Historical events on August 20
AUGUST 20, 1910
Hurricane-force winds combined hundreds of small fires in the U.S. states of Washington and Idaho into the Devil's Broom fire, which burned about 4,700 square miles (12,100 km²), the largest fire in recorded U.S. history.
Washington, officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is often referred
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AUGUST 20, 1707
The first Siege of Pensacola came to an end with the British and Creek abandoning their attempt to capture Pensacola in Spanish Florida.
The siege of Pensacola included two separate attempts in 1707 by English-supported Creek Indians to capture the town and fortress of Pensacola,
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AUGUST 20, 1909
Pluto (pictured) was photographed for the first time at the Yerkes Observatory in Williams Bay, Wisconsin, U.S., 21 years before it was officially discovered by Clyde Tombaugh.
Pluto is a dwarf planet in the Kuiper belt, a ring of bodies beyond the orbit of Neptune. It is the ninth-largest
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AUGUST 20, 1988
Fires in the United States' Yellowstone National Park ravaged more than 150,000 acres (610 km2), the single-worst day of the conflagration.
Yellowstone National Park is a national park of the United States located in the northwest corner of Wyoming, with small portions extending
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AUGUST 20, 1989
After colliding with the dredger Bowbelle on the River Thames in London, the pleasure boat Marchioness sank in thirty seconds, killing 51 people.
Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and
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AUGUST 20, 1950
Korean War: United Nations forces repelled an attempt by North Korea to capture the city of Taegu.
The Korean War was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea and South Korea and their allies. North
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AUGUST 20, 1892
Celtic Park, the largest football stadium in Scotland and home of Celtic F.C., opened.
Celtic Park is a football stadium and the home of Scottish Premiership team Celtic, in the Parkhead area of Glasgow, Scotland. With
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AUGUST 20, 2008
Spanair Flight 5022 crashed just after take-off from Madrid's Barajas Airport, killing 154 people.
Spanair Flight 5022 (JK5022/JKK5022) was a scheduled domestic passenger flight from Barcelona–El Prat Airport to Gran Canaria Airport, Spain, with a stopover
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AUGUST 20, 2018
Silent Sam, a Confederate monument on the campus of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, was toppled by protestors.
The Confederate Monument, University of North Carolina, commonly known as Silent Sam, is a bronze statue of a Confederate soldier by Canadian
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AUGUST 20, 1989
The final stage of the O-Bahn Busway in Adelaide, South Australia, was completed, at the time the world's longest and fastest guided busway with buses travelling a total of 12 km (7.5 mi) at maximum speeds of up to 100 km/h (62 mph).
The O-Bahn Busway is a guided busway that is part of the bus rapid transit system servicing the northeastern suburbs of Adelaide,
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AUGUST 20, 917
Byzantine–Bulgarian wars: Bulgarian forces led by Tsar Simeon I drove the Byzantines out of Thrace with a decisive victory at the Battle of Achelous.
The Byzantine–Bulgarian wars were a series of conflicts fought between the Byzantine Empire and Bulgaria which began after the Bulgars conquered parts
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AUGUST 20, 1998
The Al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory (pictured) in Sudan was destroyed by a missile attack launched by the United States in retaliation for the August 7 U.S. embassy bombings.
The al-Shifa pharmaceutical factory in Kafouri, Khartoum North, Sudan, was constructed between 1992 and 1996 with components imported from Germany, India, Italy,
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AUGUST 20, 1710
War of the Spanish Succession: A Spanish Bourbon army commanded by the Marquis de Bay was soundly defeated by a multinational army led by the Austrian commander Guido Starhemberg.
The War of the Spanish Succession was a European great power conflict fought between 1701 and 1714. The immediate cause was the
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AUGUST 20, 1988
The Troubles: The Provisional Irish Republican Army bombed a bus carrying British Army soldiers in Northern Ireland, killing eight of them and wounding twenty-eight.
The Troubles were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted for about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also
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