September 20


September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years). There are
102 days remaining.

Events

   * 451 - Atilla, king of the Huns, invades Gaul, but is defeated by Aetius
     with the help of Roman Foederati in the Battle of Chalons
   * 1519 - Ferdinand Magellan begins his voyage around the world
   * 1565 - Spaniards capture French Fort Caroline, near present-day
     Jacksonville, Florida
   * 1792 - Battle of Valmy - France defeats Prussia
   * 1797 - The USS Constitution is launched in Boston, Massachusetts
   * 1850 - Slave trading is abolished in the District of Columbia
   * 1854 - Battle of Alma - British and French troops defeat Russians in
     the Crimea
   * 1860 - The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United
     Kingdom) visits the United States
   * 1863 - Battle of Chickamauga ends
   * 1870 - Bersaglieri corps enters Rome at Porta Pia and completes the
     unification of Italy
   * 1881 - Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the
     United States.
   * 1946 - First Cannes Film Festival
   * 1954 - First FORTRAN program runs
   * 1962 - James Meredith, an African-American, is barred from entering the
     University of Mississippi
   * 1973 - Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis
     match
   * 1979 - Lee Iacocca elected president of the Chrysler Corporation
   * 1979 - Coup in Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokasa I
   * 1984 - Suicide bomber in a car attacks the United States embassy in
     Beirut, Lebanon, killing twelve people
   * 2000 - After playing 2,632 consecutive games for the Baltimore Orioles,
     baseball player Cal Ripken, Jr takes a day off.

Births

   * 356 BC - Alexander the Great (+ 323 BC)
   * 1842 - Sir James Dewar, chemist
   * 1853 - Chulalongkorn (Rama V), king of Thailand
   * 1861 - Herbert Putnam, Librarian of Congress
   * 1873 - Sidney Olcott, pioneer film director
   * 1878 - Upton Sinclair, writer, politician
   * 1890 - Jelly Roll Morton, composer
   * 1899 - Elliott Nugent, actor, director
   * 1917 - Red Auerbach, National Basketball Association coach
   * 1918 - Peg Phillips, actress
   * 1924 - Gogi Grant (Audrey Brown), singer
   * 1924 - James Galanos, fashion designer
   * 1927 - Johnny Dankworth, musician, composer
   * 1927 - Rachel Roberts, actress
   * 1928 - Doctor Joyce Brothers, psychologist, advice columnist
   * 1928 - Donald A. Hall, author
   * 1929 - Anne Meara, comedienne, actress
   * 1931 - Peter Palmer, actor
   * 1934 - Sophia Loren, actress
   * 1938 - Pia Lindstrom, journalist
   * 1948 - George R. R. Martin, science fiction writer
   * 1951 - Guy Lafleur, National Hockey League star
   * 1956 - Gary Cole, actor
   * 1975 - Juan Pablo Montoya, Formula 1 racer
   * 1975 - Asia Argento, actress

Deaths

   * 1863 - Jacob Grimm, folklorist
   * 1947 - Fiorello LaGuardia, former mayor of New York City
   * 1957 - Jean Sibelius, composer
   * 1973 - Jim Croce, singer-songwriter
   * 1996 - Paul Erdos, mathematician
   * 1999 - Raisa Gorbachev, First Lady of the Soviet Union
   * 2000 - Gherman Titov, cosmonaut

Holidays

   * In ancient Greece, the seventh day of the Eleusinian mysteries, when
     the secret rites in the Telesterion began.