hide the answer
Beatles film Let it be premiered in London Click to show or hide the answer
Pakistani forces massacre thousands of people, mostly Bengali Hindus, at the town of Chuknagar, near the Indian border in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) Click to show or hide the answer
Widespread floods in Romania kill 200 Click to show or hide the answer
Britain sends three Royal Navy frigates to protect trawlers in the disputed Icelandic 50–mile zone, as the so–called 'cod war' escalates Click to show or hide the answer
The original Orient Express leaves Paris on its last journey to Istanbul Click to show or hide the answer
British nurse Helen Smith, 23, found dead after falling from a 6th floor balcony in Jeddah Click to show or hide the answer
Voters in Quebec reject, by 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada Click to show or hide the answer
French virologist Luc Montagnier describes his discovery of the HIV virus in the American journal Science Click to show or hide the answer
At least 16 people are killed, and more than 130 injured, when a car bomb explodes in the centre of Pretoria in South Africa Click to show or hide the answer
Tory MP Harvey Proctor admits to using rent boys Click to show or hide the answer
Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro–democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre Click to show or hide the answer
Romania holds its first post–Communist presidential and parliamentary elections Click to show or hide the answer
The US Supreme Court rules against a law that would have prevented any city, town or county in Colorado from taking any action to protect the rights of gays and lesbians Click to show or hide the answer
Leo Blair is born – the first baby born to a serving UK prime minister for 150 years Click to show or hide the answer
Portugal recognises the independence of East Timor, formally ending 23 years of Indonesian rule and three years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself having colonised East Timor until 1976) Click to show or hide the answer

© Haydn Thompson 2019