Today in History - Historical Events - September 20th

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Notable Historical Events on September 20th

2001In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror".

1963JFK proposes a joint US-Soviet voyage to the moon

1519Ferdinand Magellan starts 1st successful circumnavigation of the world

1939Joe Louis KOs Bob Pastor in 11 for heavyweight boxing title

1931Lou Gehrig's 4 RBIs break his old RBI mark of 175 en route to 184

1970Jim Morrison found not guilty of "lewd" behavior

1870Italian army under Victor Emmanuel II seizes Rome from the French

1987Walter Payton scores NFL record 107th rushing touchdown

1955Willie Mays (Giants) homers off Vern Law (Pirates) in both ends of DH

1955Willie Mays is 7th player to reach 50 HRS in a season

1973Willie Mays announces retirement at end of 1973 season

1973Billy Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match

1953Cubs Ernie Banks hits his 1st major league HR

1643First Battle of Newbury (English civil war): King Charles I's forces beaten by a parliamentary army led by the Earl of Essex and Philip Stapleton

1904Orville & Wilbur Wright fly a circle in their Flyer II

1187Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.

1980George Brett goes 0-for-4 dropping his avg below .400 for good

1833Charles Darwin rides horse to Buenos Aires

451Roman General Flavius Aetius defeats Attila the Hun at The Battle of the Catalaunian Plainsat (Chalons-sur-Marne) halting Hun invasion of Roman Gaul

198739th Emmy Awards: LA Law, Bruce Willis & Sharon Gless win

1968Mickey Mantle hits final career homer # 536

1976Playboy releases Jimmy Carter's interview that he lusts for women

1879Ulysses S. Grant and family go to SF for elaborate extended visit

1919Babe Ruth ties Ned Williamson's major league mark of 27 HRs

1961Roger Maris hits home run # 59 & barely misses # 60 in game 154 of the season. Yanks clinch pennant #26

