February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.

Events

up to 19th century

• 1472 - Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.
• 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
• 1724 - The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.
• 1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
• 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
• 1809 - A decision by the United States Supreme Court states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.
• 1835 - Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake
• 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
• 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.

20th century

• 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
• 1913 - King O'Malley drove in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
• 1921 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse film, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
• 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
• 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
• 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
• 1943 - Paricutín volcano begins to form in Paricutín, México.
• 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
• 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
• 1952 - The film The African Queen opens at Capitol Theatre in New York City.
• 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
• 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.
• 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah a bomb explodes in a computer store.

21st century

• 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
• 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
• 2003 - In Rhode Island, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.

Births

up to 19th century

• 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
• 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences (d. 1834)
• 1839 - Revd Benjamin Waugh, founder of NSPCC (d. 1908)
• 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist (d. 1906)
• 1844 - Joshua Slocum, seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
• 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, railroad executive (d. 1909)
• 1887 - Carl Ebert, opera manager and director (d. 1980)
• 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)

20th century

1900-1949

• 1902 - Ansel Adams, photographer (d. 1984)
• 1904 - Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
• 1909 - Heinz Erhardt, German comedian (d. 1979)
• 1912 - Pierre Boulle, author (d. 1994)
• 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, jeans designer and entrepreneur
• 1925 - Robert Altman, film director
• 1925 - Heinz Kluncker, labor union leader
• 1926 - Richard Matheson, author
• 1926 - Rob Richards, track and field athlete
• 1927 - Sidney Poitier, actor
• 1934 - Bobby Unser, automobile racer
• 1937 - Roger Penske, automobile racer
• 1937 - Nancy Wilson, singer
• 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie, singer
• 1942 - Phil Esposito, ice hockey player
• 1943 - Mike Leigh, director
• 1946 - Brenda Blethyn, actress
• 1946 - Jerome Geils of the J Geils band
• 1947 - Peter Osgood, English football player
• 1947 - Peter Strauss, actor

1950-1999

• 1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician
• 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
• 1954 - Patty Hearst, socialite
• 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, actor
• 1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
• 1966 - Cindy Crawford, model
• 1967 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician (d. 1994)
• 1971 - Jari Litmanen, football player
• 1975 - Brian Littrell, musician ("Backstreet Boys")
• 1977 - Stephon Marbury, basketball player
• 1985 - Yulia, half of Russian pop group t.A.T.u.

Deaths

upto 19th century

• 1171 - Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
• 1194 - Tancred, King of Sicily
• 1431 - Pope Martin V
• 1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
• 1626 - John Dowland, composer and lutenist (b. 1563)
• 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy (b. 1701)
• 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
• 1810 - Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean national hero, is executed by the French at Mantova
• 1871 - Paul Kane, painter (b. 1810)
• 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate general (b. 1818)
• 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American, abolitionist writer (b. ca. 1818)

20th century

• 1920 - Robert Peary, explorer (b. 1856)
• 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
• 1968 - Anthony Asquith, director, writer (b. 1902)
• 1969 - Ernest Ansermet, conductor (b. 1883)
• 1972 - Walter Winchell, journalist, (b. 1897)
• 1985 - Clarence Nash, Disney voice actor (b. 1904)
• 1992 - Dick York, actor (b. 1928)
• 1993 - Ferrucio Lamborghini, automobile manufacturer
• 1996 - Toru Takemitsu, composer (b. 1930)
• 1996 - Solomon Asch, psychologist (b. 1907)
• 1999 - Sarah Kane, playwright (b. 1971)
• 1999 - Gene Siskel, film critic (b. 1946)

21st century

• 2003 - Maurice Blanchot, author (b. 1907)
• 2003 - Orville Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
• 2003 - Willi Hoss, politician
• 2003 - Harry Jacunski, NFL player
• 2003 - Ty Longley, guitarist for the heavy-metal band Great White
• 2003 - Ulrich Roski, singer and cabaret artist

Holidays and observances

February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 -- listing of all days