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Historical Events

20 Feb 1472
Orkney and Shetland are left by Norway to Scotland due to a dowry payment
20 Feb 1525
Swiss & German mercenaries desert Francois Is army
20 Feb 1547
King Edward VI of England crowned following the death of his father Henry VIII
20 Feb 1613
Gerard Reynst appointed Governor-General of Dutch East Indies
20 Feb 1619
Trial against Johan van Oldenbarnevelt begins in The Hague for alleged crimes against the federal government
20 Feb 1653
Defeat of Dutch fleet under Adm Van Tromp by Admiral Blake off Portsmouth
20 Feb 1710
Johan Willem Friso becomes Viceroy of Groningen Netherlands
20 Feb 1725
10 sleeping Indians scalped by whites in New Hampshire for 100 a scalp bounty
20 Feb 1737
French minister of Finance Chauvelin resigns
20 Feb 1745
Jacobite troops occupy Fort Augustus Scotland
20 Feb 1768
1st American chartered fire insurance company opens in Pennsylvania
20 Feb 1792
US postal service created postage 6-12 cents depending on distance
20 Feb 1798
Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
20 Feb 1809
US Supreme Court rules federal government power greater than any state
20 Feb 1816
Gioacchino Rossinis opera Barber of Seville premieres in Rome
20 Feb 1823
English Captain James Weddell reaches 7415 S 1520 km from South Pole
20 Feb 1831
Polish revolutionaries defeat Russians in battle of Growchow
20 Feb 1835
Concepcion Chile destroyed by earthquake 5000 die
20 Feb 1839
Congress prohibits dueling in District of Columbia
20 Feb 1856
The steam packet-ship John Rutledge en route from Liverpool to New York hits an iceberg and sinks with the loss of 120 passengers and 19 crew only one survivor (Thomas Nye of New Bedford)
20 Feb 1861
Navy of the Confederate States (CSN) forms (US Civil War)
20 Feb 1865
Massachusetts Institute of Technology forms 1st US collegiate architectural school
20 Feb 1869
Tennessee Governor W C Brownlow declares martial law in Ku Klux Klan crisis
20 Feb 1872
Hydraulic electric elevator patented by Cyrus Baldwin
20 Feb 1872
Luther Crowell patents a machine that manufactures paper bags
20 Feb 1872
Silas Noble & JP Cooley patents toothpick manufacturing machine
20 Feb 1873
University of California gets its first Medical School (UCSan Francisco)
20 Feb 1873
British Naval Officer John Moresby discovers the site of Port Moresby Papua New Guinea and claims it for Britain
20 Feb 1877
1st cantilever bridge in US completed Harrodsburg Kentucky
20 Feb 1887
Germany Austria-Hungary & France end Triple Alliance
20 Feb 1895
Congress authorizes a US mint at Denver Colorodo
20 Feb 1899
Ill Tel & Tel granted franchise for Chicago freight tunnel system
20 Feb 1901
1st territorial legislature of Hawaii convenes
20 Feb 1902
Heavy surf breaks over Seal Rocks & damages Sutro Baths San Francisco
20 Feb 1903
Nick Young remains as NL president as AG Spalding ends challenge
20 Feb 1909
Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro
20 Feb 1912
Argentina beat the MCC in their inaugural cricket 1st-class fixture
20 Feb 1913
King OMalley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Australian capital Canberra
20 Feb 1915
Panama-Pacific International Exposition (Worlds Fair) opens in San Francisco
20 Feb 1917
Jerome Kern Guy Bolton & P.G. Wodehouses musical Oh Boy premieres in New York
20 Feb 1919
Foundation NHL club Toronto Arenas are permitted to cease operations due to financial difficulties later become Toronto St. Patricks and then Maple Leafs
20 Feb 1922
Marc Connelly & George Kaufmans To the Ladies premieres in NYC
20 Feb 1922
Vilinus Lithuania agrees to separate from Poland
20 Feb 1922
WOR-AM in New York City begins radio transmissions
20 Feb 1923
Christy Mathewson becomes President of Boston Braves
20 Feb 1926
Montreal and Ottawa battle out just the second 0-0 tie in NHL history dominant goalies are Clint Benedict (Maroons) and Alex Connell (Senators)
20 Feb 1929
Red Sox announce they will play Sunday games at Braves Field
20 Feb 1931
Congress allows California to build Oakland-Bay Bridge
20 Feb 1933
Curom Curacaose Broadcast System starts Princess Julianas speech
20 Feb 1933
US House of Representatives completes congressional action to repeal Prohibition
20 Feb 1934
Virgil Thomsons opera 4 Saints in 3 Acts opens in NYC
20 Feb 1935
