On this day | February 20th

On this day: February 20th

Credit/Source: Wikipedia

1339 The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clash in the Battle of Parabiago; Visconti is defeated.

1472 Orkney and Shetland are pawn (law) by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark, Queen of Scotland.

1521 Juan Ponce de León sets out from Spain for Florida with about 200 prospective colonists.

1547 Edward VI of England is Coronation of Edward VI King of England at Westminster Abbey.

1553 Yohannan Sulaqa professes his Catholic belief and is ordained as bishop shortly after; this marks the beginning of the Chaldean Catholic Church.

1685 René-Robert Cavelier, Sieur de La Salle establishes French colonization of Texas at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.

1792 The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by United States President George Washington.

1798 Louis-Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.

1813 Manuel Belgrano defeats the Royalist (Spanish American Independence) army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.

1816 Gioachino Rossini opera ''The Barber of Seville'' premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.

1824 William Buckland formally announces the name ''Megalosaurus'', the first scientifically validly named non-avian dinosaur species.

1835 The 1835 Concepción earthquake destroys Concepción, Chile.

1846 Polish insurgents lead an Kraków Uprising to incite a fight for national independence.

1864 American Civil War: Battle of Olustee: The largest battle fought in Florida during the war.

1865 End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive Paraguayan War.

1872 The Metropolitan Museum of Art opens in New York City.

1877 Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky's ballet ''Swan Lake'' receives its premiere at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.

1901 The legislature of Territory of Hawaii convenes for the first time.

1905 The Supreme Court of the United States upholds the constitutionality of Massachusetts's mandatory Smallpox vaccine program in ''Jacobson v. Massachusetts''.

1909 Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal ''Le Figaro''.

1913 King O'Malley drives in the first Surveying peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.

1920 1920 Gori earthquake kills between 114 and 130 in Democratic Republic of Georgia and heavily damages the town of Gori, Georgia.

1931 The United States Congress approves the construction of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.

1931 An anarchist uprising in Encarnación, Paraguay briefly transforms the city into a Taking of Encarnación.

1933 The United States Congress approves the Blaine Act to repeal federal Prohibition in the United States, sending the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution to state ratifying conventions for approval.

1933 Adolf Hitler Secret Meeting of 20 February 1933 with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign.

1935 Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.

1939 1939 Nazi rally at Madison Square Garden: The largest ever pro-Nazi rally in United States history is convened in Madison Square Garden (1925), New York City, with 20,000 members and sympathizers of the German American Bund present.

1942 World War II: Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

1943 World War II: American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.

1943 ''The Saturday Evening Post'' publishes the first of Norman Rockwell's ''Four Freedoms (Norman Rockwell)'' in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.

1944 World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.

1944 World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Atoll.

1952 Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire (baseball) in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.

1956 The United States Merchant Marine Academy becomes a permanent Service Academy.

1959 The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic fighter aircraft in Canada is cancelled by the John Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

1962 Mercury program: While aboard ''Friendship 7'', John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth, making three orbits in four hours, 55 minutes.

1965 Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.

1968 The China Academy of Space Technology, China's main arm for the research, development, and creation of Satellite, is established in Beijing.

1971 The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.

1979 An earthquake cracks open the ''Sinila'' volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H<sub>2</sub>S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.

1986 The Soviet Union launches its Mir spacecraft. Remaining in orbit for 15 years, it is occupied for ten of those years.

1988 The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the First Nagorno-Karabakh War.

1991 In the Albanian capital Tirana, a gigantic statue of Albania's long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down by mobs of angry protesters.

1998 American figure skater Tara Lipinski, at the age of 15, becomes the youngest Olympic figure skating gold-medalist at the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Nagano, Japan.

2003 During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display The Station nightclub fire, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.

2005 Spain becomes the first country to vote in a 2005 Spanish European Constitution referendum of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.

2009 2009 suicide air raid on Colombo en route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.

2010 In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes 2010 Madeira floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of Madeira.

2014 Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters Maidan casualties in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, many reportedly killed by snipers.

2015 Two Rafz train crash in the Swiss town of Rafz resulting in as many as 49 people injured and Swiss Federal Railways cancelling some services.

