# What happened on September 20 in history?

**Date:** September 20  
**Events recorded:** 51  
**Years spanned:** 1058 – 2019  
**Full page:** https://thisday.info/events/september/20/

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## Featured Event

**2019** — Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.

[Read more on Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_2019_climate_strikes)

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## Events on this date

- **1058** — Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Agnes_of_Poitou))
- **1066** — At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Fulford))
- **1187** — Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Saladin))
- **1260** — The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prussian_uprisings))
- **1378** — Cardinal Robert of Geneva is elected as Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antipope_Clement_VII))
- **1498** — The Nankai tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in; it has been located outside ever since. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1498_Mei%C5%8D_earthquake))
- **1519** — Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition which ultimately culminates in the first circumnavigation of the globe. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferdinand_Magellan))
- **1586** — A number of conspirators in the Babington Plot are hanged, drawn and quartered. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babington_Plot))
- **1602** — The Spanish-held Dutch town of Grave capitulates to a besieging Dutch and English army under the command of Maurice of Orange. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grave%2C_Netherlands))
- **1697** — The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, ending the Nine Years' War. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peace_of_Ryswick))
- **1737** — The Walking Purchase concludes, which forces the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,900 km2) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walking_Purchase))
- **1792** — French troops stop an allied invasion of France at the Battle of Valmy. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Valmy))
- **1835** — The decade-long Ragamuffin War starts when rebels capture Porto Alegre in Brazil. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ragamuffin_War))
- **1848** — The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Association_for_the_Advancement_of_Science))
- **1854** — Crimean War: British and French troops defeat Russians at the Battle of Alma. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Crimean_War))
- **1857** — The Indian Rebellion of 1857 ends with the recapture of Delhi by troops loyal to the East India Company. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Rebellion_of_1857))
- **1860** — The future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom begins the first visit to North America by a Prince of Wales. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_VII))
- **1863** — American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, ends in a Confederate victory. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_Civil_War))
- **1870** — The Bersaglieri corps enter Rome through the Porta Pia, and complete the unification of Italy. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Rome))
- **1871** — Bishop John Coleridge Patteson, first bishop of Melanesia, is martyred on Nukapu, now in the Solomon Islands. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Patteson_(bishop)))
- **1881** — U.S. President Chester A. Arthur is sworn in upon the death of James A. Garfield the previous day. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chester_A._Arthur))
- **1893** — Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Duryea))
- **1911** — The White Star Line's RMS Olympic collides with the British warship HMS Hawke. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/RMS_Olympic))
- **1920** — Irish War of Independence: British police known as "Black and Tans" burn the town of Balbriggan and kill two local men in revenge for an IRA assassination. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Irish_War_of_Independence))
- **1941** — The Holocaust in Lithuania: Lithuanian Nazis and local police begin a mass execution of 403 Jews in Nemenčinė. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Holocaust_in_Lithuania))
- **1946** — The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed for seven years due to World War II. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cannes_Film_Festival))
- **1946** — Six days after a referendum, King Christian X of Denmark annuls the declaration of independence of the Faroe Islands. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1946_Faroese_independence_referendum))
- **1954** — The Moomin comics, created by Tove Jansson and Lars Jansson, is published internationally in the London newspaper The Evening News. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moomin_comic_strips))
- **1955** — The Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR is signed. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treaty_on_Relations_between_the_USSR_and_the_GDR))
- **1961** — Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Konstantinos_Dovas))
- **1962** — James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Meredith))
- **1965** — Following the Battle of Burki, the Indian Army captures Dograi in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Burki))
- **1967** — The Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched in Clydebank, Scotland. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Queen_Elizabeth_2))
- **1971** — Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Irene%E2%80%93Olivia))
- **1973** — Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Sexes_(tennis)))
- **1973** — Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Croce))
- **1977** — Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vietnam))
- **1979** — A French-supported coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Operation_Caban))
- **1982** — NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1982_NFL_season))
- **1984** — A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1984_US_embassy_bombing_in_Beirut))
- **1989** — USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USAir_Flight_5050))
- **1990** — South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/South_Ossetia))
- **2000** — The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000_MI6_attack))
- **2001** — In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror". ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_on_terror))
- **2003** — Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2003_Maldives_civil_unrest))
- **2007** — Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jena_Six))
- **2008** — A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Islamabad_Marriott_Hotel_bombing))
- **2011** — The United States military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Don't_ask%2C_don't_tell))
- **2017** — Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hurricane_Maria))
- **2018** — At least 161 people die after a ferry capsizes close to the pier on Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_MV_Nyerere))
- **2019** — Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City. ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/September_2019_climate_strikes))

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## Notable births on September 20

- **2003** — **Thomas Matthew Crooks** — American attempted assassin of Donald Trump (died 2024) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Crooks))
- **1998** — **Trevon Diggs** — American football player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trevon_Diggs))
- **1997** — **Itamar Einhorn** — Israeli Olympic cyclist ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Itamar_Einhorn))
- **1996** — **Ioana Loredana Roșca** — Romanian tennis player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ioana_Loredana_Ro%C8%99ca))
- **1995** — **Laura Dekker** — Dutch sailor ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Laura_Dekker))
- **1995** — **Sammi Hanratty** — American actress ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sammi_Hanratty))
- **1995** — **Rob Holding** — English footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rob_Holding))
- **1993** — **Kyle Anderson** — American-Chinese basketball player ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kyle_Anderson_(basketball)))
- **1993** — **Julian Draxler** — German footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Julian_Draxler))
- **1992** — **Michał Żyro** — Polish footballer ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Micha%C5%82_%C5%BByro))

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## Notable deaths on September 20

- **2025** — **Matt Beard** — English football manager (born 1978) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matt_Beard))
- **2024** — **Ibrahim Aqil** — Hezbollah militant (born 1962) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ibrahim_Aqil))
- **2024** — **Kathryn Crosby** — American actress and singer (born 1933) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathryn_Crosby))
- **2024** — **Daniel J. Evans** — American politician, 16th Governor of Washington (born 1925) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_J._Evans))
- **2024** — **Sayuri** — Japanese musician (born 1996) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sayuri_(musician)))
- **2024** — **Cleo Sylvestre** — English actress (born 1945) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cleo_Sylvestre))
- **2024** — **Eduardo Xol** — American designer and author (born 1966) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eduardo_Xol))
- **2023** — **Maddy Cusack** — English football player (born 1995) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maddy_Cusack))
- **2016** — **Curtis Hanson** — American film director and screenwriter (born 1945) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Curtis_Hanson))
- **2016** — **Peter Leo Gerety** — American bishop (born 1912) ([Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Peter_Leo_Gerety))

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## About this page

This is a machine-readable Markdown summary of [thisday.info/events/september/20/](https://thisday.info/events/september/20/).  
Historical data is sourced from [Wikipedia/Wikimedia](https://www.wikipedia.org) under [CC BY-SA](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/).  
Editorial framing and site content © thisday.info.