19192nd PGA Championship: Jim Barnes at Engineers CC Roslyn NY

2011"New Girl", starring Zooey Deschanel, debuts on Fox

1932Gandhi begins hunger strike against treatment of untouchables

September 20th Historical Events
Date Event
368
Emperor Valentinianus visits Nijmegen 
451
Roman General Flavius Aetius defeats Attila the Hun at The Battle of the Catalaunian Plainsat (Chalons-sur-Marne) halting Hun invasion of Roman Gaul 
622
Prophet Mohammed/Abu Bakr arrives in Jathrib (Medina) 
1066
Battle of Fulford, Yorkshire: Harald III Hardrada of Norway defeats Northern Saxon Earls Edwin and Morcar 
1187
Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem. 
1258
Salisbury Cathedral inaugurated 
1378
Robert de Geneve, "butcher of Cesena" crowned anti-pope Clemens VII 
1519
Ferdinand Magellan starts 1st successful circumnavigation of the world 
1530
Luther advises protestant monarch compromise 
1565
Spaniards capture Fort Caroline Fla & massacre the French 
1596
Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey in New Spain. 
1604
Spanish army under Spinola recaptures Oostende 
1620
Battle at Jassy: Turks beat king Sigismund III of Poland 
1643
First Battle of Newbury (English civil war): King Charles I's forces beaten by a parliamentary army led by the Earl of Essex and Philip Stapleton 
1664
Maryland passes 1st anti-amalgamation law to stop intermarriage of English women & black men 
1674
2nd West Indies Company forms 
1688
French troops occupies Palts 
1697
Peace of Saki (ends 9 years war) 
1737
Runner Edward Marshall completes his journey in the Walking Purchase forcing the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,860 km²) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony. 
1746
Bonnie Prince Charlie flees to France from Scotland 
1777
Battle of Paoli; British forces under Major General Charles Grey attacked Brigadier General Anthony Wayne's encampment. Claims that the British gave no quarter led to the engagement becoming known (from an American perspective) as the "Paoli Massacre." 
1787
Prince Willem V returns to Hague 
1792
French defeat Prussians at Valmy 
1793
British troops under Major-general Williamson lands on (French) Haiti 
1797
US frigate Constitution (Old Ironsides) launched in Boston 
1814
"Star Spangled Banner" published as a song, lyrics by Francis Scott Key, tune by John Stafford Smith 
1830
1st Negro Convention of Free Men agree to boycott slave-produced goods 
1833
Charles Darwin rides horse to Buenos Aires 
1835
Farroupilha's Revolution begins in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil. 
1839
1st railroad in Netherland opens (Amsterdam-Haarlem) 
1848
The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created. 
1850
Slave trade abolished in DC, but slavery allowed to continue 
1854
Battle of the Alma: first major battle of Crimean War. British and French alliance defeat the Russians 
1859
George Simpson patents electric range 
1860
First British royalty to visit US, Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII) 
1861
Battle of Lexington, MI-captured by Union 
1863
Battle of Shepardstown VA 
1863
Civil War Battle of Chickamauga, near Chattanooga Tenn, ends 
1870
Italian army under Victor Emmanuel II seizes Rome from the French 
1870
Mayor William Tweed accused of robbing NY treasury 
1870
Pope Pius IX surrenders to King Victor Emmanuel 
1871
Bishop John Coleridge Patteson martyred on the island of Nukapu, a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu province of the Solomon Islands. He was the first bishop of Melanesia. 
1873
Panic sweeps NY Stock Exchange (railroad bond default/bank failure) NY shut banks for 10 days due to a bank scandal 
1876
Ottawa Football Club forms 
1877
Chase National Bank opens in NYC (later merges into Chase Manhattan) 
1879
Ulysses S. Grant and family go to SF for elaborate extended visit 
1881
Chester A. Arthur sworn in as 21st president 
1884
6.2 mile Arlberg railroad tunnel completed in Austria 
1884
Equal Rights Party nominates female candidates for Pres & VP 
1891
The first gasoline-powered car debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts, United States. 
1902
Chicago White Sox Jim Callahan no-hits Detroit Tigers, 3-0 
1904
George Ade's "College Widow," premieres in NYC 
1904
Orville & Wilbur Wright fly a circle in their Flyer II 
1905
Cleveland makes AL record 7 errors in an inning 
1906
Cunard Line's RMS Mauretania is launched at the Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson shipyard in Newcastle, England. 
1907
Pitts Nick Maddox no-hits Bkln Dodgers, 2-1 
1908
Chicago White Sox Frank Smith 2nd no-hitter, beats Phila 1-0 
1909
The British Parliament passes the South Africa Act; it calls for union of Cape Colony, Natal, Orange River Colony, and Transvaal; and both English and Dutch as official languages 
1911
Yanks set team record 12 errors in a double header 
1913
19th US Golf Open: Francis Ouimet shoots a 304 at The Country Club MA 
1914
John Redmond urges Irish Volunteers to enlist in the British Army 
1917
British assault on Polygon Forest, France 
1917
Paraguay becomes a signatory to the Buenos Aires copyright treaty. 
1918
Royal Dutch Blast furnace & Steel factory opens in Hague 
1919
2nd PGA Championship: Jim Barnes at Engineers CC Roslyn NY 
1919
Babe Ruth ties Ned Williamson's major league mark of 27 HRs 
