March 20: On This Day

Events, births, deaths, holidays and observances for March 20.

Events 48

1206 – Michael IV Autoreianos is appointed Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople.
1600 – The Linköping Bloodbath takes place on Maundy Thursday in Linköping, Sweden: five Swedish noblemen are publicly beheaded in the aftermath of the War against Sigismund (1598–1599).
1602 – The Dutch East India Company is established.
1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
1852 – Harriet Beecher Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is published.
1854 – The Republican Party of the United States is organized in Ripon, Wisconsin, US.
1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
1888 – The premiere of the very first Romani language operetta is staged in Moscow, Russia.
1890 – Chancellor of the German Empire Otto von Bismarck is dismissed by Emperor Wilhelm II.
1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
1903 – The first of a series of auctions of sheep farming land in southern Patagonia takes place impacting established settlers.
1913 – Sung Chiao-jen, a founder of the Chinese Nationalist Party, is wounded in an assassination attempt and dies 2 days later.
1914 – In the Curragh incident, over 100 British Army officers threaten to resign if ordered to march against the Ulster Volunteers.
1916 – Albert Einstein submits his paper, "The Foundation of the General Theory of Relativity", which establishes his general theory of relativity, to the journal Annalen der Physik.
1921 – The Upper Silesia plebiscite, mandated by the Versailles Treaty to determine a section of the border between Weimar Germany and Poland, is held.
1922 – The USS Langley is commissioned as the first United States Navy aircraft carrier.
1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
1926 – Chiang Kai-shek initiates a purge of communist elements within the National Revolutionary Army in Guangzhou.
1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler orders the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appoints Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
1942 – World War II: General Douglas MacArthur, at Terowie, South Australia, makes his famous speech regarding the fall of the Philippines, in which he says: "I came out of Bataan and I shall return".
1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
1952 – The US Senate ratifies the Security Treaty between the United States and Japan.
1956 – Tunisia gains independence from France.
1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
1969 – A United Arab Airlines (now Egyptair) Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan International Airport, killing 100 people.
1972 – The Troubles: The first car bombing by the Provisional IRA in Belfast kills seven people and injures 148 others in Northern Ireland.
1985 – Libby Riddles becomes the first woman to win the 1,135-mile Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race.
1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
1988 – Eritrean War of Independence: Having defeated the Nadew Command, the Eritrean People's Liberation Front enters the town of Afabet, victoriously concluding the Battle of Afabet.
1990 – Ferdinand Marcos's widow, Imelda Marcos, goes on trial for bribery, embezzlement, and racketeering.
1993 – The Troubles: A Provisional IRA bomb kills two children in Warrington, England. It leads to mass protests in both Britain and Ireland.
1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 14 and wounding over 6,200 people.
1999 – Legoland California, the first Legoland outside of Europe, opens in Carlsbad, California, US.
2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
2003 – Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq.
2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
2010 – Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland begins eruptions that would last for three months, heavily disrupting air travel in Europe.
2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
2014 – Four suspected Taliban members attack the Kabul Serena Hotel, killing at least nine people.
2015 – A solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.
2015 – Syrian civil war: The Siege of Kobanî is broken by the People's Protection Units (YPG) and Free Syrian Army (FSA), marking a turning point in the Rojava–Islamist conflict.
2019 – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev.
2021 – La Plume noire, an anarchist bookstore in Lyon, is targeted by an attack of the far-right, provoking a shock in Lyon's far-left circles.

