October 20

October 20 in recent years

2024 (Sunday)

2023 (Friday)

2022 (Thursday)

2021 (Wednesday)

2020 (Tuesday)

2019 (Sunday)

2018 (Saturday)

2017 (Friday)

2016 (Thursday)

2015 (Tuesday)

October 20 is the 293rd day of the year (294th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 72 days remain until the end of the year.

Events

• 1548 – The city of Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace) is founded by Alonso de Mendoza by appointment of the king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.
• 1572 – Relief of Goes, Cristóbal de Mondragón with 3000 soldiers of the Spanish Tercios, release the siege of the city.
• 1720 – Caribbean pirate Calico Jack is captured by the Royal Navy.
• 1740 – Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
• 1781 – Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy.
• 1803 – The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
• 1818 – The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settles the Canada – United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
• 1827 – Battle of Navarino: a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is defeated by British, French, and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece.
• 1873 – Yale, Princeton, Columbia, and Rutgers universities draft the first code of American football rules.
• 1883 – Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
• 1904 – Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
• 1910 – The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
• 1935 – The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
• 1939 – Pope Pius XII publishes his first major encyclical entitled Summi Pontificatus.
• 1941 – World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.
• 1943 – The cargo vessel Sinfra is attacked by Allied aircraft at Suda Bay, Crete, and sunk. 2,098 Italian prisoners of war drown with it.
• 1944 – The Soviet Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
• 1944 – Liquid natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland, then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.
• 1944 – American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.
• 1946 – Government of the Democratic Republic of Vietnam decides that on 20/10 is Vietnam Women's Day.
• 1947 – The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
• 1947 – United States of America and Islamic Republic of Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time.
• 1951 – The "Johnny Bright Incident" occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma
• 1952 – Governor Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency in Kenya and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
• 1961 – The Soviet Union performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
• 1962 – People's Republic of China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
• 1968 – Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
• 1970 – Siad Barre declares Somalia a socialist state.
• 1971 – The Nepal Stock Exchange collapses.
• 1973 – "Saturday Night Massacre": President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
• 1973 – The Sydney Opera House opens.
• 1976 – The ferry George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing the Mississippi River between Destrehan and Luling, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.
• 1977 – Rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd's plane crashes.
• 1981 – Two police officers and an armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery in Rockland County, NY, carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground.
• 1982 – During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
• 1991 – The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
• 1991 – A 6.8 M_w earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
• 2011 – Libyan civil war: National Transitional Council rebel forces capture ousted Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte and kill him shortly thereafter.