1919
Booth Tarkington's "Clarence," premieres in NYC 
1920
Foundation of the Spanish Legion. 
1922
Goodman & Atteridge's musical "Passing Show," premieres in NYC 
1922
Rogers Hornsby ends hitting streak of 33 games 
1922
Franco Ventriglia, Fairfield, Connecticut, opera singer, (d. 2012) 
1924
Carl Mays is 1st pitcher to win 20 games seasons for 3 different teams 
1924
Cub's Grover Cleveland Alexander beats NY Giants to win 300th game 
1926
Bugs Moran attempts to assassinate Al Capone in a drive-by shooting but fails 
1930
Syro-Malankara Catholic Church is formed by Archbishop Mar Ivanios. 
1931
Lou Gehrig's 4 RBIs break his old RBI mark of 175 en route to 184 
1932
Chicago Cubs clinch the NL pennant 
1932
Dutch South Seas rebaptized in IJsselmeer 
1932
Gandhi begins hunger strike against treatment of untouchables 
1933
Pittsburgh Steelers (as Pirates) play 1st NFL game, lose 23-2 
1935
Pitts Crawfords beat NY Cubans to win Negro NL Championship, 3-0 
1938
Dmitri Shostakovitch's Suite for jazz orchestra, premieres 
1938
Emlyn Williams' "Corn is Green," premieres in London 
1939
British navy captures German U-27 boat 
1939
Joe Louis KOs Bob Pastor in 11 for heavyweight boxing title 
1942
Gunther Hagg becomes world champ of all records from 1500m to 5000m 
1943
Liberator bomber sinks U-338 
1944
Nijmegen is liberated from German occupation 
1944
Polish forces free Terneuzen Neth 
1945
German rocket engineers begin work in US 
1946
Churchill argues for a 'United States of Europe' 
1946
The first Cannes Film Festival is held. 
1948
"Magdalena" opens at Ziegfeld Theater NYC for 48 performances 
1948
Mexican Baseball league disbanded 
1949
Dutch Guilder devalued 30.3% 
1949
Tennis player Pancho Gonzales turns professional 
1951
1st North Pole jet crossing 
1951
NL President Ford Frick elected 3rd commissioner of baseball 
1951
Swiss males votes against female suffrage 
1952
KPTV TV channel 12 in Portland, OR (IND) begins broadcasting 
1953
Cubs Ernie Banks hits his 1st major league HR 
1954
1st FORTRAN computer program run 
1954
1st National People's Congress adopts Chinese constitution 
1954
KETC TV channel 9 in Saint Louis, MO (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1954
Los Stravinsky's "In Memoriam Dylan Thomas," premieres in Angeles 
1954
Roger Bannister awarded Britain's Silver Pears Trophy 
1954
New Zealand's Special Committee on Moral Delinquency in Children and Adolescents reports just ten days after concluding hearings. 
1955
Willie Mays (Giants) homers off Vern Law (Pirates) in both ends of DH 
1955
Willie Mays is 7th player to reach 50 HRS in a season 
1958
Baltimore Oriole knuckler Hoyt Wilhelm no-hits NY Yankees 1-0 
1958
Ferhat Abbas forms Algerian government in exile (Cairo) 
1958
USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR 
1959
Beverly Hanson wins LPGA Links Golf Invitation Open 
1960
UN General Assembly admit 13 African countries & Cyprus (96 nations) 
1960
WFSU TV channel 11 in Tallahassee, FL (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1961
After 84 1/3 innings Bill Fischer gives up a base on balls 
1961
James Meredith refused access as a student in Mississippi 
1961
USSR performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya USSR 
1961
Roger Maris hits home run # 59 & barely misses # 60 in game 154 of the season. Yanks clinch pennant #26 
1962
Ben Bella wins 1st elections in independent Algeria 
1962
Gov R Barnett refuses to admit a black to Miss Univ (James Meredith) 
1963
JFK proposes a joint US-Soviet voyage to the moon 
1964
Gunter Grass' "Die Plebejern proben den Aufstand," premieres in Berlin 
1964
Paramount Theater (NYC) presented the Beatles with Steve & Eydie 
1965
WXXW (now WYCC) TV channel 20 in Chicago, IL (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1966
US Surveyor B launched toward Moon; crashed Sept 23 
1967
Benin separates from Nigeria 
1967
British liner Queen Elizabeth II launched at Clydebank Scotland 
1967
Hurricane Beulah hits Texas-Mexican border, kills 38 
1967
WCAE TV channel 50 in St John, IN (PBS) begins broadcasting 
1967
WCIX TV channel 6 in Miami, FL (CBS) begins broadcasting 
1968
Mickey Mantle hits final career homer # 536 
1969
18th Ryder Cup: Draw, 16-16 at Royal Birkdale, England 
1969
Archies' "Sugar Sugar" hits #1 
1969
Pitts Pirate Bob Moose no-hits NY Mets, 4-0 
1970
Jim Morrison found not guilty of "lewd" behavior 
1970
Luna 16 lands on Moon's Mare Fecunditatis, drills core sample 
1972
Police find cannabis growing on Paul & Linda McCartney's farm 
1972
Libya acquires a 50 percent interest in two ENI oil concessions 
1972
The Social Democratic and Labour Party issues a document entitled Towards a New Ireland, proposing that the British and Irish governments should have joint sovereignty over Northern Ireland 
1972
The Social Democratic and Labour Party issues a document entitled Towards a New Ireland, proposing that the British and Irish governments should have joint sovereignty over Northern Ireland 
1973
Billy Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in battle-of-sexes tennis match 
1973
Willie Mays announces retirement at end of 1973 season 
1975
21st Ryder Cup: US, 21-11 at Laurel Valley Golf Club (Ligonier, Pennsylvania, US) 
1975
David Bowie's "Fame," single goes #1 for 2 weeks 
1975