Births 255

43 BC – Ovid, Roman poet (died 17)
1253 – Magadu, renamed Wareru, founder of Ramanya Kingdom, renamed Hanthawady Kingdom of Pegu (died 1307)
1319 – Laurence Hastings, 1st Earl of Pembroke (died 1348)
1469 – Cecily of York (died 1507)
1477 – Jerome Emser, German theologian and scholar (died 1527)
1479 – Ippolito d'Este, Italian cardinal (died 1520)
1502 – Pierino Belli, Italian soldier and jurist (died 1575)
1532 – Juan de Ribera, Roman Catholic archbishop (died 1611)
1612 – Anne Bradstreet, Puritan American poet (died 1672)
1615 – Dara Shikoh, Indian prince (died 1659)
1639 – Ivan Mazepa, Ukrainian diplomat, Hetman of Ukraine (died 1709)
1680 – Emanuele d'Astorga, Italian composer (died 1736)
1725 – Abdul Hamid I, Ottoman sultan (died 1789)
1737 – Rama I, Thai king (died 1809)
1771 – Heinrich Clauren, German author (died 1854)
1796 – Edward Gibbon Wakefield, English politician (died 1862)
1799 – Karl August Nicander, Swedish poet and author (died 1839)
1800 – Braulio Carrillo Colina, Costa Rican lawyer and politician, President of Costa Rica (died 1845)
1805 – Thomas Cooper, British poet (died 1892)
1811 – Napoleon II, French emperor (died 1832)
1811 – George Caleb Bingham, American painter and politician, State Treasurer of Missouri (died 1879)
1821 – Ned Buntline, American journalist, author, and publisher (died 1886)
1824 – Theodor von Heuglin, German explorer and ornithologist (died 1876)
1828 – Henrik Ibsen, Norwegian poet, playwright, and director (died 1906)
1831 – Patrick Jennings, Northern Irish-Australian politician, 11th Premier of New South Wales (died 1897)
1831 – Solomon L. Spink, American lawyer and politician (died 1881)
1834 – Charles William Eliot, American mathematician and academic (died 1926)
1836 – Ferris Jacobs, Jr., American general, lawyer, and politician (died 1886)
1836 – Edward Poynter, English painter, illustrator, and curator (died 1919)
1840 – Illarion Pryanishnikov, Russian painter (died 1894)
1843 – Ambrosio Flores, Filipino politician (died 1912)
1851 – Ismail Gasprinski, Crimean Tatar educator, publisher, and politician (died 1914)
1856 – John Lavery, Irish painter (died 1941)
1856 – Frederick Winslow Taylor, American tennis player and engineer (died 1915)
1865 – Mike Griffin, American baseball player (died 1908)
1870 – Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, German general (died 1964)
1871 – Joe McGinnity, American baseball player
1874 – Börries von Münchhausen, German poet and activist (died 1945)
1876 – Payne Whitney, American businessman and philanthropist (died 1927)
1879 – Maud Menten, Canadian physician and biochemist (died 1960)
1882 – René Coty, French lawyer and politician, 17th President of France (died 1962)
1882 – Harold Weber, American golfer (died 1933)
1884 – Philipp Frank, Austrian-American physicist, mathematician, and philosopher (died 1966)
1884 – John Jensen, Australian public servant (died 1970)
1885 – Vernon Ransford, Australian cricketer (died 1958)
1888 – Amanda Clement, American baseball player, umpire, and educator (died 1971)
1890 – Lauritz Melchior, Danish-American tenor and actor (died 1973)
1894 – Amalie Sara Colquhoun, Australian landscape and portrait painter (died 1974)
1895 – Fredric Wertham, German-American psychologist and author (died 1981)
1897 – Frank Sheed, Australian-British Catholic writer and apologist (died 1981)
1898 – Eduard Wiiralt, Estonian artist (died 1954)
1899 – Vladimír Mandl, Czechoslovak lawyer (died 1941)
1900 – Amelia Chopitea Villa, Bolivia's first female physician (died 1942)
1903 – Edgar Buchanan, American actor (died 1979)
1904 – B. F. Skinner, American psychologist and author (died 1990)
1905 – Jean Galia, French rugby player and boxer (died 1949)
1906 – Abraham Beame, American accountant and politician, 105th Mayor of New York City (died 2001)
1906 – Ozzie Nelson, American actor and bandleader (died 1975)
1907 – Hugh MacLennan, Canadian author and educator (died 1990)
1908 – Michael Redgrave, English actor (died 1985)
1909 – Elisabeth Geleerd, Dutch-American psychoanalyst (died 1969)
1910 – Erwin Blask, German hammer thrower (died 1999)
1911 – Alfonso García Robles, Mexican lawyer and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1991)
1912 – Ralph Hauenstein, American businessman and philanthropist (died 2016)
1913 – Nikolai Stepulov, Russian-Estonian boxer (died 1968)
1914 – Wendell Corey, American actor and politician (died 1968)
1915 – Rudolf Kirchschläger, Austrian judge and politician, 8th President of Austria (died 2000)
1915 – Sviatoslav Richter, Ukrainian pianist and composer (died 1997)
1915 – Sister Rosetta Tharpe, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 1973)
