February 20

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February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 314 days remaining until the end of the year (315 in leap years).

1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 External links

Events

1472 - Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland, due to a dowry payment.
1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
1798 - Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.
1816 - Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.
1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake.
1864 - American Civil War: Battle of Olustee occurs - the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
1909 - Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
1913 - King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
1933 - The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would end Prohibition in the United States.
1935 - Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
1943 - The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico.
1944 - World War II: The "Big Week" ended with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
1947 - State of Prussia ceases to exist.
1952 - Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
1959 - The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
1986 - Soviets launch Mir.
1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
1991 - A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time dictator, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital, Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters.
1992 - The FA Premier League is founded.
1998 - American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
2005 - Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.

Births

1631 - Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (d. 1712)
1745 - Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
1753 - Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (d. 1815)
1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
1794 - William Carleton, Irish novelist (d. 1869)
1802 - Charles de Bériot, Belgian violinist (d. 1870)
1819 - Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
1839 - Benjamin Waugh, American minister; founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
1844 - Joshua Slocum, Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
1850 - Nérée Beauchemin, Canadian physician and poet (d. 1931)
1866 - Carl Westman, Swedish architect and designer (d. 1936)
1867 - Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (d. 1931)
1918 - Leonore Annenberg American Billionaire
1880 - Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, French aristocrat and novelist (d. 1923)
1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
1888 - Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
1893 - Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
1898 - Enzo Ferrari, Italian automobile manufacturer, designer and racing car driver (d. 1988)
1898 - Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (d. 1951)
1899 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (d. 1992)
1901 - Cecil Harmsworth King, English newspaper owner (d. 1987)
1901 - Muhammad Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
1902 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
1906 - Gale Gordon, American television and radio actor (d. 1995)
1907 - Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (d. 1992)
1912 - Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
1914 - John Daly, South African-born broadcaster (d. 2001)
1920 - Evgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer (d. 1991)
1923 - Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, American socialite and clothing designer
1925 - Robert Altman, American film director (d. 2006)
1925 - Heinz Kluncker, German trade union leader
1926 - Richard Matheson, American author
1927 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer (d. 1986)
1927 - Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2005)
1927 - Sidney Poitier, American actor
1929 - Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
1930 - Willie Cunningham, Northern Irish footballer
1932 - Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (d. 2007)
1934 - Bobby Unser, American racing driver
1936 - Marj Dusay, American actress
1936 - Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
1936 - Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
1937 - Robert Huber, German chemist, Nobel laureate
1937 - Roger Penske, American racing driver, race team owner and entrepreneur
1937 - Nancy Wilson, American singer
1938 - Richard Beymer, American actor
1939 - Frank Arundel, English footballer
1940 - Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
1941 - Lim Kit Siang, Democratic Socialist opposition party in Malaysia
1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer
1942 - Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player
1942 - Charlie Gillett, British radio DJ
1942 - Mitch McConnell, American politician
1942 - Claude Miller, French film director and screenwriter
1943 - Antonio Inoki, Japanese professional wrestler
1943 - Mike Leigh, British film director
1944 - Robert de Cotret, French Canadian politician (d. 1999)
1944 - Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
1945 - Andrew Bergman, American screenwriter and film director
1945 - Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
1945 - Annu Kapoor, Indian actor
1946 - Brenda Blethyn, English actress
1946 - Richard Cocciante, French-Italian singer and songwriter
1946 - Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
1946 - J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
1947 - André van Duin, Dutch comedian
1947 - Eggert Magnusson, Icelandic football executive
1947 - Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
1947 - Peter Strauss, American actor
1948 - Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
1948 - Jennifer O'Neill, Brazilian-born actress
1949 - Ivana Trump, Czech-born American socialite
1950 - Walter Becker, American guitarist (Steely Dan)
1950 - Ken Shimura, Japanese performer and actor
1950 - Tony Wilson, British journalist and impresario (d. 2007)
1951 - Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
1951 - Gordon Brown, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland
1951 - Randy California, American guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)
1951 - Phil Neal, English footballer
1953 - Riccardo Chailly, Italian conductor
1953 - Poison Ivy, American musician (The Cramps)
1954 - Jon Brant, American musician (Cheap Trick)
1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, English actor
1954 - Patty Hearst, American socialite
1956 - Rick Green, Canadian ice hockey player
1957 - Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey coach
1957 - Charlie Adler, American voice actor
1959 - Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
1960 - Joel Hodgson, American comedian (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
1960 - Kee Marcello, Swedish guitarist
1962 - Kenn Nesbitt, American children's author
1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
1963 - Ian Brown, English singer (The Stone Roses)
1963 - Jon Lynn Christensen, former Nebraska Congressman
1963 - Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek politician
1964 - French Stewart, American actor
1964 - Rodney Rowland, American actor
1966 - Cindy Crawford, American model
1967 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)
1967 - Katherine Soucie, American voice actress
1967 - Andrew Shue, American television actor
1967 - Lili Taylor, American actress
1968 - Ted Hankey, English darts player
1969 - Vaginal Davis, American drag queen and performance artist
1969 - Gedo, Japanese professional wrestler
1969 - Danis Tanovic, Bosnian film director and screenwriter
1969 - Tommy Vardell, National Football League fullback
1971 - Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
1971 - Shawn McKenzie, American programmer
1972 - Brent Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player
1972 - K-OS, Canadian musician/rapper
1974 - Ophelie Winter, French actress
1975 - Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
1975 - Brian Littrell, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
1976 - Rohan Gavaskar, Left-handed batsman, India ODI 2004 (son of Sunil Gavaskar)
1976 - Ed Graham, English drummer (The Darkness)
1976 - Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
1977 - Bartosz Kizierowski, Polish swimmer
1977 - Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
1977 - T.J. Slaughter, American football player
1977 - Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
1978 - Lauren Ambrose, American actress
1978 - Jakki Degg, English glamour model/actress
1978 - Jay Hernandez, American actor
1978 - Julia Jentsch, German actress
1980 - Artur Boruc, Polish footballer
1980 - Massimo Donati, Italian footballer
1980 - Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby union footballer
1981 - Tony Hibbert, English footballer
1981 - Chris Thile, American musician
1982 - Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
1983 - Jose Morales, Puerto Rican baseball player
1983 - Justin Verlander, American baseball player
1985 - Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
1985 - Yulia Volkova, Russian singer (t.A.T.u.)
1986 - Dilaver Güçlü, Turkish footballer
1988 - Rihanna, Barbadian singer
1989 - Melanie Leishman, Canadian actress