June 20

Historic Events

2025

The first EF5 tornado in 12 years occurs in Enderlin, North Dakota. ›

2019

Iran's Air Defense Forces shoot down an American surveillance drone over the Strait of Hormuz amid rising tensions between the two countries. ›

2011

RusAir Flight 9605 crashes in Besovets during approach to Petrozavodsk Airport, killing 47. ›

2008

Twelve people are killed, including nine clubgoers and three police officers, during a crowd crush in Mexico City. ›

2003

The Wikimedia Foundation is founded in St. Petersburg, Florida. ›

1996

Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-78 to conduct life science and microgravity research aboard the Spacelab module. ›

1994

The 1994 Imam Reza shrine bomb explosion in Iran leaves at least 25 dead and 70 to 300 injured. ›

1991

The German Bundestag votes to move seat of government from the former West German capital of Bonn to the present capital of Berlin. ›

1990

Asteroid Eureka is discovered. ›

1990

The 7.4 Mw Manjil–Rudbar earthquake affects northern Iran with a maximum Mercalli intensity of X (Extreme), killing 35,000–50,000, and injuring 60,000–105,000. ›

1988

Haitian president Leslie Manigat is ousted from power in a coup d'état led by Lieutenant General Henri Namphy. ›

1982

The International Conference on the Holocaust and Genocide opens in Tel Aviv, despite attempts by the Turkish government to cancel it, as it included presentations on the Armenian genocide. ›

1982

The Argentine Corbeta Uruguay base on Southern Thule surrenders to Royal Marine commandos in the final action of the Falklands War. ›

1979

ABC News correspondent Bill Stewart is shot dead by a Nicaraguan National Guard soldier under the regime of Anastasio Somoza Debayle during the Nicaraguan Revolution. The murder is caught on tape and sparks an international outcry against the regime. ›

1975

The film Jaws is released in the United States, becoming the highest-grossing film of that time and starting the trend of films known as "summer blockbusters". ›

1973

Snipers fire upon left-wing Peronists in Buenos Aires, Argentina, in what is known as the Ezeiza massacre. At least 13 are killed and more than 300 are injured. ›

1973

Aeroméxico Flight 229 crashes on approach to Licenciado Gustavo Díaz Ordaz International Airport, killing all 27 people on board. ›

1972

Watergate scandal: An 18+1⁄2-minute gap appears in the tape recording of the conversations between U.S. President Richard Nixon and his advisers regarding the recent arrests of his operatives while breaking into the Watergate complex. ›

1964

A Curtiss C-46 Commando crashes in the Shengang District of Taiwan, killing 57 people. ›

1963

Following the Cuban Missile Crisis, the Soviet Union and the United States sign an agreement to establish the so-called "red telephone" link between Washington, D.C., and Moscow. ›

1960

The Mali Federation gains independence from France (it later splits into Mali and Senegal). ›

1959

A rare June hurricane strikes Canada's Gulf of St. Lawrence killing 35. ›

1956

A Venezuelan Super-Constellation crashes in the Atlantic Ocean off Asbury Park, New Jersey, killing 74 people. ›

1948

In Western Allied-occupied Germany, the Currency Reform of 1948 goes into effect, introducing the Deutsche Mark. The Soviet Military Administration in Germany responded by imposing the Berlin Blockade four days later. ›

1945

The United States Secretary of State approves the transfer of Wernher von Braun and his team of Nazi rocket scientists to the U.S. under Operation Paperclip. ›

1944

World War II: The Battle of the Philippine Sea concludes with a decisive U.S. naval victory. The lopsided naval air battle is also known as the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". ›

1944

World War II: During the Continuation War, the Soviet Union demands unconditional surrender from Finland during the beginning of partially successful Vyborg–Petrozavodsk Offensive. The Finnish government refuses. ›

1944

The experimental MW 18014 V-2 rocket reaches an altitude of 176 km, becoming the first man-made object to reach outer space. ›

1943

The Detroit race riot breaks out and continues for three more days. ›

1942

The Holocaust: Kazimierz Piechowski and three others, dressed as members of the SS-Totenkopfverbände, steal an SS staff car and escape from the Auschwitz concentration camp. ›

1926

The 28th International Eucharistic Congress begins in Chicago, with over 250,000 spectators attending the opening procession. ›

1921

Workers of Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, begin a four-month strike. ›

1900

Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army begins a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing, China. ›

1900

Baron Eduard Toll, leader of the Russian Polar Expedition of 1900, departs Saint Petersburg in Russia on the explorer ship Zarya, never to return. ›

1895

The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, is officially opened. ›

1893

Lizzie Borden is acquitted of the murders of her father and stepmother. ›

1877

Alexander Graham Bell installs the world's first commercial telephone service in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. ›

1863

American Civil War: West Virginia is admitted as the 35th U.S. state. ›

1862

Barbu Catargiu, the Prime Minister of Romania, is assassinated. ›

1840

Samuel Morse receives the patent for the telegraph. ›

1837

King William IV dies, and is succeeded by his niece, Victoria. ›

1819

The U.S. vessel SS Savannah arrives at Liverpool, United Kingdom. It is the first steam-propelled vessel to cross the Atlantic, although most of the journey is made under sail. ›

1791

King Louis XVI, disguised as a valet, and the French royal family attempt to flee Paris during the French Revolution. ›

1789

Deputies of the French Third Estate take the Tennis Court Oath. ›

1787

Oliver Ellsworth moves at the Federal Convention to call the government the 'United States'. ›

1782

The U.S. Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States. ›

1756

A British garrison is imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta. ›

1685

Monmouth Rebellion: James Scott, 1st Duke of Monmouth declares himself King of England at Bridgwater. ›

1652

Tarhoncu Ahmed Pasha is appointed Grand Vizier of the Ottoman Empire. ›

1631

The Sack of Baltimore: The Irish village of Baltimore is attacked by Barbary slave traders. ›

1622

The Battle of Höchst takes place during the Thirty Years' War. ›

1295

The Treaty of Anagni, an attempt mediated by the papacy to end the War of the Sicilian Vespers, is signed by the crown of Aragon, the kingdom of France and kingdom of Naples. ›

1210

Michael I Komnenos Doukas, the first ruler of the despotate of Epirus, signs a treaty with the Republic of Venice and becomes their vassal. ›

1180

First Battle of Uji, starting the Genpei War in Japan. ›

451

Battle of Chalons: Flavius Aetius battles Attila the Hun. After the battle, which was inconclusive, Attila retreats. Despite suffering catastrophic losses that led to the collapse of their alliance with the Goths and the destruction of much of the Roman army, the Romans nevertheless proclaimed victory despite the lack of any clear military success. ›