Births

• 1463 – Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (d. 1512)
• 1496 – Claude, Duke of Guise, French general (d. 1550)
• 1616 – Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (d. 1680)
• 1620 – Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (d. 1691)
• 1632 – Christopher Wren, English architect, designed St Paul's Cathedral (d. 1723)
• 1656 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (d. 1746)
• 1660 – Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English politician (d. 1723)
• 1677 – Stanisław Leszczyński, Polish king (d. 1766)
• 1700 – Charlotte Aglaé d'Orléans (d. 1761)
• 1711 – Timothy Ruggles, American military leader and politician (d. 1795)
• 1719 – Gottfried Achenwall, German economist and jurist (d. 1772)
• 1740 – Isabelle de Charrière, Dutch author and poet (d. 1805)
• 1759 – Chauncey Goodrich, American lawyer and politician (d. 1815)
• 1780 – Pauline Bonaparte, French sister of Napoleon (d. 1825)
• 1784 – Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, English politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1865)
• 1785 – George Ormerod, English historian and antiquarian (d. 1873)
• 1801 – Melchior Berri, Swiss architect (d. 1854)
• 1808 – Karl Andree, German geographer (d. 1875)
• 1819 – Báb, Iranian founder of Bábism (d. 1850)
• 1819 – Karol Mikuli, Armenian-Polish pianist, composer, and conductor (d. 1897)
• 1822 – Thomas Hughes, English author (d. 1896)
• 1832 – Constantin Lipsius, German architect (d. 1894)
• 1854 – Arthur Rimbaud, French poet (d. 1891)
• 1858 – John Burns, English politician (d. 1943)
• 1859 – John Dewey, American philosopher and psychologist (d. 1952)
• 1864 – James F. Hinkle, American politician, 6th Governor of New Mexico (d. 1951)
• 1873 – Nellie McClung, Canadian politician and activist (d. 1951)
• 1874 – Charles Ives, American composer (d. 1954)
• 1876 – Alexandre Pharamond, French rugby player (d. 1953)
• 1882 – Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-American actor (d. 1956)
• 1882 – Margaret Dumont, American actress (d. 1965)
• 1885 – Jelly Roll Morton, American pianist, bandleader and composer (Red Hot Peppers and New Orleans Rhythm Kings) (d. 1941)
• 1887 – Prince Yasuhiko Asaka, Japanese founder of a collateral branch of the Japanese imperial family (d. 1981)
• 1890 – Aleksander Maaker, Estonian bagpipe player (d. 1968)
• 1891 – Samuel Flagg Bemis, American historian and biographer (d. 1973)
• 1891 – James Chadwick, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
• 1893 – Charley Chase, American actor, screenwriter, and director (d. 1940)
• 1894 – Olive Thomas, American actress (d. 1920)
• 1895 – Rex Ingram, American actor (d. 1969)
• 1897 – Yi Un, Korean husband of Bangja, Crown Princess Euimin of Korea (d. 1970)
• 1900 – Wayne Morse, American lawyer and politician (d. 1974)
• 1901 – Adelaide Hall, American-English singer, actress, and dancer (d. 1993)
• 1904 – Tommy Douglas, Scottish-Canadian minister and politician, 7th Premier of Saskatchewan (d. 1986)
• 1904 – Enolia McMillan, American educator and activist (d. 2006)
• 1904 – Anna Neagle, English actress (d. 1986)
• 1905 – Frederic Dannay, American author (d. 1982)
• 1905 – Arnold Luhaäär, Estonian weightlifter (d. 1965)
• 1907 – Arlene Francis, American actress and talk show host (d. 2001)
• 1909 – Carla Laemmle, American actress
• 1909 – Sugiyama Yasushi, Japanese painter (d. 1993)
• 1910 – Chen Liting, Chinese director and playwright (d. 2013)
• 1910 – Bob Sheppard, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1913 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1998)
• 1913 – J. Michael Hagopian, Turkish-American director and producer (d. 2010)
• 1914 – Fayard Nicholas, American actor, dancer, and choreographer (d. 2006)
• 1917 – Stéphane Hessel, French diplomat and activist (d. 2013)
• 1917 – Jean-Pierre Melville, French director (d. 1973)
• 1917 – X. M. Sellathambu, Sri Lankan Tamil politician
• 1918 – Robert Lochner, German journalist (d. 2003)
• 1919 – Tracy Hall, American chemist (d. 2008)
• 1920 – Fanny de Sivers, Estonian linguist, literature researcher and essayist (d. 2011)