2016 Six people are killed and two injured in 2016 Kalamazoo shootings in Kalamazoo County, Michigan.

1358 Eleanor of Aragon, Queen of Castile, queen of John I of Castile (d. 1382)

1469 Thomas Cajetan, Italian philosopher (d. 1534)

1523 Jan Blahoslav, Czech writer (d. 1571)

1549 Francesco Maria II della Rovere, Duke of Urbino, last Duke of Urbino (d. 1631)

1552 Sengoku Hidehisa, Daimyō (d. 1614)

1608 Arthur Capell, 1st Baron Capell of Hadham (d. 1649)

1631 Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Treasurer of the Navy (d. 1712)

1633 Jan de Baen, Dutch painter (d. 1702)

1705 Nicolas Chédeville, French Musette de cour player and composer (d. 1782)

1726 William Prescott, American colonel (d. 1795)

1744 William Cornwallis, English admiral and politician (d. 1819)

1745 Henry James Pye, English poet and politician (d. 1813)

1748 Luther Martin, American politician (d. 1826)

1751 Johann Heinrich Voss, German poet, translator, and academic (d. 1826)

1753 Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French general and politician, Minister of Defence (France) (d. 1815)

1756 Angelica Schuyler Church, American socialite, sister-in-law to Alexander Hamilton (d. 1814)

1759 Johann Christian Reil, German physician, physiologist, and anatomist (d. 1813)

1774 Vicente Sebastián Pintado, Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida (d. 1829)

1784 Judith Montefiore, British linguist, travel writer, philanthropist (d. 1862)

1792 Eliza Courtney, French daughter of Georgiana, Duchess of Devonshire (d. 1859)

1794 William Carleton, Irish author (d. 1869)

1802 Charles Auguste de Bériot, Belgian violinist and composer (d. 1870)

1819 Alfred Escher, Swiss businessman and politician (d. 1882)

1839 Benjamin Waugh, English activist, founded the National Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Children (d. 1908)

1844 Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist and philosopher (d. 1906)

1844 Joshua Slocum, Canadian sailor and adventurer (d. 1909)

1848 E. H. Harriman, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1909)

1857 A. P. Lucas, English cricketer (d. 1923)

1866 Carl Westman, Swedish architect, designed the Stockholm Court House and Röhsska Museum (d. 1936)

1867 Louise, Princess Royal of England (d. 1931)

1870 Jay Johnson Morrow, American engineer and politician, 3rd Governor of the Panama Canal Zone (d. 1937)

1874 Mary Garden, Scottish-American soprano and actress (d. 1967)

1879 Hod Stuart, Canadian ice hockey player (d. 1907)

1880 Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, French author and poet (d. 1923)

1882 Elie Nadelman, Polish-American sculptor (d. 1946)

1887 Vincent Massey, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Governor General of Canada (d. 1967)

1888 Georges Bernanos, French soldier and author (d. 1948)

1889 Hulusi Behçet, Turkish dermatologist and physician (d. 1948)

1893 Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist and author (d. 1993)

1895 Louis Zborowski, English race car driver and engineer (d. 1924)

1897 Ivan Albright, American painter (d. 1983)

1898 Ante Ciliga, Croatian politician, writer and publisher (d. 1992)

1899 Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (d. 1992)

1901 René Dubos, French-American biologist and author (d. 1982)

1901 Louis Kahn, American architect, designed the Salk Institute, the Kimbell Art Museum and the Bangladesh Parliament Building (d. 1974)

1901 Muhammad Naguib, Egyptian general and politician, 1st President of Egypt (d. 1984)

1901 Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th List of Chief Ministers of Tamil Nadu (d. 1978)

1902 Ansel Adams, American photographer and environmentalist (d. 1984)

1906 Gale Gordon, American actor (d. 1995)

1912 Pierre Boulle, French soldier and author (d. 1994)

1912 Johnny Checketts, New Zealand flying ace of the Second World War (d. 2006)

1913 Tommy Henrich, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 2009)

1914 John Charles Daly, South African–American journalist and game show host (d. 1991)

1916 Jean Erdman, American dancer and choreographer (d. 2020)

1918 Leonore Annenberg, American businesswoman and diplomat (d. 2009)

1919 James O'Meara, English soldier and pilot (d. 1974)

1920 Karl Albrecht, German businessman, co-founded Aldi (d. 2014)

1921 Buddy Rogers (wrestler), American wrestler (d. 1992)

1923 Victor G. Atiyeh, American businessman and politician, 32nd Governor of Oregon (d. 2014)

1923 Forbes Burnham, Guyanese lawyer and politician, 2nd President of Guyana (d. 1985)

1923 Rena Vlahopoulou, Greek actress (d. 2004)

1924 Gloria Vanderbilt, American actress, fashion designer, and socialite (d. 2019)

1925 Robert Altman, American director and screenwriter (d. 2006)

1925 Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Makuuchi # Yokozuna (d. 1990)

