compareyourlife

On November 20

6 indexed birthdays · 14 historic events

Born today

Historic events

  • 2003-11-20Conflict
    Suicide bombers blew up the British consulate and the headquarters of HSBC Bank in Istanbul, killing 31 people, including consul general Roger Short and actor Kerem Yılmazer.
  • 1994-11-20Conflict
    In accordance with the Lusaka Protocol, the Angolan government signed a ceasefire with UNITA rebels in a failed attempt to end the Angolan Civil War.
  • 1991-11-20Conflict
    First Nagorno-Karabakh War: An Azerbaijani military helicopter carrying a peacekeeping mission team was shot down in Nagorno-Karabakh, disrupting ongoing peace talks.
  • 1990-11-20Conflict
    Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, was arrested in Novocherkassk.
  • 1985-11-20Science & Tech
    Windows 1.0, the first version of Microsoft Windows available to the public, was released.
  • 1979-11-20Conflict
    Armed insurgents attacked and took over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, declaring that one of their leaders was the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam.
  • 1969-11-20Conflict
    A group of Native American activists began a 19-month occupation (graffiti pictured) of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
  • 1947-11-20Arts & Culture
    Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI, married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.
  • 1945-11-20Conflict
    The Nuremberg trials (defendants pictured) of 24 leading Nazis involved in the Holocaust and various war crimes during World War II began in Nuremberg, Germany.
  • 1917-11-20Conflict
    First World War: The Battle of Cambrai began with British forces having initial success over Germany's Hindenburg Line.
  • 1820-11-20Disaster
    The American whaleship Essex sank 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west of the western coast of South America after it was attacked by a sperm whale, an event which inspired the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (pictured).
  • 1776-11-20Conflict
    American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Lee saw the invasion of New Jersey by British and Hessian forces and the subsequent general retreat of the Continental Army.
  • 1739-11-20Conflict
    War of Jenkins' Ear: A British naval force arrived at the settlement of Portobello in the Spanish Main, capturing it the next day.
  • 0284-11-20Geopolitics
    Diocletian became Roman emperor, eventually establishing reforms that ended the Crisis of the Third Century.
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