• 1921 – Hans Warren, Dutch poet and author (d. 2001)
• 1922 – John Anderson, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1922 – Franco Ventriglia, American opera singer (d. 2012)
• 1923 – Robert Craft, American conductor
• 1925 – Art Buchwald, American columnist (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Tom Dowd, American record producer (d. 2002)
• 1925 – Roger Hanin, French actor and director
• 1927 – Joyce Brothers, American psychologist, columnist, and actress (d. 2013)
• 1927 – Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Indian poet (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Richard Caliguiri, American politician, 54th Mayor of Pittsburgh (d. 1988)
• 1931 – Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (d. 1995)
• 1932 – Rosey Brown, American football player (d. 2004)
• 1932 – William Christopher, American actor
• 1934 – Bill Chase, American trumpet player (d. 1974)
• 1934 – Eddie Harris, American saxophonist (d. 1996)
• 1934 – Empress Michiko of Japan
• 1935 – Barrie Chase, American actress and dancer
• 1935 – Jerry Orbach, American actor (d. 2004)
• 1937 – Wanda Jackson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
• 1937 – Juan Marichal, Dominican baseball player
• 1938 – Emidio Greco, Italian director and screenwriter (d. 2012)
• 1938 – Iain Macmillan, Scottish photographer (d. 2006)
• 1940 – Kathy Kirby, English singer (d. 2011)
• 1940 – Robert Pinsky, American poet
• 1942 – Earl Hindman, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1942 – Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1942 – Bart Zoet, Dutch cyclist (d. 1992)
• 1943 – Dunja Vejzović, Croatian soprano
• 1944 – Nalin de Silva, Sri Lankan physicist and philosopher
• 1944 – David Mancuso, American party planner, created The Loft
• 1946 – Lewis Grizzard, American comedian and author (d. 1994)
• 1946 – Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate
• 1946 – Richard Loncraine, English director
• 1946 – Lucien Van Impe, Belgian cyclist
• 1948 – Piet Hein Donner, Dutch politician
• 1948 – Melih Gökçek, Turkish politician, 27th Mayor of Ankara
• 1948 – Sandra Dickinson, American-British actress
• 1950 – Tom Petty, American singer-songwriter and musician (Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers, Mudcrutch, and Traveling Wilburys)
• 1950 – William Russ, American actor
• 1951 – Al Greenwood, American keyboard player (Foreigner)
• 1951 – Patrick Hall, English politician
• 1951 – Ken Ham, Australian evangelist
• 1951 – Leif Pagrotsky, Swedish politician
• 1951 – Claudio Ranieri, Italian footballer and manager
• 1952 – Melanie Mayron, American actress
• 1953 – Keith Hernandez, American baseball player
• 1953 – Richard McWilliam, American businessman, co-founded the Upper Deck Company (d. 2013)
• 1953 – Bill Nunn, American actor
• 1954 – Steve Orich, American composer
• 1955 – Robert ten Brink, Dutch television host
• 1955 – Thomas Newman, American composer and conductor
• 1955 – David Profumo, English author
• 1955 – Aaron Pryor, American boxer
• 1956 – Danny Boyle, English director
• 1957 – Chris Cowdrey, English cricketer
• 1957 – Susanna Haavisto, Finnish actress and singer
• 1957 – Hilda Solis, American politician, 25th United States Secretary of Labor
• 1958 – Valerie Faris, American director
• 1958 – Dave Finlay, Irish wrestler
• 1958 – Lynn Flewelling, American author
• 1958 – Scott Hall, American wrestler
• 1958 – Mark King, English singer-songwriter and bass player (Level 42 and Re-Flex)
• 1958 – Dave Krieg, American football player
• 1958 – Viggo Mortensen, American actor
• 1958 – Ivo Pogorelić, Croatian pianist
• 1959 – Mark Little, Australian actor and comedian
• 1960 – Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player (d. 2004)
• 1960 – Lepa Brena, Yugoslav singer and actress
• 1961 – Ian Rush, Welsh footballer
• 1961 – Michie Tomizawa, Japanese voice actress
• 1962 – David M. Evans, American director and screenwriter
• 1962 – Dave Wong, Hong Kong-Taiwanese singer-songwriter and actor
• 1963 – Julie Payette, Canadian astronaut
• 1963 – Nikos Tsiantakis, Greek footballer
• 1963 – Stan Valckx, Dutch footballer and manager
