May 20

May 20 in recent years

2024 (Monday)

2023 (Saturday)

2022 (Friday)

2021 (Thursday)

2020 (Wednesday)

2019 (Monday)

2018 (Sunday)

2017 (Saturday)

2016 (Friday)

2015 (Wednesday)

May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 225 days remain 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 300,000 people in 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.
• 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.
• 1497 – John Cabot sets sail from Bristol, England, on his ship 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.
• 1521 – Battle of Pampeluna: Ignatius Loyola is seriously wounded.
• 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.
• 1775 – Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence 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 Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy is formed.
• 1883 – Krakatoa begins to erupt. The volcano's final and most notable explosion occurs on August 26.
• 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 Jedda: 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 – 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 (shot Cherokee), the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
• 1965 – PIA Flight 705, a Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720 – 040 B, crashes while descending to land at Cairo International Airport, killing 119 of the 125 passengers and crew.
• 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.
• 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 – Gay 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 3 years of provisional UN administration (Portugal itself is the former colonizer of East Timor until 1976).

Births

• 1315 – Bonne of Luxembourg (d. 1349)
• 1470 – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
• 1554 – Paolo Bellasio, Italian composer (d. 1594)
• 1593 – Salomo Glassius, German theologian (d. 1656)
• 1663 – William Bradford, English printer (d. 1752)
• 1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)
• 1706 – Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
• 1726 – Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
• 1737 – William Petty, 2nd Earl of Shelburne, English statesman (d. 1805)
• 1759 – William Thornton, West Indian-born architect (d. 1828)
• 1768 – Dolley Madison, American wife of James Madison, 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, Canadian explorer (d. 1862)
• 1799 – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
• 1806 – John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
• 1818 – William Fargo, American expressman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
• 1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1912)
• 1824 – Cadmus M. Wilcox, American general (d. 1890)
• 1830 – Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)
• 1838 – Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
• 1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
• 1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel laureate (d. 1917)
• 1875 – Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
• 1882 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel laureate (d. 1949)
• 1883 – Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
• 1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish founder of Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
• 1889 – Karin Molander, Swedish actress (d. 1978)
• 1894 – Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian Hindu sage, Jivanmukta (d. 1994)
• 1895 – R. J. Mitchell, English aircraft designer, designed Supermarine Spitfire (d. 1937)
• 1897 – Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish author, economist, and anarchist (d. 1983)
• 1899 – Alexander Deyneka, Ukrainian painter (d. 1969)
• 1899 – John Marshall Harlan II, American jurist, Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (d. 1971)
• 1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
• 1906 – Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
• 1908 – Louis Daquin, French director (d. 1980)
• 1908 – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1911 – Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)
• 1911 – Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch writer (d. 1995)
• 1913 – William Reddington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
• 1914 – Corneliu Coposu, Romanian politician (d. 1995)
• 1914 – Hideko Maehata, Japanese swimmer (d. 1995)
• 1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general (d. 1981)
• 1915 – Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
• 1916 – Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete (d. 2006)
• 1916 – Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
• 1917 – Guy Favreau, French-Canadian lawyer (d. 1967)
• 1917 – Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
• 1918 – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, Nobel laureate (d. 2004)
• 1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German pilot (d. 1983)
• 1919 – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
• 1920 – John Cruickshank, Scottish flight lieutenant, recipient of the Victoria Cross
• 1920 – Betty Driver, English singer, actress, and author (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
• 1921 – Hal Newhouser, American baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1924 – Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan reporter and politician (d. 1976)
• 1923 – Edith Fellows, American actress d. 2011
• 1925 – Chester Ludgin, American baritone (d. 2003)
• 1925 – Alexei Tupolev, Soviet engineer and aircraft designer (d. 2001)
• 1926 – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
• 1926 – John Lucarotti, English-Canadian writer (d. 1994)
• 1927 – Bud Grant, American football coach
• 1927 – Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal
• 1927 – David Hedison, American actor
• 1929 – Ahmed Hamdi, Egyptian soldier d. 1973)
• 1929 – Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician
• 1930 – Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
• 1931 – Ken Boyer, American baseball player (d. 1982)
• 1931 – Paul R. Evans, American furniture designer and sculptor (d. 1987)
• 1932 – Bob Florence, American pianist, composer, and arranger (d. 2008)
• 1933 – Constance Towers, American actress
• 1935 – José Mujica, Uruguayan politician, 40th President of Uruguay
• 1936 – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
• 1938 – Marinella, Greek singer and actress
• 1940 – Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter, musician, and producer (d. 1969)
• 1940 – Stan Mikita, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1940 – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
• 1940 – Michel Vastel, French-Canadian journalist, columnist, and author (d. 2008)