Dane Caroline Mikkelson is 1st woman to land on Antarctica
20 Feb 1937
1st automobileairplane combination tested Santa Monica California
20 Feb 1939
The American pro-Nazi organization German American Bund hold a rally at Madison Square Garden and 20000 attend
20 Feb 1940
Larry Clinton & his Orchestra record Limehouse Blues
20 Feb 1941
1st transport of Jews to concentration camps leave Plotsk Poland
20 Feb 1941
Nazis order Polish Jews barred from using public transportation
20 Feb 1942
Lt E H OHare single-handedly shoots down 5 Japanese heavy bombers becomes Americas first World War II flying ace
20 Feb 1943
Allied troops occupy Kasserine pass in Tunisia
20 Feb 1943
New volcano Paracutin erupts in farmers corn field (Mexico)
20 Feb 1943
Phil Wrigley & B Rickey charter All-American Girls Softball League
20 Feb 1943
American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
20 Feb 1944
Batman & Robin comic strip premieres in newspapers
20 Feb 1944
World War II The Big Week began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers
20 Feb 1947
Chemical mixing error causes explosion that destroys 42 blocks in LA
20 Feb 1947
Earl Mountbatten of Burma appointed as last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence
20 Feb 1948
Czechoslovakias non-communist minister resigns
20 Feb 1949
1st International Pancake Race held (Liberal Ks)
20 Feb 1950
Dylan Thomas arrives in NYC for his 1st US poetry reading tour
20 Feb 1950
WOL-AM in Washington D.C. swaps calls with WWDC
20 Feb 1952
1st black umpire in organized baseball certified (Emmett Ashford)
20 Feb 1952
Britains Jeannette Altwegg wins the Olympic womens figure skating gold medal at the Olso Winter Games ahead of American Tenley Albright who goes on to win in Cortina dAmpezzo (1956)
20 Feb 1952
American alpine skier Andrea Mead-Lawrence is only multi-gold medallist at the Oslo Winter Olympics when she wins the slalom after taking out the inaugural giant slalom
20 Feb 1953
August A Busch buys the St Louis Cards for 3.75 million
20 Feb 1953
US Court of Appeals rules that Organized Baseball is a sport & not a business affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling
20 Feb 1956
WOSU TV channel 34 in Columbus OH (PBS) begins broadcasting
20 Feb 1957
Hughie Tayfield takes 9-113 v England 13 wkts for match
20 Feb 1958
American jockey Eddie Arcaro rides his 4000th winner
20 Feb 1958
LA Coliseum Comm approves 2-yr pact allows Dodgers to use facility
20 Feb 1960
Soviet females sweep the 10k cross country event at Squaw Valley first medal sweep for the Soviets at a Winter Olympics Maria Gusakova wins from Lyubov Kozyreva and Radya Yeroshina
20 Feb 1976
The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
20 Feb 1977
My Fair Lady closes at St James Theater NYC after 384 performances
20 Feb 1977
19th Daytona 500 Cale Yarborough wins his 2nd Great American Race Janet Guthrie first female NASCAR Cup Series driver finishes 12th
20 Feb 1978
Bob Backland beats Superstar Billy Graham in NY to become WWF wrestling champion
20 Feb 1963
End of the Test Cricket careers of Neil Harvey & Alan Davidson
20 Feb 1965
Ranger 8 makes hard landing on the Moon returns photos other data
20 Feb 1968
State troopers used tear gas to stop demonstration at Alcorn A & M
20 Feb 1971
National Emergency Center erroneously orders US radio & TV stations to go off the air. Mistake wasnt resolved for 30 minutes
20 Feb 1972
1st time Cleveland Cavaliers beat NY Knicks (111-109)
20 Feb 1972
Ard Schenk wins world championship for speed skating
20 Feb 1972
Sicco Mansholt becomes chairman of European Committee
20 Feb 1974
Gordie Howe comes out of retirement for 1M from Houston Aeros WHA
20 Feb 1975
Leonard Baichan scores 105 on Test Cricket debut v Pakistan Lahore
20 Feb 1975
A feud begins between the official Irish Republican Army and the Irish National Liberation Army the two groups assassinate a number of each others volunteers until the feud ends in June
20 Feb 1978
Egypt announces it is pulling its diplomats out of Cyprus
20 Feb 1979
Comin Uptown opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC for 45 performances
20 Feb 1979
11 loyalists known as the Shankill Butchers are sentenced to life in prison for 19 murders the gang was named for its late-night kidnapping torture and murder (by throat slashing) of random Catholic civilians in Belfast
