Historical events on February 20
FEBRUARY 20, 1998
At the age of 15, American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the then-youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
Figure skating is a sport in which individuals, pairs, or groups perform on figure skates on ice. It was the first winter
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FEBRUARY 20, 1905
The Supreme Court of the United States ruled in Jacobson v. Massachusetts that states had the authority to order compulsory vaccination.
The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has
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FEBRUARY 20, 1835
An earthquake registering approximately 8.5 Mw devastated Concepción, Chile, and triggered a tsunami that destroyed neighbouring Talcahuano.
The 1835 Concepción earthquake was an earthquake that occurred near the neighboring cities of Concepción and Talcahuano in Chile on 20 February
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FEBRUARY 20, 1872
The Metropolitan Museum of Art , today the largest art museum in the United States with a collection of more than two million works, opened in New York.
The Metropolitan Museum of Art, colloquially referred to as the Met, is an encyclopedic art museum in New York City. By floor
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FEBRUARY 20, 1959
Canadian prime minister John Diefenbaker cancelled the Avro CF-105 Arrow (pictured) interceptor-aircraft program amid much political debate.
John George Diefenbaker DEE-fən-bay-kər; September 18, 1895 – August 16, 1979) was the 13th prime minister of Canada, serving from 1957 to
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FEBRUARY 20, 1988
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast voted to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.
The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast (NKAO) was an autonomous oblast within the Azerbaijan Soviet Socialist Republic that was created on July 7, 1923.
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FEBRUARY 20, 1970
Wat Phra Dhammakaya, one of the largest Buddhist temples in Thailand, was founded in Pathum Thani.
Wat Phra Dhammakaya is a Buddhist temple (wat) in Khlong Luang district, in the Pathum Thani province north of Bangkok, Thailand. It
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FEBRUARY 20, 1943
A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of Michoacán and continued to erupt for nine years, forming the cinder cone Parícutin .
A fissure vent, also known as a volcanic fissure, eruption fissure or simply a fissure, is a linear volcanic vent through which
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FEBRUARY 20, 1685
The French colonization of Texas began with the landing of colonists led by Robert de La Salle near Matagorda Bay.
The French colonization of Texas started in 1685 when Robert Cavelier de La Salle intended to found the colony at the mouth
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FEBRUARY 20, 2010
Severe flooding and mudslides on the island of Madeira, Portugal, killed 51 people.
An extreme weather event affected Madeira Island in Portugal's autonomous Madeira archipelago on 20 February 2010. The resulting flash floods and mudslides
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FEBRUARY 20, 1846
Polish insurgents in the Free City of Kraków led an uprising attempting to incite a fight for national independence that was put down by the Austrian Empire nine days later.
The Free, Independent, and Strictly Neutral City of Cracow and its District, more commonly known as the Free City of Cracow and
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FEBRUARY 20, 1965
The NASA spacecraft Ranger 8 spacecraft transmitted 7,137 photographs of the Moon in the final 23 minutes of its mission before crashing as planned in Mare Tranquillitatis.
Ranger 8 was a lunar probe in the Ranger program, a robotic spacecraft series launched by NASA in the early-to-mid-1960s to obtain
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FEBRUARY 20, 1943
The Saturday Evening Post published the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms, among the most widely distributed paintings ever produced, in support of U.S. president Franklin Roosevelt's Four Freedoms.
The Saturday Evening Post is an American magazine published six times a year. It was published weekly from 1897 until 1963, and
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FEBRUARY 20, 1816
Italian composer Gioachino Rossini's opera buffa The Barber of Seville premiered at the Teatro Argentina in Rome to jeers from the audience.
Gioachino Antonio Rossini was an Italian composer who gained fame for his 39 operas, although he also wrote many songs, some chamber
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FEBRUARY 20, 1864
American Civil War: The Union Army suffered a one-in-three casualty rate at the Battle of Olustee near Lake City, Florida.
The American Civil War was a civil war in the United States between the Union and the Confederacy, which was formed in
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Showing selected events of February 20
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