compareyourlife
On October 20
3 indexed birthdays · 16 historic events
Born today
Historic events
- 2024-10-20GeopoliticsPrabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka were sworn in as president and vice president of Indonesia, becoming the oldest and the youngest person to assume respective offices.
- 2022-10-20ConflictProtests broke out across Chad after President Mahamat Déby (pictured) declared his intentions to extend his rule by another two years.
- 2011-10-20ConflictFirst Libyan Civil War: Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed Libyan leader, was captured by rebel forces during the Battle of Sirte, and was killed shortly thereafter.
- 1991-10-20DisasterAn earthquake struck the Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 768 people and destroying thousands of homes.
- 1986-10-20DisasterAeroflot Flight 6502 crashed on approach to Kurumoch Airport in Samara, Russia (then Kuybyshev in the Soviet Union), killing 70 people on board.
- 1984-10-20ConflictThe Spanish trawler Sonia sank in British waters after a five-hour chase by the Irish Naval Service patrol vessel Aisling, during which almost 600 shots were fired.
- 1982-10-20DisasterDuring a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem, a large number of attendees trying to leave the Central Lenin Stadium resulted in a stampede that caused 66 deaths.
- 1977-10-20DisasterThree members of the American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi.
- 1973-10-20ConflictWatergate scandal: Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned after refusing to obey President Richard Nixon's order to have Archibald Cox fired.
- 1969-10-20Science & TechExperimental results from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were published showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks.
- 1967-10-20Arts & CultureRoger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest in California.
- 1951-10-20ConflictAfrican-American college football player Johnny Bright was the victim of an on-field assault, eventually leading to changes in NCAA football rules that mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards.
- 1944-10-20ConflictWorld War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the Philippines.
- 1939-10-20Arts & CulturePope Pius XII (pictured) published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which critiqued ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism.
- 1936-10-20GeopoliticsBritish woman Mabel Freer was refused entry to Australia after failing a dictation test given in Italian, leading to a debate over Australia's immigration policy.
- 1740-10-20GeopoliticsUnder the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa (pictured) ascended the Habsburg throne.