Gary Sentman draws a record 176 lb longbow to a maximum 28½" draw 
1976
Metroliner official opens in Brussels 
1976
Playboy releases Jimmy Carter's interview that he lusts for women 
1976
Sid Berstein offers $230 million charity concert for Beatle reunion 
1977
"Estrada" opens at Majestic Theater NYC for 7 performances 
1977
Vietnam & Djibouti ask for membership in UN 
1978
"Eubie!" opens at Ambassador Theater NYC for 439 performances 
1978
USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR 
1978
Yamada Mumon Roshi visits Benedictine Abbey of Maria Laach Germany 
1979
Coup in Central African Rep: David Dacko overthrows emperor Bokassa I 
1979
Jose E dod Santos becomes president of Angola 
1979
NASA launches HEAO 
1979
Lee Iacocca is elected president of the Chrysler Corporation. 
1979
The Punjab wing of the Unity Centre of Communist Revolutionaries of India (Marxist-Leninist) formally splits and constitutes a parallel UCCRI(ML). 
1979
Assassination of French left-wing militant Pierre Goldman. 
1980
Bronze plaque dedicated to memory of Thurman Munson at Yankee Stadium 
1980
George Brett goes 0-for-4 dropping his avg below .400 for good 
1980
Spectacular Bid runs in Belmont alone as 3 horses drop out 
1981
24th Ryder Cup: US, 18½-9½ at Walton Heath Golf Club (Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, England) 
1981
Joe Danelo kicks then NY Giant record 55 yard field goal 
1981
Sandra Haynie wins LPGA Henredon Golf Classic 
1982
Jalaluddin takes a one-day hat-trick Pakistan v Australia 
1982
NFL players begin a 57 day strike 
1983
3,112 turn out to see Pirates play NY Mets at Shea Stadium 
1983
Cryptographic Communications System & Method (RSA) patented 
1984
"Cosby Show" premieres on NBC-TV 
1984
Cubs break 2 million in home attendance for 1st time 
1984
Suicide car bomb attacks US Embassy annex in Beirut, kills 23 
1985
Curtis Strong is convicted for selling cocaine to pro baseball players 
1985
Walt Disney World's 200-millionth guest 
1986
Wichita State Shockers blow a 35-3 lead; lose 36-35 to Morehead State 
1987
"Big River" closes at Eugene O'Neill Theater NYC after 1005 perfs 
1987
39th Emmy Awards: LA Law, Bruce Willis & Sharon Gless win 
1987
Alain Prost wins record 28th Formula one auto race 
1987
Dwight Clark ends NFL streak of 105 consecutive game receptions 
1987
Jan Stephenson wins LPGA SAFECO Golf Classic 
1987
Walter Payton scores NFL record 107th rushing touchdown 
1988
Darrell Evans hits his 400th career home run 
1988
Greg Louganis wins Olympic gold medal in springboard diving 
1988
Wade Boggs is 1st player to get 200 hits for 6 consecutive seasons 
1989
FW De Klerk sworn in as president of South Africa 
1989
Musical "Miss Saigon," premieres in London 
1989
USAir overshoots runway at LaGuardia Airport in NYC, 2 people die 
1990
Both Germanys ratify reunification 
1990
US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site 
1990
South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia. 
1991
Lion's Terry Taylor reinstated after 1 year drug related suspension 
1992
Colleen Walker wins LPGA SAFECO Golf Classic 
1992
France votes in favor of Maastricht treaty 
1992
Leanza Cornett (Florida), 21, crowned 66th Miss America 1993 
1992
Phils' Mickey Moradini makes an unassisted triple play 
1992
Space shuttle STS-47 (Endeavour 2) lands 
1994
Space shuttle STS-64 (Discovery 20), lands 
1995
Cincinnati Reds becomes 1st team to clinch NL Central 
1997
Yanks clinch 37th appearance in post season, 3rd consecutive 
1998
Solheim Cup 
2000
Patent on RSA cryptograph algorithm ends 
2000
The British MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by a Russian-built Mark 22 anti-tank missile. 
2001
In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror". 
2002
The Kolka-Karmadon rock/ice slide started. 
2003
Maldives civil unrest: the death of prisoner Hassan Evan Naseem sparks a day of rioting in Malé. 
2003
A referendum is held in Latvia to decide the country's accession to the European Union. 
2009
61st Emmy Awards: Mad Men, 30 Rock, Bryan Cranston & Glenn Close win 
2010
The National Bureau of Economic Research state today that the US left the recession in June 2009, with managing director Lakshman Achuthan of the Economic Cycle Research Institute saying GDP recovered to 70% of the pre-recession level 
2011
The United States ends its "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time. 
2011
"New Girl", starring Zooey Deschanel, debuts on Fox 
2012
50 people are killed and dozens injured after a gas station is bombed by the Syrian Army in Ain Issa 
2012
14 people are killed in a cafe suicide bominbg in Somalia 
2012
AU Optronics fined $500 million for a LCD screen price-fixing 
2013
46 soldiers are killed in army-base attacks in Shabwah Governorate, Yemen 
2013
Grand Theft Auto becomes the fastest entertainment product to reach $1 Billion in sales 
2013
Greenpeace ship Artic Sunrise is boarded by Russian military 
2013
Alex Rodriquez sets new MLB record with 24 Grand Slam home runs for the New York Yankees 
2014
New Zealand's National Government wins a 3rd term in the elections despite allegations of corruption and revelations about state surveillance 
2017
More than 100 dead in major earthquake near Mexico City 
2017
Trump vows to 'totally destroy North Korea' at UN assembly 
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