1915 – Stan Spence, American baseball player (died 1983)
1916 – Pierre Messmer, French lieutenant and politician, Prime Minister of France (died 2007)
1917 – Yigael Yadin, Israeli archaeologist, general, and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of Israel (died 1984)
1917 – Vera Lynn, English singer and actress (died 2020)
1918 – Jack Barry, American game show host and producer, co-founded Barry & Enright Productions (died 1984)
1918 – Donald Featherstone, English soldier and author (died 2013)
1918 – Marian McPartland, English-American pianist and composer (died 2013)
1918 – Bernd Alois Zimmermann, German composer (died 1970)
1919 – Gerhard Barkhorn, German fighter ace (died 1983)
1920 – Rosemary Timperley, English author and screenwriter (died 1988)
1921 – Usmar Ismail, Indonesian filmmaker (died 1971)
1921 – Dušan Pirjevec, Slovenian historian and philosopher (died 1977)
1921 – Alfréd Rényi, Hungarian mathematician and theorist (died 1970)
1922 – Larry Elgart, American saxophonist and bandleader (died 2017)
1922 – Ray Goulding, American actor and screenwriter (died 1990)
1923 – Con Martin, Irish footballer and manager (died 2013)
1923 – Shaukat Siddiqui, Pakistani journalist, author, and activist (died 2006)
1925 – John Ehrlichman, American lawyer, 12th White House Counsel (died 1999)
1927 – John Joubert, South African-English composer and academic (died 2019)
1928 – Jerome Biffle, American long jumper and coach (died 2002)
1928 – James P. Gordon, American physicist and engineer (died 2013)
1928 – Fred Rogers, American television host and author
1929 – William Andrew MacKay, Canadian lawyer and judge (died 2013)
1929 – Germán Robles, Spanish-Mexican actor and director (died 2015)
1930 – S. Arasaratnam, Sri Lankan historian, author, and academic (died 1998)
1931 – Dinos Christianopoulos, Greek poet (died 2020)
1931 – Rein Raamat, Estonian director and screenwriter
1933 – Lateef Adegbite, Nigerian lawyer and politician (died 2012)
1933 – George Altman, American baseball player
1934 – Willie Brown, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 41st Mayor of San Francisco
1934 – David Malouf, Australian author and playwright (died 2026)
1935 – Ted Bessell, American actor and director (died 1996)
1935 – Bettye Washington Greene, American chemist (died 1995)
1936 – Lee "Scratch" Perry, Jamaican singer, songwriter, music producer, and inventor (died 2021)
1936 – Mark Saville, Baron Saville of Newdigate, English lieutenant, lawyer, and judge
1937 – Jerry Reed, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actor (died 2008)
1937 – Lois Lowry, American writer
1938 – Sergei Novikov, Russian mathematician and academic, winner of the Fields Medal (died 2024)
1938 – John Barnhill, American basketball player and coach (died 2013)
1939 – Gerald Curran, American lawyer and politician (died 2013)
1939 – Don Edwards, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (died 2022)
1939 – Walter Jakob Gehring, Swiss biologist and academic (died 2014)
1939 – Brian Mulroney, Canadian lawyer and politician, 18th Prime Minister of Canada (died 2024)
1940 – Stathis Chaitas, Greek footballer and manager
1940 – Mary Ellen Mark, American photographer and journalist (died 2015)
1940 – Giampiero Moretti, Italian race car driver and businessman, founded the Momo company (died 2012)
1941 – Pat Corrales, American baseball player and manager (died 2023)
1941 – Kenji Kimihara, Japanese runner
1942 – Robin Luke, American singer-songwriter
1943 – Gerard Malanga, American poet and photographer
1943 – Douglas Tompkins, American businessman, co-founded The North Face and Esprit Holdings (died 2015)
1943 – Paul Junger Witt, American director and producer (died 2018)
1944 – John Cameron, English composer and conductor
1944 – Camille Cosby, American author, producer, and philanthropist
1944 – Alan Harper, English-Irish archbishop
1945 – Henry Bartholomay, American soldier and pilot (died 2015)
1945 – Jay Ingram, Canadian television host and author
1945 – Pat Riley, American basketball player, coach and executive
1945 – Tim Yeo, English politician, Shadow Secretary of State for Health
1946 – Douglas B. Green, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1946 – Malcolm Simmons, English motorcycle racer (died 2014)
1947 – John Boswell, American historian, philologist, and academic (died 1994)
1948 – John de Lancie, American actor
1948 – Nikos Papazoglou, Greek singer-songwriter and producer (died 2011)
1948 – Bobby Orr, Canadian ice hockey player
1949 – Richard Dowden, English journalist and educator
1950 – William Hurt, American actor (died 2022)
1950 – Carl Palmer, English drummer