• 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, Senior Minister
• 1941 – John Strasberg, American actor
• 1941 – Manuel Isaias Lopez, Mexican psychiatrist
• 1942 – Carlos Hathcock, American Marine Corps sniper (d. 1999)
• 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian ambassador
• 1942 – Jill Jackson, American singer (Paul & Paula)
• 1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker (Al Bano and Romina Power)
• 1944 – Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter, musician, and actor (The Grease Band)
• 1944 – Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founded Red Bull GmbH
• 1945 – Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian politician
• 1946 – Cher, American singer, actress, producer, and director (Sonny & Cher)
• 1946 – Robert Chua, Hong Kong broadcaster
• 1946 – Dave Despain, American journalist
• 1946 – Bobby Murcer, American baseball player (d. 2008)
• 1947 – Greg Dyke, English journalist and broadcaster
• 1947 – John Corapi, American priest
• 1949 – Robert Morin, French-Canadian director and screenwriter
• 1949 – Dave Thomas, Canadian comedian and actor
• 1950 – Yvon Lambert, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1950 – Reinaldo Merlo, Argentine footballer
• 1951 – Thomas Akers, American astronaut
• 1951 – Mike Crapo, American politician
• 1952 – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
• 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian politician
• 1953 – Norbert Siegmann, German footballer
• 1954 – Guy Hoffman, American singer, drummer, and composer (Violent Femmes, Oil Tasters, and BoDeans)
• 1954 – David Paterson, American politician
• 1954 – Cindy McCain, American businesswoman and philanthropist, wife of John McCain
• 1954 – Robert Van de Walle, Belgian judoka
• 1955 – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer
• 1956 – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
• 1956 – Dean Butler, American actor
• 1956 – William Michaelian, American novelist and poet
• 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan
• 1958 – Ron Reagan, American radio host, son of Ronald Reagan
• 1958 – Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, musician, and actress (The Go-Go's and Frosted)
• 1959 – Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Cowsills and Continental Drifters)
• 1959 – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer-songwriter and musician (Makaha Sons of Ni'ihau) (d. 1997)
• 1959 – Bronson Pinchot, American actor
• 1960 – John Billingsley, American actor
• 1960 – Tony Goldwyn, American actor
• 1961 – Clive Allen, English footballer
• 1962 – Mike Jeffries, American soccer player and coach
• 1963 – David Wells, American baseball player
• 1964 – Kōichirō Gemba, Japanese politician
• 1964 – Edin Osmanović, Slovenian football manager
• 1965 – Ted Allen, American chef and author
• 1965 – Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1966 – Dan Abrams, American reporter
• 1966 – Mindy Cohn, American actress
• 1967 – Gabriele Muccino, Italian director
• 1967 – Pavlos, Crown Prince of Greece
• 1967 – Ramzi Yousef, Kuwaiti-Pakistani terrorist
• 1968 – Timothy Olyphant, American actor
• 1968 – Waisale Serevi, Fijian rugby player
• 1969 – Brian Girard James, American wrestler, agent, and producer
• 1970 – Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
• 1970 – Louis Theroux, English broadcaster
• 1971 – Šárka Kašpárková, Czech athlete
• 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
• 1975 – Pascal Denis, Canadian figure skater
• 1975 – Isaac Gálvez, Spanish cyclist (d. 2006)
• 1975 – Juan Minujín, Argentine actor
• 1975 – Tahmoh Penikett, Canadian actor
• 1975 – Andrew Sega, American musician and composer (Iris, Stromkern, and Five Musicians)
• 1975 – Mark Zupan, American rugby player and actor
• 1976 – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan baseball player
• 1976 – Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
• 1977 – Matt Czuchry, American actor
• 1977 – Angela Goethals, American actress
• 1977 – Chad Muska, American skateboarder
• 1977 – Leonardo Noeren Franco, Argentine footballer
• 1977 – Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
• 1977 – Tiger Tyson, American porn actor
• 1978 – Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
• 1978 – Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech athlete
• 1978 – Nils Schumann, German athlete
• 1979 – Rick Edwards, English television host
• 1979 – Alessandro Hirata, Brazilian jurist
• 1979 – Jana Pallaske, German actress and singer (Spitting Off Tall Buildings)
• 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician
• 1979 – Jayson Werth, American baseball player
• 1980 – Austin Kearns, American baseball player
• 1980 – Agnes Kittelsen, Norwegian actress
• 1980 – Kassim Osgood, American football player and agent
• 1980 – Cauã Reymond, Brazilian actor
• 1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
• 1981 – Sean Conlon, English singer and composer (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, musician, and composer
• 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, Russian singer
• 1982 – Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director
• 1983 – Daniel Belle, Australian singer
• 1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
• 1983 – Chad Connell, Canadian actor
• 1983 – Roger Huerta, American mixed martial artist
• 1983 – Michaela McManus, American actress
• 1983 – N. T. Rama Rao Jr., Indian actor
• 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, rapper, and actress (3LW)
• 1984 – Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
• 1984 – Kenny Vasoli, American singer-songwriter and musician (The Starting Line and Person L)
• 1985 – Chris Froome, 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 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
• 1986 – Eilidh MacQueen, Scottish actress
• 1986 – Anthony Neely, Taiwanese-American singer and musician
• 1986 – Casey Parker, Panamanian porn actress and model
• 1986 – Jiřina Ptáčníková, Czech pole vaulter
• 1987 – Mike Havenaar, Dutch-Japanese footballer
• 1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Russian ice hockey player
• 1987 – Kristopher Van Varenberg, American actor
• 1987 – Julian Wright, American basketball player
• 1988 – Nathaniel Brown, American actor and director
• 1988 – Comfort Fedoke, American dancer and actress
• 1988 – Carla Humphries, Filipino actress
• 1988 – Yusuf Kasal, Turkish footballer
• 1988 – Miyu Nagase, Japanese singer and guitarist (Zone)
• 1991 – Mara Lopez, Filipino actress
• 1992 – Cate Campbell, Australian swimmer
• 1993 – Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
• 1994 – Frida Sandén, Swedish singer
• 1995 – Brandon Zibaka, English footballer
• 1996 – Madeline Taylor, American actress
• 2000 santa claws dad of 2000 kids

