Hurricane Maria made landfall in Puerto Rico as a Category 4 hurricane
MajorThe storm caused catastrophic damage across the island, resulting in nearly 3,000 deaths and the longest blackout in U.S. history. Some areas remained...
September 20 in History
Significant events that happened on this day.
Historical Events
2017
2011
The U.S. military's 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy officially ended
MajorAfter 18 years, the controversial policy preventing openly gay, lesbian, and bisexual people from serving in the U.S. armed forces was repealed. Thous...
2010
A Canadian man legally changed his name to 'Bacon Double Cheeseburger'
The man from British Columbia successfully completed all legal paperwork to officially adopt the fast food-inspired name. He stated he did it for 'fun...
1995
AT&T announced it would split into three separate companies
The telecommunications giant voluntarily broke itself up into AT&T, Lucent Technologies, and NCR Corporation. This marked one of the largest corporate...
1973
Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in the 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match
MajorKing won in straight sets before a crowd of over 30,000 at the Houston Astrodome and a television audience of 90 million. The 29-year-old King's victo...
1967
The RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 was launched in Scotland
Queen Elizabeth II herself launched the ship, intended as a successor to the original Queen Elizabeth. The QE2 would serve for 40 years, sailing over...
1958
Martin Luther King Jr. was stabbed in the chest while signing books in Harlem
A mentally ill woman stabbed King with a letter opener at a department store book signing. The blade came so close to his aorta that doctors said if h...
1946
The first Cannes Film Festival opened in France after being postponed since 1939 due to World War II
Originally scheduled for September 1939, the festival was cancelled on the day it was supposed to open when Germany invaded Poland. When it finally pr...
1870
Italian forces breached the walls of Rome and seized the city from papal control
MajorThe Capture of Rome marked the final event in Italian unification. Pope Pius IX retreated to the Vatican and declared himself a prisoner, beginning a...
1854
The Battle of Alma became the first battle of the Crimean War
Allied forces of Britain, France, and Turkey defeated Russia in this first major engagement on the Crimean Peninsula. The battle was notable for the F...
1596
Diego de Montemayor founded the city of Monterrey in Mexico
Named after the Viceroy of New Spain, the Count of Monterrey, the settlement would grow to become Mexico's third-largest city and a major industrial c...
1519
Ferdinand Magellan set sail from Spain with five ships to find a western route to the Spice Islands
MajorThis voyage would become the first expedition to circumnavigate the globe, though Magellan himself would die in the Philippines before its completion....
1378
Cardinal Robert of Geneva was elected as Antipope Clement VII, beginning the Western Schism
This election created a split in the Catholic Church with two rival popes—one in Rome and one in Avignon, France. The schism lasted 39 years and divid...
1187
Saladin began the siege of Jerusalem during the Crusades
After defeating crusader forces at the Battle of Hattin, Saladin surrounded Jerusalem and demanded its surrender. The city fell after just 12 days, en...