1952 – Geoff Brabham, Australian race car driver
1952 – David Greenaway, English economist and academic
1953 – Phil Judd, New Zealand singer-songwriter, guitarist and painter
1954 – Mike Francesa, American radio talk show host and television commentator
1954 – Liana Kanelli, Greek journalist and politician
1954 – Paul Mirabella, American baseball player
1954 – Charlie Simmer, Canadian ice hockey player
1955 – Nina Kiriki Hoffman, American author
1955 – Ian Moss, Australian guitarist and singer-songwriter
1955 – Mariya Takeuchi, Japanese singer-songwriter
1956 – Catherine Ashton, English politician, Vice-President of the European Commission
1956 – Anne Donahue, American lawyer and politician
1956 – Naoto Takenaka, Japanese actor, comedian, singer, and director
1957 – David Foster, Australian woodchopper
1957 – Spike Lee, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1957 – Chris Wedge, American animator, producer, screenwriter, and voice actor
1957 – Theresa Russell, American actress
1958 – Rickey Jackson, American football player
1958 – Holly Hunter, American actress
1959 – Dave Beasant, English footballer and coach
1959 – Mary Roach, American author
1959 – Sting, American wrestler
1959 – Peter Truscott, Baron Truscott, British Labour Party politician and peer
1960 – Norm Magnusson, American painter and sculptor
1960 – Norbert Pohlmann, German computer scientist and academic
1960 – Yuri Shargin, Russian colonel, engineer, and astronaut
1961 – Ingrid Arndt-Brauer, German politician
1961 – Jesper Olsen, Danish footballer and manager
1961 – Sara Wheeler, English author and journalist
1962 – Stephen Sommers, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1963 – Paul Annacone, American tennis player and coach
1963 – Yelena Romanova, Russian runner (died 2007)
1963 – David Thewlis, English actor
1963 – Kathy Ireland, American model, actress and businessowoman
1964 – Natacha Atlas, Belgian singer-songwriter
1965 – William Dalrymple, Scottish historian and author
1967 – Xavier Beauvois, French actor, director, and screenwriter
1967 – Mookie Blaylock, American basketball player
1968 – A. J. Jacobs, American journalist and author
1968 – Paul Merson, English footballer and manager
1968 – Ultra Naté, American singer, songwriter, record producer, DJ, and promoter
1968 – Ken Ono, Japanese-American mathematician
1969 – Yvette Cooper, English economist and politician, former Secretary of State for Work and Pensions
1969 – Fabien Galthié, French rugby player
1970 – Edoardo Ballerini, American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
1970 – Josephine Medina, Filipino Paralympic table tennis player (died 2021)
1970 – Michael Rapaport, American actor and comedian
1971 – Manny Alexander, Dominican baseball player
1971 – Touré, American journalist and author
1972 – Chilly Gonzales, Canadian-German singer-songwriter, pianist, and producer
1972 – Alex Kapranos, English-Scottish singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer
1972 – Greg Searle, English rower
1972 – Marco Sejna, German footballer
1972 – Cristel Vahtra, Estonian skier
1973 – Nicky Boje, South African cricketer
1973 – Natalya Khrushcheleva, Russian runner
1973 – Talal Khalifa Aljeri, Kuwaiti businessman
1973 – Cedric Yarbrough, American actor and comedian
1974 – Carsten Ramelow, German footballer
1975 – Ramin Bahrani, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1975 – Isolde Kostner, Italian skier
1976 – Chester Bennington, American singer and songwriter (died 2017)
1978 – Kevin Betsy, English-Seychelles footballer and manager
1978 – Brent Sherwin, Australian rugby league player
1979 – Shinnosuke Abe, Japanese baseball player
1979 – Daniel Cormier, American mixed martial artist
1979 – Keven Mealamu, New Zealand rugby player
1979 – Freema Agyeman, English actress
1979 – Bianca Lawson, American actress
1980 – Jamal Crawford, American basketball player
1980 – Robertas Javtokas, Lithuanian basketball player
1980 – Michelle Snow, American basketball player
1980 – Mikey Day, American actor and comedian
1981 – Ian Murray, Scottish footballer
1981 – Carl Webb, Australian rugby league player (died 2023)
1982 – Terrence Duffin, Zimbabwean cricketer
1982 – Tomasz Kuszczak, Polish footballer
1982 – José Moreira, Portuguese footballer
1983 – Carolina Padrón, Venezuelan journalist
1983 – Jenni Vartiainen, Finnish singer
1983 – Dennis Wideman, Canadian ice hockey player
1984 – Vikram Banerjee, English cricketer
1984 – Valtteri Filppula, Finnish ice hockey player
1984 – IJustine, American YouTuber
1984 – Fernando Torres, Spanish footballer
1985 – Morgan Amalfitano, French footballer
1985 – Ronnie Brewer, American basketball player
