20th MAY ~ HiSTORY ON THiS DAY

1500s / 16th century history on the 20th of May

1506 : Christopher Columbus the Italian explorer died aged 54 (born in 1451).

Christopher Columbus: Bad Explorer, Great Conman (Biographics verified YouTube channel video)
1600s / 17th century history on the 20th of May

1609 : Shakespeare’s sonnets were published for the first time, by the publisher Thomas Thorpe, in London.

This Week in History! – Shakespeare’s Sonnets Published (Expresso Show YouTube channel video)
1800s / 19th century history on the 20th of May

1862 : U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law, which opened up 84 million acres of public land for settlers.

1873 : Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis received their U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets. The San Francisco businessman Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis (Reno, Nevada) were given a patent to create work pants reinforced with metal rivets, marking the birth of blue jeans, one of the world’s most famous garments.

The History Of Levi’s Advertising In 3 Minutes (Fast Company verified YouTube channel video)

1875 : Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations established the International System of Units.

1883 : Krakatoa volcano started to erupt, and exploded 3 months later on the 27th August 1883, causing the death of 36,417 people.

27th August 1883: The eruption of Krakatoa (History Pod YouTube channel video)

1891 : The 1st public display of Thomas Edison’s prototype kinetoscope.

1900s / 20th century history on the 20th of May

1908 : Henry Bolte the 38th Premier of Victoria, in Australia, was born in Ballarat, Victoria, Australia (died in 1990 aged 81).

1932 : Amelia Earhart started the world’s first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, when she took off from Newfoundland, and landed in Ireland the following day.

Amelia Earhart Departs on Solo Flight Across Atlantic on the 20th May 1932 (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum verified YouTube channel video)

1940 : The first prisoners arrived at the new concentration camp at Auschwitz, during The Holocaust.

1946 : Cher the American singer and actress was born Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, USA. Official website : Cher.com

Cher – Believe – song released in 1998 – official music video (Cher verified YouTube channel video)

1956 : The first United States airborne hydrogen bomb was dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, during Operation Redwing.

1964 : The cosmic microwave background radiation was discovered by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.

Cosmic Microwave Background Explained | Space Time (PBS Digital Studios verified YouTube channel video)

1970 : Louis Theroux the British-American journalist was born in Singapore. Official website : LouisTheroux.com

Louis Theroux on Donald Trump, Brexit and making an Australian documentary (ABC News Australia verified YouTube channel video)

1983 : The discovery of the HIV virus that caused AIDS was published for the first time, in the journal Science by Luc Montagnier.

2000s / 12st century history on the 20th of May

2012 : Northern Italy earthquakes in the Emilia region started, and killed 7 people. 9 days later the 2nd earthquake hit and killed another 20 people, with a total of 400 injured in both earthquakes, which left up to 45,000 people homeless.

2013 : EF5 tornado hit the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, and killed 24 people, leaving 377 injured.

2019 : The International System of Units (Si) redefined the base units, to make the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.

Why the metric system matters – Matt Anticole (TED-Ed verified YouTube channel video)

2019 : Niki Lauda the Austrian race car driver died aged 70 (born in 1949).

Niki Lauda – His Remarkable Career Story (Formula 1 verified YouTube channel video)

see more interesting events on all the other days of MAY (History On This Day @ Azoosh)

This page was last updated on the 20th May 2021

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