TODAY’S HISTORY LESSON: OCT 20
0480 Greeks defeat the Persians in a naval battle at Salamis.
1097 1st Crusaders arrive in Antioch during the First Crusade
1603 Chinese uprising in the Philippines fails after 23,000 killed
1714 George I of England crowned.
1740 Maria Theresa became the ruler of Austria, Hungary and Bohemia with the death of her father, Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI.
1774 The new Continental Congress, the governing body of America’s colonies, passed an order proclaiming that all citizens of the colonies “discountenance and discourage all horse racing and all kinds of gaming, cock fighting, exhibitions of shows, plays and other expensive diversions and entertainment.”
1803 The Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
1818 US & Britain agree to joint control of Oregon country
1818 The United States and Britain establish the 49th Parallel as the boundary between Canada and the United States.
1864 US President Abraham Lincoln formally establishes Thanksgiving as a national holiday
1873 A Hippodrome was opened in New York City by showman Phineus T. (P.T.) Barnum.
1903 The Joint Commission, set up on January 24 by Great Britain and the United States to arbitrate the disputed Alaskan boundary, rules in favor of the United States. The deciding vote is Britain’s, which embitters Canada. The United States gains ports on the panhandle coast of Alaska.
1924 Baseball’s first ‘colored World Series’ is held in Kansas City, Mo
1938 Czechoslovakia, complying with Nazi policy, outlaws the Communist Party and begins persecuting Jews.
1944 U.S. troops land on Leyte in the Philippines, keeping General MacArthur’s pledge “I shall return.”
1945 Egypt, Syria, Iraq and Lebanon form the Arab League to present a unified front against the establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine.
1947 The House Un-American Activities Committee opens public hearings on alleged communist infiltration in Hollywood. Among those denounced as having un-American tendencies are: Katherine Hepburn, Charles Chaplin and Edward G. Robinson. Among those called to testify is Screen Actors Guild President Ronald Reagan, who denies that leftists ever controlled the Guild and refuses to label anyone a communist.
1962 War Breaks Out Between India and China
1973 Sydney Opera House Opens its Doors
1973 Arab oil-producing nations ban oil exports to the United States, following the outbreak of Arab-Israeli war.
1973 During the Watergate scandal, Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned and special prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed by President Nixon in what came to be known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.”
1977 Charter plane crashes in Mississippi, killing three members of popular Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd, along with their assistant road manager, the pilot and co-pilot.
1981 3 members of Weather underground arrested for armored truck robbery
1982 A stampede during a UEFA Cup soccer (football) match between Dutch club Haarlem and the Moscovian football club, Spartak at the Lenin Stadium in Moscow left about 60 people dead.
1993 Attorney General Janet Reno warned the TV industry to limit the violence in their programs.
1995 Britain, France and the U.S. announced a treaty that banned atomic blasts in the South Pacific.
2009 European astronomers discover 32 exoplanets.
2011 In the Libyan civil war, rebels capture deposed dictator Muammar Gaddafi in his hometown of Sirte, killing him soon afterward.
REFERENCE: HISTORY.NET, ONTHISDAY.COM, TIMEANDDATE.COM, INFOPLEASE.COM, FACTMONSTER.COM, SCOPESYS.COM, ON-THIS-DAY.COM, THEPEOPLEHISTORY.COM