1926 Matthew Bucksbaum, American businessman and philanthropist, co-founded General Growth Properties (d. 2013)

1926 Gillian Lynne, English ballerina, choreographer, and director (d. 2018)

1926 Richard Matheson, American author and screenwriter (d. 2013)

1926 Bob Richards, American Olympic track and field athlete (d. 2023)

1926 María de la Purísima Salvat Romero, Spanish Roman Catholic nun; later canonized (d. 1998)

1927 Roy Cohn, American lawyer and political activist (d. 1986)

1927 Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban singer and musician (d. 2005)

1927 Hubert de Givenchy, French fashion designer (d. 2018)

1927 Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, director, and diplomat (d. 2022)

1928 Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat, 25th United States Ambassador to Ireland (d. 2020)

1929 Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)

1931 John Milnor, American mathematician and academic

1932 Adrian Cristobal, Filipino journalist and author (d. 2007)

1934 Bobby Unser, American race car driver (d. 2021)

1935 Ellen Gilchrist, American novelist, short story writer, and poet (d. 2024)

1936 Marj Dusay, American actress (d. 2020)

1936 Larry Hovis, American actor and singer (d. 2003)

1936 Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach

1937 Robert Huber, German biochemist and academic, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate

1937 Roger Penske, American race car driver and businessman

1937 Nancy Wilson (jazz singer), American singer and actress (d. 2018)

1939 Herbert Kohler Jr., American businessman (d. 2022)

1940 Jimmy Greaves, English footballer and TV pundit (d. 2021)

1941 Lim Kit Siang, Malaysian lawyer and politician

1941 Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer-songwriter and producer

1942 Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player, coach, and manager

1942 Mitch McConnell, American lawyer and politician

1942 Claude Miller, French director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2012)

1943 Antonio Inoki, Japanese wrestler, mixed martial artist, and politician (d. 2022)

1943 Mike Leigh, English director and screenwriter

1944 Robert de Cotret, Canadian economist and politician, 56th Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1999)

1944 Lew Soloff, American trumpet player, composer, and actor (d. 2015)

1944 Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach

1945 Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1995)

1946 Brenda Blethyn, English actress

1946 Sandy Duncan, American actress, singer, and dancer

1946 J. Geils, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 2017)

1947 Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)

1947 Peter Strauss, American actor and producer

1948 Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster

1948 Jennifer O'Neill, American model and actress

1949 Eddie Hemmings (cricketer), English cricketer

1949 Ivana Trump, Czech-American socialite and model (d. 2022)

1950 Walter Becker, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)

1950 Peter Marinello, Scottish footballer

1950 Tony Wilson, English journalist and businessman (d. 2007)

1951 Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)

1951 Gordon Brown, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

1951 Randy California, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1997)

1951 Phil Neal, English footballer and manager

1953 Poison Ivy (musician), American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

1954 Jon Brant, American bass player

1954 Anthony Head, English actor

1954 Patty Hearst, American actress and author

1957 Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey player and coach

1958 James Wilby, English actor

1959 Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)

1959 David Corn, American journalist and author

1959 Bill Gullickson, American baseball player

1960 Joel Hodgson, American comedian, actor, and screenwriter

1960 Cándido Muatetema Rivas, Equatoguinean politician and diplomat, Prime Minister of Equatorial Guinea (d. 2014)

1961 Steve Lundquist, American swimmer

1962 Dwayne McDuffie, American author, screenwriter, and producer, co-founded Milestone Media (d. 2011)

1963 Charles Barkley, American basketball player and sportscaster

1963 Ian Brown, English singer-songwriter and musician

1963 Joakim Nystrom, Swedish tennis player

1963 Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek lawyer and politician, Ministry of Health (Greece)

1963 Cui Yongyuan, Chinese former anchor

1964 Willie Garson, American actor and director (d. 2021)

1964 Tom Harris (British politician), Scottish journalist and politician

1964 Jeff Maggert, American golfer

1964 French Stewart, American actor

1966 Cindy Crawford, American model and businesswoman

1967 Paul Accola, Swiss alpine skier

1967 Kurt Cobain, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1994)

1967 David Herman, American comedian and actor

1967 Andrew Shue, American actor and activist, founded Do Something

1967 Lili Taylor, American actress

1969 Kjell Ove Hauge, Norwegian school principal and track and field athlete

1969 Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer and manager (d. 2022)

