Calendar date · November

What happened on November 20

On November 20, 284: Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.

Events

49

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Scorpio

Featured moment · 284

Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.

Diocletian, nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. As with other Illyrian soldiers of the period, Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, serving under Aurelian and Probus, and eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus.

People

Born on November 20

Madisyn Shipman 2002– American actress, singer and model
Caty McNally 2001– American tennis player (born 2001)
Adrien Truffert 2001– French footballer (born 2001)
Connie Talbot 2000– British singer (born 2000)
Levi Garcia 1997– Trinidadian association football player
Blaž Janc 1996– Slovenian handball player (born 1996)
Denis Zakaria 1996– Swiss footballer (born 1996)
Timothy Cheruiyot 1995– Kenyan middle-distance runner
Shaolin Sándor Liu 1995– Hungarian speed skater (born 1995)
Show 9 more — notable births on November 20
Kyle Snyder 1995– American freestyle wrestler (born 1995)
Timothy Kitum 1994– Kenyan middle-distance runner
Anna Prugova 1993– Russian ice hockey goaltender
Amit Guluzade 1992– Azerbaijani footballer (born 1992)
Zoltán Harcsa 1992– Hungarian boxer (born 1992)
Kristiina Mäkelä 1992– Finnish triple jumper (born 1992)
Jenna Prandini 1992– American track and field athlete (born 1992)
Irene Esser 1991– Venezuelan actress, model, and beauty queen
Grant Hanley 1991– Scottish footballer (born 1991)

People

Died on November 20

Ursula Haverbeck German neo-Nazi activist (1928–2024)
Andy Paley American songwriter (1952–2024)
John Prescott Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1997 to 2007
Jodi Rell Governor of Connecticut from 2004 to 2011
Jan Morris Welsh historian and travel writer (1926–2020)
Wataru Misaka American basketball player (1923–2019)
James H. Billington American author (1929–2018)
Aaron Klug British biophysicist and chemist (1926–2018)
Peter Berling German actor, film producer and writer
Show 9 more — notable deaths on November 20
Gabriel Badilla Costa Rican footballer (1984-2016)
Gene Guarilia American basketball player (1937–2016)
Konstantinos Stephanopoulos President of Greece from 1995 to 2005
William Trevor Irish writer (1928-2016)
Keith Michell Australian-British actor (1926–2015)
Jim Perry American-Canadian television entertainer (1933–2015)
Kitanoumi Toshimitsu Japanese sumo wrestler (1953–2015)
Cayetana Fitz-James Stuart Grandee of Spain (1926–2014)
Sylvia Browne American writer (1936–2013)

Timeline

Every November 20 on record

  1. 284 Diocletian is chosen as Roman emperor.

    Roman emperor from 284 to 305

    Diocletian, nicknamed Jovius, was Roman emperor from 284 until his abdication in 305. He was born Diocles to a family of low status in the Roman province of Dalmatia. As with other Illyrian soldiers of the period, Diocles rose through the ranks of the military early in his career, serving under Aurelian and Probus, and eventually becoming a cavalry commander for the army of Emperor Carus.

  2. 762 During the An Shi Rebellion, the Tang dynasty, with the help of Huihe tribe, recaptures Luoyang from the rebels.

    755–763 uprising against Tang rule in China

    The An Lushan rebellion was a civil war in China that lasted from 755 to 763, at the approximate midpoint of the Tang dynasty (618–907). It began as a commandery rebellion attempting to overthrow and replace the Tang government with the rogue Yan dynasty. The rebels succeeded in capturing the imperial capital Chang'an after the emperor had fled to Sichuan, but eventually succumbed to internal divisions and counterattacks by the Tang and their allies.

  3. 1194 Palermo is conquered by Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor.

    City in Sicily, Italy

    Palermo is the capital and largest city of the autonomous island region of Sicily in southern Italy, located on the eponymous gulf facing the Tyrrhenian Sea. With over 2,700 years of age, the city is noted for its history, culture, architecture and gastronomy, playing an important role throughout much of its existence.

  4. 1407 John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, agree to a truce, but Burgundy would kill Orléans three days later.

