On September 20th...

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1187 Saladin began the Siege of Jerusalem.

1519 Ferdinand Magellan set sail on what would become the first sea voyage around the world.

1565 A Spanish force captured the French settlement of Fort Caroline (present-day Jacksonville, Florida) and massacred most of its inhabitants.

1596 Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey in New Spain.

1803 Irish patriot and revolutionist Robert Emmet was executed.

1809 Sterling Price, American Civil War general, was born.

1814 "Star Spangled Banner" was published as a song.

1842 Physicist James Dewar was born.

1848 The American Association for the Advancement of Science was created.

1854 The Battle of the Alma, the first major battle of the Crimean War, was fought.

1859 George Simpson patented the electric range.

1863 Jakob Ludwig Grimm, collector and publisher of fairy tales, died.

1878 Author Upton Sinclair was born.

1886 Sister Elizabeth Kenny, nurse,was born.

1891 The first gasoline-powered car debuted in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1917 Basketball coach Red Auerbach was born.

1928 Psychologist Joyce Brothers was born.

1929 Comedian Anne Meara was born.

1934 Actress Sophia Loren was born.

1943 Umetaro Suzuki, the discoverer of vitamin B1, died.

1946 The first Cannes Film Festival opened.

1947 Fiorello LaGuardia, Mayor of New York City, died.

1951 Hockey player Guy Lafleur was born.

1954 The FORTRAN computer program was first run.

1957 Composer Jean Sibelius died.

1962 James Meredith was prevented from enrolling at the University of Mississippi.

1967 The Queen Elizabeth 2 was launched.
1967 Musicians Gunnar and Matthew Nelson were born.

1970 Luna 16 soft-landed on the Moon.

1973 Singer Jim Croce and five others were killed in a plane crash.

1975 Auto racer Juan Pablo Montoya was born.

1979 Jean-Bédel Bokassa was overthrown as Emperor of the Central African Empire.

1984 "Cosby Show" premiered on NBC-TV.

2000 Gherman Titov, the second human to orbit the Earth, died.

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This page was last updated on November 29, 2017.