1969 Danis Tanović, Bosnian director and screenwriter

1971 Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer

1971 Joost van der Westhuizen, South African rugby player (d. 2017)

1973 Andrea Savage, American actress and comedian

1974 Karim Bagheri, Iranian footballer and manager

1975 Liván Hernández, Cuban-American baseball player

1975 Brian Littrell, American singer-songwriter and actor

1977 Gail Kim, Canadian wrestler

1977 Stephon Marbury, American basketball player

1978 Lauren Ambrose, American actress

1978 Jay Hernandez, American actor

1978 Chelsea Peretti, American actress, comedian, writer, and singer-songwriter

1979 Michael Zegen, American actor

1980 Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby player

1980 Luis Gabriel Rey, Colombian footballer

1980 Artur Boruc, Polish footballer

1981 Majandra Delfino, American actress and singer-songwriter

1981 Tony Hibbert, English footballer

1983 José Morales (catcher), Puerto Rican baseball player

1983 Justin Verlander, American baseball player

1984 Brian McCann (baseball), American baseball player

1984 Trevor Noah, South African comedian, actor, and television host

1985 Killian Dain, Northern Irish wrestler

1985 Ryan Sweeney (baseball), American baseball player

1985 Julia Volkova, Russian singer and actress

1986 Julio Borbón, American baseball player

1987 Luke Burgess (rugby league), English rugby league player

1987 Martin Hanzal, Czech ice hockey player

1987 James Johnson (basketball, born 1987), American basketball player

1987 Daniella Pineda, American actress

1987 Miles Teller, American actor

1988 Ki Bo-bae, South Korean archer

1988 Jiah Khan, Indian singer and actress (d. 2013)

1988 Rihanna, Barbadian singer, songwriter and actress

1989 Jack Falahee, American actor and singer-songwriter

1990 Ciro Immobile, Italian footballer

1991 Hidilyn Diaz, Filipino weightlifter

1991 Angelique van der Meet, Dutch tennis player

1993 Jurickson Profar, Curaçaoan baseball player

1994 Kateryna Baindl, Ukrainian tennis player

1994 Luis Severino, Dominican baseball player

1995 Elle Purrier St. Pierre, American track and field athlete

1996 Clarke Schmidt, American baseball player

1998 Emam Ashour, Egyptian footballer

1999 Jarrett Culver, American basketball player

2000 Josh Sargent, American soccer player

2002 Gavin Bazunu, Irish footballer

2003 Olivia Rodrigo, American actress and singer

2004 Jared McCain, American basketball player

789 Leo of Catania, saint and bishop of Catania (b. 709)

922 Theodora (wife of Romanos I), Byzantine empress

1054 Yaroslav the Wise, grand prince of Veliky Novgorod and Kyiv (b. 978)

1154 Saint Wulfric of Haselbury (b. c. 1080)

1171 Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)

1194 Tancred, King of Sicily (b. 1138)

1258 Al-Musta'sim, Iraqi caliph (b. 1213)

1408 Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English politician, Earl Marshal of England (b. 1341)

1431 Pope Martin V (b. 1368)

1458 Lazar Branković, Despot (court title) of Serbia

1513 John, King of Denmark (b. 1455)

1524 Tecun Uman, Mayan ruler (b. 1500)

1579 Nicholas Bacon (Lord Keeper), English politician (b. 1509)

1618 Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)

1626 John Dowland, English lute player and composer (b. 1563)

1762 Tobias Mayer, German astronomer and academic (b. 1723)

1771 Jean-Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist and astronomer (b. 1678)

1773 Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)

1778 Laura Bassi, Italian physicist and scholar (b. 1711)

1790 Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)

1806 Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-American general and politician (b. 1725)

1810 Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean rebel leader (b. 1767)

1850 Valentín Canalizo, Mexican general and politician. 14th President (1843–1844) (b. 1794)

1862 William Wallace Lincoln, American son of Abraham Lincoln (b. 1850)

1871 Paul Kane, Irish-Canadian painter (b. 1810)

1893 P. G. T. Beauregard, American general (b. 1818)

1895 Frederick Douglass, American author and activist (b. c. 1818)

1900 Washakie, American tribal leader (b. 1798)

1907 Henri Moissan, French chemist and academic, Nobel Prize in Chemistry laureate (b. 1852)

1916 Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish journalist and politician, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1844)

