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
-
Abraham Ortelius -
Levi Strauss -
Ibn Saud -
First edition of Shakespeare's sonnets -
Luc Montagnier
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| Independence Day in East Timor (2002); | lots of CN tags (12) |
| National Awakening Day in Indonesia (1908) | cn tags, and article is not really about the National Awakening Day |
| 325 – The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey. | refimprove section |
| 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 |
| 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. | refimprove section |
| 1902 – Cuba officially gained independence from the United States, with Tomás Estrada Palma becoming its first president. | unreferenced section |
| 1927 – By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia. | refimprove |
| 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 |
| 1983 – A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier published their discovery of HIV, but were not then certain that it caused AIDS. | undue weight |
Eligible
- 794 – According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was beheaded on the order of King Offa of Mercia.
- 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.
- 1873 – Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets of denim overalls, allowing their company to start manufacturing 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.
- 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.
- 2012 – The first of two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, resulting in seven deaths.
- Born/died: Gero (d. 965) | Thado Minsaw of Ava (b. 1531) | Hieronymus von Colloredo (d. 1812) | William Fargo (b. 1818) | Gertrude Guillaume-Schack (d. 1903) | Astrid Kirchherr (b. 1938) | Cher (b. 1946) | Yoshihiko Noda (b. 1957) | Šárka Kašpárková (b. 1971)
Notes
May 20: Night of Decree (Sunni Islam, 2020); National Day of Remembrance in Cambodia (1976); National Day in Cameroon (1972)
- 685 – The Picts defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dun Nechtain, severely weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
- 1570 – The "first modern atlas", Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (world map pictured) by Abraham Ortelius, was published.
- 1741 – War of Jenkins' Ear: Having lost more than 9,500 men, mostly from yellow fever, British forces were forced to withdraw, ending the two-month-long Battle of Cartagena de Indias against Spain.
- 1882 – The Triple Alliance between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy was formed.
- 1996 – In deciding Romer v. Evans, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down an amendment in Colorado that prevented protected status under the law for homosexuals or bisexuals.
- Honoré de Balzac (b. 1799)
- Ana Néri (d. 1880)
- Aleksandra Boiko (b. 1918)