20 Feb 1979
29th Berlin International Film Festival David wins the Golden Bear
20 Feb 1980
Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 10k relay also wins 30k and 50k gold
20 Feb 1980
Soviet 2-time world champion team Natalia Linichuk and Gennadi Karponosov win the Olympic ice dance gold medal at Lake Placid by just 0.96 from Krisztina Regczy & Andrs Sallay of Hungary
20 Feb 1981
Flight readiness firing of Columbias main engines 20 seconds
20 Feb 1981
James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec)
20 Feb 1981
Quebecs Czech rookie brothers Peter and Anton Stastny each score first career NHL hat-tricks in Nordiques 9-3 win at Vancouver Peter adds 3 assists and Anton 2
20 Feb 1982
NY Islanders wins then NHL record 15th straight game
20 Feb 1983
Japan launches Tenma satellite to study x-rays (450570 km)
20 Feb 1983
Roland Liboton becomes world champ cross-country cycling
20 Feb 1983
25th Daytona 500 3rd win in the event for Cale Yarborough first time an in-car camera goes into victory lane before a national CBS Sports audience
20 Feb 1985
After defending his WBC flyweight championship Sot Chitaladas check for 104000 is stolen by a ringside pickpocket
20 Feb 1986
LA Dodger Orel Hershiser is 1st to win a 1M salary by arbitration
20 Feb 1987
Bomb blamed on Unabomber explodes by a computer store in Salt Lake City
20 Feb 1987
David Hartman quits ABCs Good Morning America after 11 years
20 Feb 1987
37th Berlin International Film Festival The Theme wins the Golden Bear
20 Feb 1988
500 die in heavy rains in Rio de Janeiro Brazil
20 Feb 1988
Andre Hoffmann skates world record 1500m (152.06)
20 Feb 1988
Brian Boitano wins Olympic gold medal in figure skating
20 Feb 1988
Cornelia Oschkenat hurdles indoor world record 50m (6.58 sec)
20 Feb 1988
Kelly Hrudys 5th Islander shut-out win-Hartford 3-0
20 Feb 1988
Rob Druppers runs world record indoor 1000m (216.2)
20 Feb 1988
Stefka Kostadinova of Bulgaria sets high jumps indoor world record (2.06 m)
20 Feb 1989
Members of 1949 Oklahoma football team cancel an April reunion because of the deplorable conduct of Oklahoma players
20 Feb 1989
An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill England
20 Feb 1991
Taking Steps opens at Circle in Sq Theater NYC for 78 performances
20 Feb 1991
A gigantic statue of Albanias long-time dictator Enver Hoxha is brought down in the Albanian capital Tirana by mobs of angry protesters
20 Feb 1992
Private Lives opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC for 37 performances
20 Feb 1992
Orthodox patriarch Shenouda III visits Netherlands
20 Feb 1993
Florida Marlins open their 1st spring training camp
20 Feb 1993
Lisa Walters wins LPGA Itoki Hawaiian Ladies Golf Open
20 Feb 1994
Johann Olav Koss skates world record 10 km (1330.55)
20 Feb 1994
36th Daytona 500 Sterling Marlin wins his first NASCAR race Neil Bonnett and Rodney Orr killed in separate practice incidents
20 Feb 1998
Tara Lipinski wins Olympic figure skating gold medal
20 Feb 1998
US movie box office hits quickest 1 billion for year (51 days)
20 Feb 1998
Vancouver Canucks right wing Pavel Bure scores 5 goals for Russia in a 7-4 semi-final win over Finland at the Nagano Winter Olympics
20 Feb 1999
Toronto Maple Leafs play their first NHL home game at Air Canada Centre Steve Thomas scores overtime winner in a 3-2 victory over the Montreal Canadiens
20 Feb 2000
42nd Daytona 500 Polesitter Dale Jarrett wins his 3rd Great American Race ahead of Jeff Gordon and Bill Elliott
20 Feb 2001
The United States Supreme Court declines to consider an appeal by five major oil companies against Unocals patent on production of cleaner reformulated gasoline sold in California
20 Feb 2002
In Reqa Al-Gharbiya Egypt a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
20 Feb 2003
During a Great White concert in West Warwick Rhode Island a pyrotechnics display sets the club ablaze killing 100 and injuring over 300 others.
20 Feb 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.
20 Feb 2005
54th NBA All-Star Game Pepsi Center Denver CO East beats West 125-115 MVP Allen Iverson Philadelphia 76ers G
20 Feb 2005
47th Daytona 500 Jeff Gordon able to hold off Kurt Busch and Dale Earnhardt Jr over 3 extra laps to win his third Daytona 500
20 Feb 2010
On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.