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 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)
• 1648 – Wladislaus IV of Poland (b. 1595)
• 1677 – George Digby, 2nd Earl of Bristol, English statesman (b. 1612)
• 1713 – Thomas Sprat, English writer (b. 1635)
• 1717 – John Trevor, English statesman (b. 1637)
• 1722 – Sébastien Vaillant, French botanist (b. 1669)
• 1732 – Thomas Boston, Scottish church leader (b. 1676)
• 1782 – William Emerson, English mathematician (b. 1701)
• 1793 – Charles Bonnet, Swiss naturalist (b. 1720)
• 1812 – Count Hieronymus von Colloredo, Prince-Archbishop of Salzburg (b. 1732)
• 1825 – Papaflessas, Greek priest and politician (b. 1788)
• 1834 – Gilbert du Motier, marquis de Lafayette, French military officer (b. 1757)
• 1841 – Joseph Blanco White, English theologian (b. 1775)
• 1873 – George-Étienne Cartier, French-Canadian statesman (b. 1814)
• 1880 – Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse (b. 1814)
• 1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
• 1909 – Ernest Hogan, American comedian and composer (b. 1859)
• 1917 – Philipp von Ferrary, Italian philatelist (b. 1850)
• 1917 – Valentine Fleming, Scottish politician (b. 1887)
• 1927 – Oscar Stribolt, Danish actor (b. 1872)
• 1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish writer, Nobel laureate (b. 1859)
• 1946 – Jacob Ellehammer, Danish aviation pioneer and engineer (b. 1871)
• 1947 – Philipp Lenard, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1862)
• 1947 – Georgios Siantos, Greek politician, General Secretary of the Communist Party of Greece (b. 1890)
• 1949 – Randolph West, American biochemist, known for the Dakin-West reaction (b. 1890)
• 1949 – Archbishop Damaskinos of Athens (b. 1891)
• 1956 – Max Beerbohm, English critic (b. 1872)
• 1956 – Zoltán Halmay, Hungarian swimmer (b. 1881)
• 1961 – Josef Priller, German nazi military aviator (b. 1915)
• 1964 – Rudy Lewis, American singer (The Drifters) (b. 1936)
• 1971 – Waldo Williams, Welsh poet (b. 1904)
• 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 politician (b. 1924)
• 1976 – Héctor Gutiérrez Ruiz, Uruguayan politician (b. 1934)
• 1989 – John Hicks, English economist, Nobel laureate (b. 1904)
• 1989 – Gilda Radner, American comedian and actress (b. 1946)
• 1992 – Roger Keith Coleman, American coal miner and convicted murder (b. 1958)
• 1996 – Jon Pertwee, English actor (b. 1919)
• 2000 – Jean-Pierre Rampal, French flutist (b. 1922)
• 2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player (b. 1970)
• 2001 – Renato Carosone, Italian pianist and bandleader (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (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 – Lucy Gordon, English model and actress (b. 1980)
• 2011 – "Macho Man" Randy Savage, American professional 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, English singer-songwriter and musician (Bee Gees) (b. 1949)
• 2012 – Eugene Polley, American engineer, inventor of the first wireless remote control for television (b. 1915)
• 2012 – Andrew B. Steinberg, American lawyer, Assistant Secretary of Transportation for Aviation and International Affairs (b. 1958)

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.
• Indonesian National Awakening (Indonesia)
• National Day (Cameroon)
• World Metrology Day

External links

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

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