1985 – Nicolas Lombaerts, Belgian footballer
1986 – Dean Geyer, South African-Australian singer-songwriter and actor
1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
1986 – Ruby Rose, Australian actress and model
1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
1987 – Jon Brockman, American basketball player
1987 – Jô, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi cricketer
1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
1990 – Brad Hand, American baseball player
1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
1991 – Nick Leddy, American ice hockey player
1992 – Justin Faulk, American ice hockey player
1993 – Fabian Fahl, German politician
1993 – JaKarr Sampson, American basketball player
1993 – Sloane Stephens, American tennis player
1995 – Lindsay Allen, American basketball player
1995 – Kei, South Korean singer
1995 – Nick Paul, Canadian ice hockey player
1995 – Samantha Weinstein, Canadian actress (died 2023)
2000 – Hyunjin, South Korean rapper
2001 – Trevor Zegras, American ice hockey player
2002 – Jahmyr Gibbs, American football player
2003 – Cooper Hoffman, American actor
2004 – Belle, American singer

Deaths 105

687 – Cuthbert, Northumbrian (English) monk, bishop, and saint (born 634)
703 – Wulfram, archbishop of Sens
842 – Alfonso II, king of Asturias (Spain) (born 759)
851 – Ebbo, archbishop of Reims
1181 – Taira no Kiyomori, Japanese general (born 1118)
1191 – Pope Clement III (born 1130)
1239 – Hermann von Salza, German knight and diplomat (born 1179)
1302 – Ralph Walpole, Bishop of Norwich
1336 – Maurice Csák, Hungarian Dominican friar (born 1270)
1351 – Muhammad bin Tughluq, Sultan of Delhi
1390 – Alexios III Megas Komnenos, Emperor of Trebizond (born 1338)
1413 – Henry IV of England (born 1367)
1440 – Sigismund I of Lithuania
1475 – Georges Chastellain, Burgundian chronicler and poet
1549 – Thomas Seymour, 1st Baron Seymour of Sudeley, English general and politician, Lord Warden of the Cinque Ports (born 1508)
1568 – Albert, Duke of Prussia (born 1490)
1619 – Matthias, Holy Roman Emperor (born 1557)
1673 – Augustyn Kordecki, Polish monk (born 1603)
1688 – Maria of Orange-Nassau, Dutch princess (born 1642)
1730 – Adrienne Lecouvreur, French actress (born 1692)
1746 – Nicolas de Largillière, French painter and academic (born 1656)
1780 – Benjamin Truman, English brewer and businessman (born 1699)
1793 – William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield, Scottish judge and politician, Attorney General for England and Wales (born 1705)
1835 – Louis Léopold Robert, French painter (born 1794)
1849 – James Justinian Morier, Turkish-English author and diplomat (born 1780)
1855 – Joseph Aspdin, English businessman (born 1788)
1865 – Yamanami Keisuke, Japanese samurai (born 1833)
1874 – Hans Christian Lumbye, Danish composer and conductor (born 1810)
1878 – Julius Robert von Mayer, German physician and physicist (born 1814)
1894 – Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian lawyer, journalist and politician (born 1802)
1897 – Apollon Maykov, Russian poet and playwright (born 1821)
1899 – Franz Ritter von Hauer, Austrian geologist and author (born 1822)
1909 – Friedrich Amelung, Estonian historian and businessman (born 1842)
1918 – Lewis A. Grant, American general and lawyer (born 1828)
1925 – George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, English politician, 35th Governor-General of India (born 1859)
1929 – Ferdinand Foch, French field marshal (born 1851)
1930 – Arthur F. Andrews, American cyclist (born 1876)
1931 – Hermann Müller, German journalist and politician, 12th Chancellor of Germany (born 1876)
1933 – Giuseppe Zangara, Italian-American assassin of Anton Cermak (born 1900; executed)
1940 – Alfred Ploetz, German physician, biologist, and eugenicist (born 1860)
1941 – Oskar Baum, Bohemian writer (born 1883)
1945 – Dorothy Campbell, Scottish-American golfer (born 1883)
1945 – Maria Lacerda de Moura, Brazilian teacher and anarcha-feminist (born 1887)
1946 – Amadeus William Grabau, American-Chinese geologist, paleontologist, and academic (born 1870)
1947 – Sigurd Wallén, Swedish actor and director (born 1884)
1952 – Hjalmar Väre, Finnish cyclist (born 1892)
1958 – Adegoke Adelabu, Nigerian merchant, journalist, and politician (born 1915)
1964 – Brendan Behan, Irish republican and playwright (born 1923)
1965 – Daniel Frank, American long jumper (born 1882)
1966 – Demetrios Galanis, Greek artist (born 1879)
1966 – Johnny Morrison, American baseball player (born 1895)
1968 – Carl Theodor Dreyer, Danish director and screenwriter (born 1889)
1969 – Henri Longchambon, French politician (born 1896)
1971 – Falih Rıfkı Atay, Turkish journalist and politician (born 1894)