• 1964 – Kamala Harris, American lawyer, 32nd Attorney General of California
• 1965 – Norman Blake, Scottish singer-songwriter and guitarist (Teenage Fanclub, BMX Bandits, and Jonny)
• 1965 – Jil Caplan, French singer-songwriter
• 1965 – Mikhail Shtalenkov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1965 – William Zabka, American actor
• 1966 – Fred Coury, American drummer (Cinderella and London)
• 1966 – Allan Donald, South African cricketer
• 1966 – Stefan Raab, German comedian and television host
• 1966 – Patrick Volkerding, American computer scientist, founded Slackware
• 1967 – Luigi Lo Cascio, Italian actor
• 1967 – Elizabeth Carling, English actress and singer
• 1967 – Luck Mervil, Haitian-Canadian singer-songwriter and actor
• 1967 – Marco Ngai, Hong Kong actor
• 1968 – Susan Tully, English actress
• 1969 – Laurie Daley, Australian rugby player
• 1969 – Juan González, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1969 – Lambros Papakostas, Greek high jumper
• 1970 – Sander Boschker, Dutch footballer
• 1970 – Chavo Guerrero, Jr., American wrestler
• 1970 – Neil Heywood, English-Chinese businessman (d. 2011)
• 1970 – Aapo Ilves, Estonian writer, artist and musician
• 1970 – Michelle Malkin, American blogger and author
• 1971 – Snoop Dogg, American rapper, producer, and actor (Tha Eastsidaz and 213)
• 1971 – Eddie Jones, American basketball player
• 1971 – Kamiel Maase, Dutch runner
• 1971 – Dannii Minogue, Australian singer-songwriter and actress
• 1971 – Matt Norman, Australian director and producer
• 1972 – Pie Geelen, Dutch swimmer
• 1972 – Will Greenwood, England rugby player
• 1972 – Brian Schatz, American politician, United States Senator from Hawaii
• 1974 – Bashar Rahal, American actor
• 1976 – Nikolaos Bacharidis, Greek footballer
• 1976 – Nicola Legrottaglie, Italian footballer
• 1976 – Dan Fogler, American stand-up comedian, actor, musician, playwright, filmmaker, and voice artist
• 1977 – Matt Jansen, English footballer
• 1977 – Leila Josefowicz, Canadian-American violinist
• 1977 – Erko Saviauk, Estonian footballer
• 1977 – Samuel Witwer, American actor and singer
• 1978 – Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
• 1978 – Paul Wilson, Scottish bass player and songwriter (Snow Patrol and Terra Diablo)
• 1979 – Vasyl Baranov, Ukrainian footballer
• 1979 – Paul Ifill, Barbadian footballer
• 1979 – John Krasinski, American actor and director
• 1979 – Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby player
• 1979 – Paul Terek, American decathlete
• 1980 – Gary Jarman, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (The Cribs)
• 1980 – Niall Matter, Canadian actor
• 1980 – Jose Veras, Dominican baseball player
• 1981 – Willis McGahee, American football player
• 1981 – Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
• 1982 – Kristian Bak Nielsen, Danish footballer
• 1982 – Becky Brewerton, Welsh golfer
• 1982 – Katie Featherston, American actress
• 1982 – Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
• 1983 – Flavio Cipolla, Italian tennis player
• 1983 – Luis Saritama, Ecuadorian footballer
• 1983 – Takayuki Yamada, Japanese actor and singer
• 1984 – Florent Sinama Pongolle, French footballer
• 1984 – Andrew Trimble, Irish rugby player
• 1984 – Mitch Lucker, American vocalist (Suicide Silence)
• 1985 – Jennifer Freeman, American actress
• 1985 – Dominic McGuire, American basketball player
• 1985 – Alphonso Smith, American football player
• 1985 – James Sutton, English race car driver
• 1986 – Wanlop Saechio, Thai footballer
• 1986 – Priyanka Sharma, Indian actress
• 1987 – Raphael Hackl, German rugby player
• 1988 – Ma Long, Chinese table tennis player
• 1988 – Risa Niigaki, Japanese singer and actress (Morning Musume and Tanpopo)
• 1988 – Candice Swanepoel, South African model
• 1989 – Colin Wilson, Canadian-American ice hockey player
• 1992 – Liis Lemsalu, Estonian singer
• 1992 – Ksenia Semenova, Russian gymnast
• 1992 – Mattia De Sciglio, Italian footballer
• 1992 – Kristian Ipsen, American diver
• 1994 – Morgan Featherstone, Australian model
• 1995 – Zhenwei Wang, Chinese actor and martial artist