    Duke of Burgundy from 1404 to 1419

    John I was a scion of the French royal family who ruled the Burgundian State as the Duke of Burgundy from 1404 until his assassination in 1419. He played a key role in French national affairs during the early 15th century, particularly in his struggle to remove the mentally ill King Charles VI and during the Hundred Years' War against the Kingdom of England. A rash, ruthless and unscrupulous politician, John murdered Charles's brother, the Duke of Orléans, in an attempt to gain control of the government, which led to the eruption of the Armagnac–Burgundian Civil War in the Kingdom of France and in turn culminated in his own assassination in 1419.

  5. 1441 The Peace of Cremona ends the war between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, after the victorious Venetian enterprise of military engineering of the Galeas per montes.

    1441 peace treaty between Venice and Milan

    The Peace of Cremona was concluded on 20 November 1441 between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan, ending the fourth of the five campaigns in the long conflict between the two powers over mastery in northern Italy.

  6. 1695 Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed by the forces of Portuguese bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho.
  7. 1739 Start of the Battle of Porto Bello between British and Spanish forces during the War of Jenkins' Ear.
  8. 1776 American Revolutionary War: British forces land at the Palisades and then attack Fort Lee. The Continental Army starts to retreat across New Jersey.
  9. 1789 New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
  10. 1805 Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, premieres in Vienna.
  11. 1815 The Second Treaty of Paris is signed, returning the French frontiers to their 1790 extent, imposing large indemnities, and prolonging the occupation by troops of Great Britain, Austria, Prussia, and Russia for several more years.
  12. 1820 An 80-ton sperm whale attacks and sinks the Essex (a whaling ship from Nantucket, Massachusetts) 3,200 kilometres (2,000 mi) from the western coast of South America. (Herman Melville's 1851 novel Moby-Dick was in part inspired by this incident.)
  13. 1845 Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata: Battle of Vuelta de Obligado.
  14. 1861 American Civil War: A secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.
  15. 1873 Garnier Expedition: French forces under Lieutenant Francis Garnier captured Hanoi from the Vietnamese.
Show 15 earlier entries from November 20
  1. 1900 The French actress Sarah Bernhardt receives the press at the Savoy Hotel in New York at the outset of her first visit since 1896. She talked about her impending tour with a troupe of more than 50 performers and her plans to play the title role in Hamlet.
  2. 1910 Mexican Revolution: Francisco I. Madero issues the Plan de San Luis Potosí, denouncing Mexican President Porfirio Díaz, calling for a revolution to overthrow the government of Mexico, effectively starting the Mexican Revolution.
  3. 1917 World War I: Battle of Cambrai begins: British forces make early progress in an attack on German positions but are later pushed back.
  4. 1936 José Antonio Primo de Rivera, founder of the Falange, is killed by a republican execution squad.
  5. 1940 World War II: Hungary becomes a signatory of the Tripartite Pact, officially joining the Axis powers.
  6. 1943 World War II: Battle of Tarawa (Operation Galvanic) begins: United States Marines land on Tarawa Atoll in the Gilbert Islands and suffer heavy fire from Japanese shore guns and machine guns.
  7. 1945 Nuremberg trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.
  8. 1946 Indonesian National Revolution: 96 Indonesian including I Gusti Ngurah Rai were killed during the Battle of Margarana with Dutch forces.
  9. 1947 The Princess Elizabeth (the future Queen) marries Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who becomes the Duke of Edinburgh, at Westminster Abbey in London.
  10. 1959 The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations.
  11. 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis ends: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, U.S. President John F. Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
  12. 1968 A total of 78 miners are killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company's No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia in the Farmington Mine disaster.
  13. 1969 Vietnam War: The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) publishes explicit photographs of dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.
  14. 1969 Occupation of Alcatraz: Native American activists seize control of Alcatraz Island until being ousted by the U.S. Government on June 11, 1971.
  15. 1974 The United States Department of Justice files its final anti-trust suit against AT&T Corporation. This suit later leads to the breakup of AT&T and its Bell System.

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