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What happened in history on this day: August 20?
On August 20 in ...
- 1781 - US General George Washington begins to move his troops south to fight Cornwallis.
- 1794 - General Mad Anthony Wayne routes Indians at Fallen Timbers, Ohio.
- 1865 - President Andrew Johnson proclaims an end to "insurrection" in Texas.
- 1866 - US President Andrew Johnson officially declares the American Civil War to be ended.
- 1912 - Plant Quarantine Act goes into effect.
- 1920 - First US commercial radio, 8MK (WWJ), Detroit, Michigan begins daily broadcasting.
- 1930 - Dumont's first TV broadcast for home reception (New York City).
- 1942 - Dim-out regulations implemented in San Francisco, California.
- 1948 - US expels Soviet Consul General in New York, Jacob Lomakin.
- 1955 - First airplane to exceed 1800 mph (2897 kph) - HA Hanes, Palmdale, California, USA.
- 1957 - US Air Force balloon breaks an altitude record at 102,000 feet (310,896 metres).
- 1964 - US President Lyndon Johnson signs Economic Opportunity Act (totaling nearly US$1 billion).
- 1971 - FBI begins covert investigation of journalist Daniel Schorr.
- 1975 - American Viking 1 launched toward orbit around Mars.
- 1986 - In Edmond, Oklahoma, United States Postal Service employee Patrick Sherrill guns down 14 of his co-workers before committing suicide.
- 1992 - The Republican National Convention in Houston, Texas renominates U.S. President George H.W. Bush and Vice President Dan Quayle. Pat Buchanan, one of Bush's opponents in the primaries, delivers a controversial convention speech, in which he refers to a "religious war" in the country.
- 1994 - In Honolulu, Hawaii, during a circus international performance at the Neal Blaisdell Arena, a female elephant named Tyke crushes her trainer Allen Campbell to death before hundreds of horrified spectators.
- 1998 - The United States military launches cruise missile attacks against alleged Al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan and a suspected chemical plant in Sudan in retaliation for the August 7 bombings of American embassies in Kenya and Tanzania. The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Khartoum is destroyed in the attack.
- 2007 - NASDAQ announces its intention to sell its 31 percent stake in the London Stock Exchange.
Births on August 20
- 1833 - Birth of Benjamin Harrison in North Bend, Ohio, USA; brigadier general of 70th Indiana Infantry Regiment, US Senator (1881-87), 23rd US President (1889-1893).
- 1890 - Birth of H.P. Lovecraft; American Gothic novelist (At the Mountains of Madness).
- 1907 - Birth of Alan Reed in New York City, New York, USA; actor (Mr Adams and Eve, Fred Allen Show, voice of Fred Flintstone - The Flintstones).
- 1907 - Birth of Shirley Booth in New York City, New York, USA; actress (Hazel - Hazel, A Touch of Grace).
- 1921 - Birth of Jacqueline Susann in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA; author (Valley of the Dolls).
- 1935 - Birth of Justin Tubb in San Antonio, Texas, USA; country singer (Grand Ole Opry).
- 1940 - Birth of Sam Melville in Utah, USA; actor (Mike Danko - Rookies, Roughnecks).
- 1946 - Birth of Connie Chung in Washington, DC, USA; TV newscaster (NBC, CBS).
- 1953 - Birth of Peter Horton in Bellevue, Washington, USA; actor (Gary - 30 Something).
- 1955 - Birth of Jay Acovone in Mahopac, New York, USA; actor (Det Rado - Hollywood Beat).
- 1961 - Birth of Linda Mantz in New York City, USA; actress (Frankie - Dorothy).
- 1966 - Birth of Courtney Gibbs; Miss USA (1988), actress (Baywatch).
Deaths on August 20
- 2007 - Death of Leona Helmsley, American hotel operator and real estate investor, in New York at age 87 (born 1920).
- 2008 - In Los Angeles, Saxophonist LeRoi Moore, a founding member of the Dave Matthews Band, dies of complications from a vehicle accident in June, at age 46.
- 2014 - Death of Edmund Szoka, American cardinal (born 1927).
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