Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 20
This is a list of selected May 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article, featured list or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
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Abraham Ortelius -
Abraham Ortelius' world map -
Levi Strauss
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1293 – Sancho IV, King of Castile and León, established what is now the Complutense University of Madrid, today one of Spain's top public universities. | unreferenced section |
| 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut, India, opening up trade with the Far East directly by sea. | appears on February 12 |
| 1570 – The first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum by cartographer Abraham Ortelius, was issued. | refimprove |
| 1902 – Cuba officially gained independence from the United States, with Tomás Estrada Palma becoming its first president. | needs more footnotes |
| 1969 – Vietnam War: After ten days of battle, U.S. infantry troops captured the strategically insignificant Hill 937, only to abandon it two weeks later. | needs more footnotes |
Eligible
- 325 – The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey.
- 685 – The Picts defeated the Northumbrians near Dunnichen, severely weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
- 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the first Homestead Act into law, which gave the right to claim freehold title to about 160 acres (0.65 km2) of undeveloped land in the American West.
- 1873 – Clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis were granted a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets of denim overalls, allowing their company to start manufacturing their first line of blue jeans.
- 1875 – Representatives from seventeen countries signed the Metre Convention which set up an institute for the purpose of coordinating international metrology and for coordinating the development of the metric system.
- 1983 – A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier published their discovery of HIV, although they did not know yet if it caused AIDS.
- 1996 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws in Colorado that would have prevented any jurisdiction in the state from taking any governmental action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation.
- 2002 – East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, becoming the first new sovereign state of the 21st century.
May 20: Day of Remembrance in Cambodia; National Day in Cameroon (1972); Independence Day in East Timor (2002); National Awakening Day in Indonesia (1908)
- 1217 – In the Battle of Lincoln, the last land battle of the First Barons' War, William the Marshal drove Prince Louis of France out of England.
- 1609 – Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's sonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's consent.
- 1882 – The Triple Alliance was created between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy.
- 1927 – By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud (pictured) over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia.
- 1993 – "One for the Road", the series finale of American television sitcom Cheers, was watched by 42.4 million American households on its original airing.