Did you know
Initially ideologically committed to Arab nationalism and Arab socialism, Gaddafi later ruled according to his own Third International Theory.
Notable Deaths on October 20
2011 — Muammar Gaddafi
Libyan colonel and politician, Prime Minister of Libya (born 1942)
October 20 has 114 recorded notable deaths across history, from 460 to 2024. This focused page highlights 20 people with the strongest available profile context.
By thisDay.info Editorial Team · — Wikipedia
Notable Deaths
114 source records
460 – 2024
Today in history
Major events on October 20
See what else happened on this day in history.
- 2003 The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University. Source
- 1961 The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine. Source
- 2011 Libyan Crisis: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill them shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war. Source
- 1883 Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific. Source
Did you know
Over the years, Gülen became a centrist political figure in Turkey prior to his being there as a fugitive.
Did you know
Massee also voiced Bruce Banner in the first two entries of Marvel Animated Features in 2006.
Did you know
By 1982 Guccione was listed in the Forbes 400 wealth list, and owned one of the biggest mansions in Manhattan.
Did you know
Merle Travis was inducted into the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame in 1970 and elected to the Country Music Hall of Fame in 1977.
More major people who died on October 20
Notable people are ranked by substantive profile depth and public notability.
2024
Fethullah Gülen
Turkish preacher and theologian (born 1941)
Muhammed Fethullah Gülen was a Turkish Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement, which as of 2010 had 8-10 million of followers globally and had established a network of over 2,000 STEM focused schools…
2016
Michael Massee
American actor (born 1952)
Michael Groo Massee was an American actor. Active on screen for three decades, he frequently portrayed villainous characters.
2010
Bob Guccione
American publisher, founded Penthouse magazine (born 1930)
Robert Charles Joseph Edward Sabatini Guccione was an American visual artist, photographer and publisher. He founded the adult magazine Penthouse in 1965.
1983
Merle Travis
American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1917)
Merle Robert Travis was an American country and western singer, songwriter, actor, and guitarist.
1935
Arthur Henderson
Scottish-English politician, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1863)
Arthur Henderson was a British iron moulder and Labour politician.
1999
Jack Lynch
Irish footballer, lawyer, and politician, 5th Taoiseach of Ireland (born 1917)
John Mary Lynch was an Irish Fianna Fáil politician who served as Taoiseach from 1966 to 1973 and 1977 to 1979.
2011
Iztok Puc
Croatian-Slovenian handball player (born 1966)
Iztok Puc was a Croatian-Slovenian handball player, who was one of the world's top players of the 1980s and 1990s. During his career he played professionally for Borac Banja Luka, Zagreb, Celje and Prule 67.
1713
Archibald Pitcairne
Scottish physician and academic (born 1652)
Archibald Pitcairne or Pitcairn was a Scottish physician. He was a physician and poet who first studied law at Edinburgh and Paris graduating with an M.A. from Edinburgh in 1671.
2013
Larri Thomas
American actress and dancer (born 1932)
Larri Thomas was an American actress and dancer. She began her career by participating in a string of television commercials and eventually signed a contract with NBC.
2013
Lawrence Klein
American economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1920)
Lawrence Robert Klein was an American economist. For his work in creating computer models to forecast economic trends in the field of econometrics in the Department of Economics at the University of Pennsylvania, he was…
1940
Gunnar Asplund
Swedish architect and academic, co-designed Skogskyrkogården (born 1885)
Erik Gunnar Asplund was a Swedish architect, mostly known as a key representative of Nordic Classicism of the 1920s during the last decade of his life.
2010
Eva Ibbotson
Austrian-English author (born 1925)
Eva Maria Charlotte Michelle Ibbotson was an Austrian-born British novelist, known for her children's literature. Some of her novels for adults have been reissued for the young adult market.
1994
Burt Lancaster
American actor (born 1913)
Burton Stephen Lancaster was an American actor. Initially known for playing tough characters with tender hearts, he went on to achieve success with more complex and challenging roles over a 45-year career in films and…
2024
Walter Jacob
American Reform rabbi (born 1930)
Walter Jacob was an American Reform rabbi. He was rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1997.
2005
Shirley Horn
American singer and pianist (born 1934)
Shirley Valerie Horn was an American jazz singer and pianist. She collaborated with many jazz musicians including Miles Davis, Dizzy Gillespie, Toots Thielemans, Ron Carter, Carmen McRae, Wynton Marsalis and others.
1999
Calvin Griffith
Canadian-American businessman (born 1911)
Calvin Robertson Griffith, born Calvin Griffith Robertson, was a Canadian-born American Major League Baseball team owner.
1883
George Chichester
3rd Marquess of Donegall (born 1797)
George Hamilton Chichester, 3rd Marquess of Donegall, styled Viscount Chichester until 1799 and Earl of Belfast between 1799 and 1844, was an Anglo-Irish landowner, courtier and politician.
1984
Paul Dirac
English-American physicist and mathematician, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)
Paul Adrien Maurice Dirac was an English theoretical physicist who is considered to be one of the founders of quantum mechanics.
1187
Pope Urban III
Pope Urban III served as head of the Catholic Church and ruler of the Papal States from 25 November 1185 until his death in 1187.