On This Day: 20 February

20 February in Indian history

• 2009The Tamil Tigers attempted to crash two aircraft laden with C-4 in suicide attacks on Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the planes were shot down before they reached their targets.India

20 February in world history

• 2014Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters die in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, many reportedly killed by snipers.
• 1998At the age of 15, American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the then-youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympic Games.
• 1979An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.
• 1970Wat Phra Dhammakaya, one of the largest Buddhist temples in Thailand, was founded in Pathum Thani.
• 1965Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1962The Project Mercury stamp, designed by Charles R. Chickering, was released to commemorate the successful space flight of Colonel John Glenn.
• 1943A fissure opened in a cornfield in the Mexican state of Michoacán and continued to erupt for nine years, forming the cinder cone Parícutin .
• 1943The Saturday Evening Post published the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms, among the most widely distributed paintings ever produced, in support of U.S. president Franklin D. Roosevelt's Four Freedoms.
• 1942World War II: Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
• 1939Madison Square Garden Nazi rally: The largest ever pro-Nazi rally in United States history is convened in Madison Square Garden, New York City, with 20,000 members and sympathizers of the German American Bund present.
• 1933Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign.
• 1933The U.S. 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.
• 1931An anarchist uprising in Encarnación, Paraguay briefly transforms the city into a revolutionary commune.
• 1905The U.S. Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of Massachusetts's mandatory smallpox vaccination program in Jacobson v. Massachusetts.
• 1865End of the Uruguayan War, with a peace agreement between President Tomás Villalba and rebel leader Venancio Flores, setting the scene for the destructive War of the Triple Alliance.
• 1835An earthquake registering approximately 8.5 Mw devastated Concepción, Chile, and triggered a tsunami that destroyed neighbouring Talcahuano.
• 1685The French colonization of Texas began with the landing of colonists led by Robert de La Salle near Matagorda Bay.

Born on 20 February

• 1977Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
• 1951Gordon Brown, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom
• 1936Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and manager (died 2025)
• 1901Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (died 1978)India
• 1774Vicente Sebastián Pintado, Spanish cartographer, engineer, military officer and land surveyor of Spanish Louisiana and Spanish West Florida (died 1829)
• 1631Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English politician, Treasurer of the Navy (died 1712)

Died on 20 February

• 2025David Boren, American lawyer and politician, 21st Governor of Oklahoma (born 1941)
• 2015Govind Pansare, Indian author and activist (born 1933)India
• 2012Katie Hall, American educator and politician (born 1938)
• 2010Alexander Haig, American general and politician, 59th United States Secretary of State (born 1924)

Frequently asked questions

What happened on 20 February in history?

2014: Dozens of Euromaidan anti-government protesters die in Ukraine's capital Kyiv, many reportedly killed by snipers. 2009: The Tamil Tigers attempted to crash two aircraft laden with C-4 in suicide attacks on Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the planes were shot down before they reached their targets. 1998: At the age of 15, American figure skater Tara Lipinski became the then-youngest winner of an Olympic gold medal in the history of the Winter Olympic Games. 1979: An earthquake cracks open the Sinila volcanic crater on the Dieng Plateau, releasing poisonous H2S gas and killing 149 villagers in the Indonesian province of Central Java.

What happened on 20 February in Indian history?

2009: The Tamil Tigers attempted to crash two aircraft laden with C-4 in suicide attacks on Colombo, Sri Lanka, but the planes were shot down before they reached their targets.

Which famous people were born on 20 February?

Stephon Marbury, American basketball player (1977); Gordon Brown, Scottish politician, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (1951); Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and manager (died 2025) (1936); Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (died 1978) (1901).

Which day is observed on 20 February?

World Day of Social Justice; Day of Heavenly Hundred Heroes (Ukraine); World Day of Social Justice.