1920 Jacinta and Francisco Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1910)

1920 Robert Peary, American admiral and explorer (b. 1856)

1933 Takiji Kobayashi, Japanese writer (b. 1903)

1936 Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)

1957 Sadri Maksudi Arsal, Turkish scholar and politician (b. 1878)

1961 Percy Grainger, Australian-American pianist and composer (b. 1882)

1963 Jacob Gade, Danish violinist and composer (b. 1879)

1965 Michał Waszyński, Polish film director and producer (b. 1904)

1966 Chester W. Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)

1968 Anthony Asquith, English director and screenwriter (b. 1902)

1969 Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)

1972 Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize in Physics laureate (b. 1906)

1972 Walter Winchell, American journalist and actor (b. 1897)

1976 René Cassin, French lawyer and judge, Nobel Peace Prize laureate (b. 1887)

1976 Kathryn Kuhlman, healing evangelist, known for belief in Holy Spirit (b. 1907)

1981 Nicolas de Gunzburg, French-American banker and publisher (b. 1904)

1987 Wayne Boring, American illustrator (b. 1905)

1992 A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (b. 1898)

1992 Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)

1993 Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian businessman, founded Lamborghini (b. 1916)

1993 Ernest L. Massad, American general (b. 1908)

1996 Solomon Asch, American psychologist and academic (b. 1907)

1996 Audrey Munson, American model (b. 1891)

1996 Toru Takemitsu, Japanese pianist, guitarist, and composer (b. 1930)

1999 Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)

1999 Gene Siskel, American journalist and critic (b. 1946)

2001 Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)

2001 Donella Meadows, American environmentalist, author, and academic (b. 1941)

2003 Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani air marshal (b. 1947)

2003 Maurice Blanchot, French philosopher and author (b. 1907)

2003 Orville Freeman, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 29th Governor of Minnesota (b. 1918)

2005 Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1942)

2005 Josef Holeček (canoeist), Czechoslovakian canoeist (b. 1921)

2005 John Raitt, American actor and singer (b. 1917)

2005 Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)

2006 Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)

2006 Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist and author (b. 1920)

2008 Emily Perry (English actress), English actress and dancer (b. 1907)

2009 Larry H. Miller, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1944)

2010 Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (b. 1924)

2012 Knut Torbjørn Eggen, Norwegian footballer and manager (b. 1960)

2012 Katie Hall (American politician), American educator and politician (b. 1938)

2013 Kenji Eno, Japanese game designer and composer (b. 1970)

2013 David S. McKay, American biochemist and geologist (b. 1936)

2013 Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer (b. 1932)

2014 Rafael Addiego Bruno, Uruguayan jurist and politician, List of Presidents of Uruguay (b. 1923)

2014 Walter D. Ehlers, American lieutenant, Medal of Honor recipient (b. 1921)

2014 Garrick Utley, American journalist (b. 1939)

2015 Govind Pansare, Indian author and activist (b. 1933)

2015 Henry Segerstrom, American businessman and philanthropist (b. 1923)

2015 John C. Willke, American physician, author, and activist (b. 1925)

2016 Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest and politician (b. 1934)

2017 Vitaly Churkin, Ambassador of the Russian Federation to the United Nations (b. 1952)

2017 Mildred Dresselhaus, American physicist (b. 1930)

2017 Steve Hewlett (journalist), British journalist (b. 1958)

2020 Joaquim Pina Moura, Portuguese Ministry of Economy (Portugal) and Assembly of the Republic (Portugal) (b. 1952)

2021 Nurul Haque Miah, Bangladeshi professor and writer (b. 1944)

2021 Mauro Bellugi, Italian footballer (b. 1950)

2024 Andreas Brehme, German footballer (b. 1960)

2024 Yoko Yamamoto, Japanese actress (b. 1942)

Christian feast day:

- Eleutherius of Tournai

- Eucherius of Orléans

- Francisco and Jacinta Marto

- Frederick Douglass (Episcopal Church (USA))

- Wulfric of Haselbury

- February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Maidan casualties (Ukraine)

World Day of Social Justice

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/onthisday/hi/dates/stories/february/20 BBC: On This Day]

[https://www.onthisday.com/events/february/20 Historical Events on February 20]