compareyourlife
On November 20
6 indexed birthdays · 14 historic events
Born today
Historic events
- 2003-11-20ConflictSuicide 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.
- 1994-11-20ConflictIn accordance with the Lusaka Protocol, the Angolan government signed a ceasefire with UNITA rebels in a failed attempt to end the Angolan Civil War.
- 1991-11-20ConflictFirst Nagorno-Karabakh War: An Azerbaijani military helicopter carrying a peacekeeping mission team was shot down in Nagorno-Karabakh, disrupting ongoing peace talks.
- 1990-11-20ConflictAndrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, was arrested in Novocherkassk.
- 1985-11-20Science & TechWindows 1.0, the first version of Microsoft Windows available to the public, was released.
- 1979-11-20ConflictArmed 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.
- 1969-11-20ConflictA group of Native American activists began a 19-month occupation (graffiti pictured) of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.
- 1947-11-20Arts & CulturePrincess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI, married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.
- 1945-11-20ConflictThe Nuremberg trials (defendants pictured) of 24 leading Nazis involved in the Holocaust and various war crimes during World War II began in Nuremberg, Germany.
- 1917-11-20ConflictFirst World War: The Battle of Cambrai began with British forces having initial success over Germany's Hindenburg Line.
- 1820-11-20DisasterThe 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).
- 1776-11-20ConflictAmerican 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.
- 1739-11-20ConflictWar of Jenkins' Ear: A British naval force arrived at the settlement of Portobello in the Spanish Main, capturing it the next day.
- 0284-11-20GeopoliticsDiocletian became Roman emperor, eventually establishing reforms that ended the Crisis of the Third Century.