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Historical events on October 20

OCTOBER 20, 1973
Watergate scandal: Both Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned rather than obey Richard Nixon's order to have Archibald Cox fired.
The Watergate scandal was a major political scandal in the United States involving the administration of President Richard Nixon. The scandal began Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1944
World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the Philippines.
World War II or the Second World War was a global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies and the Axis powers. Nearly all Read More
OCTOBER 20, 2011
First Libyan Civil War: Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed Libyan leader, was captured by rebel forces during the Battle of Sirte, and was killed shortly thereafter.
The Libyan civil war, also known as the First Libyan Civil War and Libyan Revolution, was an armed conflict in 2011 in Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1936
British 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.
Mabel Magdalene Freer was a British woman whose exclusion from Australia on morality grounds in 1936 became a cause célèbre and led Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1939
Pope Pius XII (pictured) published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which critiqued ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism.
Pope Pius XII was the head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 2 March 1939 until his death on 9 October 1958.
OCTOBER 20, 1740
Under the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa (pictured) ascended the Habsburg throne.
The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1977
Three members of the American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi.
Lynyrd Skynyrd is an American rock band formed in Jacksonville, Florida in 1964. The group originally formed as My Backyard and comprised Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1984
The 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.
The Spanish fishing trawler Sonia sank off the Cornish coast of England on 20 October 1984. On 19 October, in Irish territorial Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1951
African-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.
College football is gridiron football that is played by teams of amateur student-athletes at universities and colleges. It was through collegiate competition Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1991
An earthquake struck the Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 768 people and destroying thousands of homes.
The 1991 Uttarkashi earthquake occurred at 02:53:16 Indian Standard Time (UTC+05:30) on 20 October with a moment magnitude of 6.8 and a Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1967
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest in California.
A 1967 American short motion picture, created by Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin, depicts an unidentified subject that the filmmakers stated was Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1986
Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashed on approach to Kurumoch Airport in Samara (then Kuibyshev in the Soviet Union), killing 70 people on board.
Aeroflot Flight 6502 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight operated by a Tupolev Tu-134A from Sverdlovsk to Grozny via Kuibyshev, which crashed Read More
OCTOBER 20, 2022
Protests broke out across Chad after President Mahamat Déby (pictured) declared his intentions to extend his rule by another two years resulting in hundreds of protesters being killed.
In October 2022, protests broke out across Chad after President Mahamat Déby declared his intentions to extend his rule by another two Read More
OCTOBER 20, 1969
Experimental results from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were published showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory, originally named the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center, is a federally funded research and development center in Menlo Park, Read More

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