1972 – Marilyn Maxwell, American actress (born 1921)
1974 – Chet Huntley, American journalist (born 1911)
1977 – Charles Lyttelton, 10th Viscount Cobham, English politician, 9th Governor-General of New Zealand (born 1909)
1977 – Terukuni Manzō, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 38th Yokozuna (born 1919)
1978 – Jacques Brugnon, French tennis player (born 1895)
1981 – Gerry Bertier, American football player (born 1953)
1983 – Ivan Matveyevich Vinogradov, Russian mathematician and academic (born 1891)
1990 – Maurice Cloche, French director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1907)
1990 – Lev Yashin, Russian footballer (born 1929)
1992 – Georges Delerue, French composer (born 1925)
1993 – Polykarp Kusch, German-American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1911)
1994 – Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (born 1946)
1997 – V. S. Pritchett, English short story writer, essayist, and critic (born 1900)
1999 – Patrick Heron, British painter (born 1920)
2000 – Gene Eugene, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and producer (born 1961)
2001 – Luis Alvarado, Puerto Rican-American baseball player (born 1949)
2004 – Juliana of the Netherlands (born 1909)
2004 – Pierre Sévigny, Canadian colonel and politician (born 1917)
2005 – Armand Lohikoski, American-Finnish director and screenwriter (born 1912)
2007 – Raynald Fréchette, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician (born 1933)
2007 – Taha Yassin Ramadan, Iraqi politician, Vice President of Iraq (born 1938)
2007 – Hawa Yakubu, Ghanaian politician (born 1948)
2010 – Ai, American poet and academic (born 1947)
2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1924)
2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1920)
2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (born 1925)
2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (born 1955)
2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (born 1938)
2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (born 1910)
2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (born 1966)
2013 – James Herbert, English author (born 1943)
2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (born 1924)
2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (born 1929)
2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (born 1934)
2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (born 1930)
2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (born 1923)
2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (born 1915)
2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (born 1929)
2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (born 1930)
2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (born 1922)
2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (born 1915)
2018 – C. K. Mann, Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (born 1936)
2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher and writer (born 1924)
2020 – Amadeo Carrizo, Argentine footballer (born 1926)
2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (born 1938)
2023 – John Sattler, Australian rugby league player (born 1942)
2023 – Kyle White, Australian rugby league player (born 1970)
2025 – Eddie Jordan, Irish businessman, television personality and motorsport team owner (born 1948)
2026 – Nicholas Brendon, American actor (born 1971)
2026 – Filaret Denysenko, Ukrainian religious leader, Patriarch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church – Kyiv Patriarchate (born 1929)
2026 – Robert Mueller, American attorney, Director of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (born 1944)

Holidays and observances 20

Christian feast day: Alexandra Blessed John of Parma Clement of Ireland Cuthbert of Lindisfarne Herbert of Derwentwater John of Nepomuk Józef Bilczewski María Josefa Sancho de Guerra Martin of Braga Michele Carcano Wulfram March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Alexandra
Blessed John of Parma
Clement of Ireland
Cuthbert of Lindisfarne
Herbert of Derwentwater
John of Nepomuk
Józef Bilczewski
María Josefa Sancho de Guerra
Martin of Braga
Michele Carcano
Wulfram
March 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Great American MeatOut (United States)
Independence Day, celebrates the independence of Tunisia from France in 1956.
International Day of Happiness (United Nations)
International Francophonie Day (Organisation internationale de la Francophonie), and its related observances: UN French Language Day (United Nations)
UN French Language Day (United Nations)
National Native HIV/AIDS Awareness Day (United States)
World Sparrow Day