Deaths

• 460 – Aelia Eudocia, Byzantine wife of Theodosius II (b. 401)
• 1139 – Henry X, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1108)
• 1524 – Thomas Linacre, English physician and scholar (b. 1460)
• 1570 – João de Barros, Portuguese historian (b. 1496)
• 1631 – Michael Maestlin, German astronomer and mathematician (b. 1550)
• 1640 – John Ball, English clergyman (b. 1585)
• 1652 – Antonio Coello, Spanish poet and playwright (b. 1611)
• 1713 – Archibald Pitcairne, Scottish physician (b. 1652)
• 1740 – Charles VI, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1685)
• 1842 – Grace Darling, English heroine (b. 1815)
• 1865 – Champ Ferguson, American guerrilla (b. 1821)
• 1870 – Michael William Balfe, Irish composer (b. 1808)
• 1871 – Karl Christian Ulmann, Baltic German theologian (b. 1793)
• 1890 – Richard Francis Burton, English geographer and explorer (b. 1821)
• 1900 – Naim Frashëri, Albanian poet (b. 1846)
• 1907 – Said Pasha Kurd, Kurdish statesman (b. 1834)
• 1910 – David B. Hill, American politician, 29th Governor of New York (b. 1843)
• 1913 – William Clark, American archer
• 1926 – Eugene V. Debs, American politician (b. 1855)
• 1935 – Arthur Henderson, Scottish politician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1863)
• 1936 – Anne Sullivan, American educator (b. 1866)
• 1940 – Gunnar Asplund, Swedish architect, co-designed Skogskyrkogården (b. 1885)
• 1947 – Gilbert Bougnol, French fencer (b. 1866)
• 1950 – Henry L. Stimson, American statesman, lawyer and politician (b. 1867)
• 1953 – Werner Baumbach, German pilot (b. 1916)
• 1957 – Michalis Dorizas, Greek javelin thrower (b. 1890)
• 1964 – Herbert Hoover, American politician, 31st President of the United States (b. 1874)
• 1967 – Shigeru Yoshida, Japanese politician, Prime Minister of Japan (b. 1878)
• 1968 – Bud Flanagan, English singer (b. 1896)
• 1972 – Harlow Shapley, American astronomer (b. 1885)
• 1977 – Cassie Gaines, American singer (The Honkettes) (b. 1948)
• 1977 – Steve Gaines, American guitarist (Lynyrd Skynyrd and Detroit) (b. 1949)
• 1977 – Ronnie Van Zant, American singer-songwriter (Lynyrd Skynyrd) (b. 1948)
• 1978 – Gunnar Nilsson, Swedish race car driver (b. 1948)
• 1983 – Peter Dudley, English actor (b. 1935)
• 1983 – Yves Thériault, Canadian author (b. 1915)
• 1984 – Carl Ferdinand Cori, Czech biochemist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1896)
• 1984 – Paul Dirac, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1987 – Andrey Kolmogorov, Russian mathematician (b. 1903)
• 1988 – Sheila Scott, English pilot (b. 1922)
• 1989 – Anthony Quayle, English actor (b. 1913)
• 1990 – Joel McCrea, American actor (b. 1905)
• 1992 – Werner Torkanowsky, German conductor (b. 1926)
• 1993 – Sugiyama Yasushi, Japanese painter (b. 1909)
• 1994 – Burt Lancaster, American actor (b. 1913)
• 1995 – Christopher Stone, American actor (b. 1942)
• 1999 – Calvin Griffith, Canadian-American businessman (b. 1911)
• 1999 – Jack Lynch, Irish politician (b. 1917)
• 2001 – Ted Ammon, American financier and banker (b. 1949)
• 2002 – Barbara Berjer, American actress (b. 1920)
• 2002 – Bernard Fresson, French actor (b. 1931)
• 2003 – Jack Elam, American actor (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Miodrag Petrović, Serbian actor (b. 1924)
• 2004 – Anthony Hecht, American poet (b. 1923)
• 2004 – Chuck Hiller, American baseball player (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Shirley Horn, American singer and pianist (b. 1934)
• 2005 – André van der Louw, Dutch Mayor of Rotterdam, politician (b. 1933)
• 2005 – Endon Mahmood, Malaysian wife of Abdullah Ahmad Badawi (b. 1941)
• 2005 – Eva Švankmajerová, Czech painter and poet (b. 1940)
• 2006 – Arnold Viiding, Estonian shot putter and discus thrower (b. 1911)
• 2006 – Jane Wyatt, American actress (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Max McGee, American football player (b. 1932)
• 2007 – Helend Peep, Estonian actor (b. 1910)
• 2007 – Paul Raven, English bass player (Killing Joke, Prong, Ministry, Society 1, Godflesh, and Zilch) (b. 1961)
• 2008 – Gene Hickerson, American football player (b. 1935)
• 2010 – Bob Guccione, American publisher, founded Penthouse magazine (b. 1930)
• 2010 – Eva Ibbotson, Austrian-born British novelist (b. 1925)
• 2010 – Max Kohnstamm, Dutch historian and diplomat (b. 1914)
• 2010 – Farooq Leghari, Pakistani politician, 8th President of Pakistan (b. 1940)
• 2010 – Parthasarathy Sharma, Indian cricketer (b. 1948)
• 2011 – Muammar Gaddafi, Libyan politician, Prime Minister of Libya (b. 1942)
• 2011 – Mutassim Gaddafi, Libyan army officer (b. 1977)
• 2011 – Tone Pavček, Slovenian poet (b. 1928)
• 2011 – Abu-Bakr Yunis Jabr, Libyan minister of defence (b. 1942)
• 2012 – Oli Ahad, Bangladeshi politician (b. 1928)
• 2012 – Jaouad Akaddar, Moroccan footballer (b. 1984)
• 2012 – Przemysław Gintrowski, Polish poet and composer (b. 1951)
• 2012 – Paul Kurtz, American academic (b. 1925)
• 2012 – Daniel Enele Kwanairara, Solomon Islands politician (b. 1947)
• 2012 – E. Donnall Thomas, American physician, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1920)
• 2012 – Raymond Watson, American businessman (b. 1926)
• 2013 – Jovanka Broz, Wife of the Yugoslav president Josip Broz Tito

Holidays and observances

• Birth of the Báb (Bahá'í Faith)
• Christian feast days:
  • Acca of Hexham
  • Artemius
  • Caprasius of Agen
  • Irene of Tomar
  • John Cantius (Extraordinary Form, celebrated by Traditionalist Catholic)
  • October 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Kenyatta Day (Kenya, until 2010)
• Revolution Day, one of the two Patriotic Days (Guatemala)
• World Osteoporosis Day
• The International Day of the Air Traffic Controller

External links

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