20 Feb 2011
53rd Daytona 500 20 year old Trevor Bayne driving for Wood Brothers Racing wins to become the youngest Daytona 500 winner
20 Feb 2012
South Korea angers North Korea as it proceeds with live fire drills in disputed Korean sea borders
20 Feb 2012
Scientists successfully regenerate the flowering plant Silene stenophylla from a 31800 year old piece of fruit greatly surpassing the previous record of 2000 years
20 Feb 2013
Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars
20 Feb 2013
Kepler-37b the smallest known exoplanet is discovered
20 Feb 2014
France sweeps the medals in the mens ski cross at the Sochi Winter Olympics Jean-Frdric Chapuis takes the gold ahead of team mates Arnaud Bovolentaand Jonathan Midol
20 Feb 2014
Marie-Philip Poulin scores in overtime to lead Canada to a 3-2 win over the US and 4th consecutive Olympic womens ice hockey gold medal at the Sochi Winter Games
20 Feb 2014
Canada beats Sweden 6-3 in final to become first womens curling team to go through the Olympics undefeated as they win Sochi gold medal first Manitoba based team to win Olympic gold
20 Feb 2014
Adelina Sotnikova convincingly wins the womens singles figure skating gold medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics for Russias first title in the ladies event
20 Feb 2014
After winning the individual large hill 10k Nordic combined title Jrgen Graabak of Norway wins his 2nd gold medal of the Sochi Winter Olympics in the team large hill 4 x 5 km relay
20 Feb 1922
Vilnius Lithuania agrees to separate from Poland
20 Feb 1941
Nazi Germany orders Polish Jews barred from using public transportation
20 Feb 1912
Argentina beats the MCC in their inaugural 1st-class cricket fixture at the Buenos Aires Cricket Club lose the second and third games of the series
20 Feb 1923
Future Baseball Hall of Fame pitcher Christy Mathewson becomes President and owner of Boston Braves buys the team for 300000 with NY attorney Judge Emil Fuchs and Bostonian James McDonough
20 Feb 1929
Boston Red Sox announce they will play Sunday MLB games at Braves Field Fenway Park located too close to a church
20 Feb 1934
Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Steins opera Four Saints in Three Acts opens on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre in New York City
20 Feb 1952
Emmett Ashford is certified to be first black umpire in organised baseball has to wait until 1966 for MLB debut
20 Feb 1953
August A. Busch buys St. Louis Cardinals MLB club from Fred Saigh for 3.75 million pledges not to move the team from St. Louis Missouri
20 Feb 1958
LA Coliseum approves 2-year pact allowing LA Dodgers to use facility whilst Dodger Stadium is completed in time for the 1962 MLB season
20 Feb 1963
Australian cricket greats Neil Harvey and Alan Davidson play final Test match in drawn 5th Test vs England at the Sydney Cricket Ground
20 Feb 1982
NY Islanders win then NHL record 15th straight game by beating Colorado Rockies 3-2 at Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum
20 Feb 2014
France sweeps the medals in the mens ski cross at the Sochi Winter Olympics Jean-Frdric Chapuis takes the gold ahead of teammates Arnaud Bovolentaand Jonathan Midol
20 Feb 1934
Virgil Thomson and Gertrude Steins opera Four Saints in Three Acts opens on Broadway at the 44th Street Theatre NYC
20 Feb 1965
Beatles record That Means A Lot unhappy with the results it was given to P.J. Proby to record the Beatles version was unreleased until 1996 on Anthology 2
20 Feb 1972
14th Daytona 500 A.J. Foyt dominates the race winning by almost 2 laps over his closest competitor Charlie Glotzbach
20 Feb 1977
Revival of Alan Jay Lerner and Frederick Loewes musical My Fair Lady closes at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre NYC after 377 performances
20 Feb 1991
Alan Ayckbourns stage farce Taking Steps opens at Circle in Square Theater NYC runs for 78 performances
20 Feb 1992
Revival of Nol Cowards stage comedy Private Lives opens at Broadhurst Theater NYC runs for 37 performances
20 Feb 1997
Pam Gems stage drams Stanley opens at Circle in Square Theater NYC runs for 77 performances
20 Feb 2003
Pyrotechnics display sets The Station nightclub ablaze during a concert by rock band Great White kills 100 and injuries over 300 others (West Warwick Rhode Island)
20 Feb 1873
British Naval Officer John Moresby discovers the site of Port Moresby Papua New Guinea and claims it for the United Kingdom
20 Feb 1909
The Hudson Motor Car Company is founded in Detroit Michigan by retail titan Joseph L. Hudson and other investors [1]
20 Feb 1978
Bob Backland beats Superstar Billy Graham in NYC to become WWF wrestling champion
20 Feb 1981
Quebecs Czech rookie brothers Peter and Anton astn each score first career NHL hat-tricks in Nordiques 9-3 win at Vancouver Peter adds 3 assists and Anton 2
20 Feb 1997
Pam Gems stage drama Stanley opens at Circle in the Square Theater NYC runs for 77 performances
20 Feb 1998
American world champion Tara Lipinski wins Olympic figure skating gold medal ahead of teammate Michelle Kwan at the Nagano Winter Games
20 Feb 1873
British Naval Officer John Moresby is the first European to discover Port Moresby Papua New Guinea claims it for the United Kingdom
20 Feb 1929
Congress passes the Ratification Act of recognizes American Samoa as an unincorporated territory of the United States
20 Feb 1991
Programming language Python is released by Guido van Rossum [1]
20 Feb 2011
53rd Daytona 500 20-year-old Trevor Bayne driving for Wood Brothers Racing wins to become the youngest Daytona 500 winner
20 Feb 1296
Chinese diplomat Zhou Daguan departs Mingzhou for Angkor chief city of the Khmer Empire he will be the first foreigner to describe life in the city [1]
20 Feb 1653
Defeat of Dutch fleet under Admiral Van Tromp by Admiral Blake off Portsmouth
20 Feb 1824
First description of a dinosaur published - Megalosaurus or great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield to the Geological Society of London by William Buckland - the beginning of dinosaur mania [1]
20 Feb 1861
US Civil War Navy of the Confederate States (CSN) forms
20 Feb 1947
Chemical mixing error involving perchloric acid at a metal plating company causes explosion that kills 17 injures over a hundred and destroys at least 11 buildings in Los Angeles California
20 Feb 1965
NASAs Ranger 8 probe completes planned impact trajectory on the Moon successfully transmitting myriad photos and other data [1]
20 Feb 1965
The Beatles record That Means A Lot unhappy with the results it was given to P.J. Proby to record the original Beatles version was unreleased until 1996 on Anthology 2
20 Feb 1968
Chinese space agency The China Academy of Space Technology is established in Beijing
20 Feb 2016
Gunman goes on random killing spree in Kalamazoo Michigan killing 6
20 Feb 2016
Tropical Cyclone Winston hits Fiji killing at least 29 - most powerful storm on record in Southern Hemisphere winds 296 kilometers per hour (184 mph)
20 Feb 2017
Famine is declared in Unity State South Sudan affecting 4.9 million
20 Feb 2018
After winning the Olympic ice dance gold medal in Vancouver (2010) Canadian pair Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir follow their team event gold by taking the ice dance title at the Pyeongchang Winter Games
20 Feb 1472
Orkney and Shetland are ceded by Norway to Scotland as part of a dowry payment
20 Feb 1737
French Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Germain Louis Chauvelin is dismissed by Chief Minister Andr-Hercule de Fleury
20 Feb 1824
First description of a dinosaur published Megalosaurus or Great Fossil Lizard of Stonesfield to the Geological Society of London by William Buckland beginning dinosaur mania [1]
20 Feb 1872
Silas Noble and J.P. Cooley patent a toothpick manufacturing machine
20 Feb 1935
Dane Caroline Mikkelsen is the first woman to land on Antarctica
20 Feb 1949
First International Pancake Race is held in Liberal Kansas
20 Feb 1953
US Court of Appeals rules that organized baseball is a sport and not a business affirming the 25-year-old Supreme Court ruling
20 Feb 1968
Mississippi state troopers use tear gas and gunfire to stop student demonstration at Alcorn A & M six students are injured
20 Feb 1983
Belgian cyclist Roland Liboton (25) wins his fourth overall and third consecutive UCI Cyclo-cross World Championship
20 Feb 1983
Japan launches Tenma satellite to study x-rays at an orbit altitude range of 489-503 km (304-313 miles)
20 Feb 1994
Three Afghans take 70 Pakistani children hostage
20 Feb 2002
A fire on an overcrowded train near El Ayyat Egypt kills at least 373 people after a cooking gas cylinder explodes
20 Feb 2005
Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratifying the proposed Constitution of the European Union passing it by a substantial margin but with low turnout
20 Feb 2010
On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides resulting in at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago
20 Feb 2012
Scientists successfully regenerate the flowering plant Silene stenophylla from a 31800-year-old piece of fruit greatly surpassing the previous record of 2000 years