Calendar date · October

What happened on October 20

On October 20, 1568: The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.

Events

38

across history

Notable births

50

Notable deaths

50

Zodiac

Libra

Featured moment · 1568

The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.

Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, known as the Grand Duke of Alba in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish military officer, statesman and diplomat.

People

Born on October 20

Carney Chukwuemeka 2003– Austrian-English footballer (born 2003)
Yéremy Pino 2002– Spanish football player (Born in 2002)
Paige Bueckers 2001– American basketball player (born 2000)
Kenneth Walker III 2000– American football player (born 2000)
Chuu 1999– South Korean singer (born 1999)
YoungBoy Never Broke Again 1999– American rapper (born 1999)
Jordan Ridley 1998– Australian rules footballer (born 1998)
Ademola Lookman 1997– Nigerian-English footballer (born 1997)
Daizen Maeda 1997– Japanese footballer (born 1997)
Show 9 more — notable births on October 20
Nguyễn Tiến Linh 1997– Vietnamese footballer (born 1997)
Andrey Rublev 1997– Russian tennis player (born 1997)
Anthony Sinisuka Ginting 1996– Indonesian badminton player (born 1996)
Humberto Carrillo 1995– Mexican professional wrestler (born 1995)
Festus Talam 1994– Kenyan long-distance runner
Mattia De Sciglio 1992– Italian footballer (born 1992)
Ksenia Semyonova 1992– Russian artistic gymnast
Kyle Wiltjer 1992– American–Canadian basketball player (born 1992)
Phupoom Pongpanupak 1991– Thai film and television actor (born 1991)

People

Died on October 20

Barbara Dane American folk, blues and jazz singer (1927–2024)
Fethullah Gülen Turkish scholar, theologian and dissident (1941–2024)
Walter Jacob American Reform rabbi (1930–2024)
Janusz Olejniczak Polish classical pianist and actor (1952–2024)
Paul White British politician (1940–2024)
Lucy Simon American composer (1940–2022)
James Randi Canadian-American magician and skeptic (1928–2020)
Wim Kok Prime Minister of the Netherlands from 1994 to 2002
Robert E. Kramek US Coast Guard admiral (1939–2016)
Show 9 more — notable deaths on October 20
Michael Massee American actor (1952–2016)
Junko Tabei Japanese mountain climber (1939–2016)
Makis Dendrinos Greek basketball player and coach
Arno Gruen German-Swiss psychologist and psychoanalyst (born 1923)
Kazimierz Łaski Polish-Austrian economist (1921–2015)
Michael Meacher British politician (1939–2015)
Ian Steel Scottish cyclist
René Burri Swiss photographer
Oscar de la Renta Dominican fashion designer (1932–2014)

Timeline

Every October 20 on record

  1. 1568 The Spanish Duke of Alba defeats a Dutch rebel force under William the Silent.

    Spanish military officer, statesman and diplomat (1507–1582)

    Fernando Álvarez de Toledo y Pimentel, 3rd Duke of Alba, known as the Grand Duke of Alba in Spain and Portugal and as the Iron Duke or shortly 'Alva' in the Netherlands and Belgium, was a Spanish military officer, statesman and diplomat.

  2. 1572 Eighty Years' War: Three thousand Spanish soldiers wade through fifteen miles of water in one night to effect the relief of Goes.

    c. 1566/1568–1648 war in Habsburg Netherlands

    The Eighty Years' War or Dutch Revolt was an armed conflict in the Habsburg Netherlands between disparate groups of rebels and the Spanish government. The causes of the war included the Reformation, centralisation, excessive taxation, and the rights and privileges of the Dutch nobility and cities.

  3. 1740 France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.

    Holy Roman edict allowing royal inheritance by Charles VI's daughter Maria Theresa

    The Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 was an edict issued by Holy Roman Emperor Charles VI, on 19 April 1713 to ensure that the Habsburg monarchy, which included the Archduchy of Austria, the Kingdom of Hungary, the Kingdom of Croatia, the Kingdom of Bohemia, the Duchy of Milan, the Kingdom of Naples, the Kingdom of Sardinia and the Austrian Netherlands, could be inherited by a daughter undivided.

  4. 1774 American Revolution: The Continental Association, a nonconsumption and nonimportation agreement against the British Isles and the British West Indies, is adopted by the First Continental Congress.

    Founding of the United States

    The American Revolution (1765–1789) was a political movement in the Thirteen Colonies of Great Britain. The movement began as a rebellion and evolved into a revolution resulting in the sovereign United States. These changes were the outcome of the associated American Revolutionary War.

  5. 1781 The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Austria.

    1781 edict by Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II

    The Patent of Toleration was an edict of toleration issued on 13 October 1781 by the Habsburg emperor Joseph II. Part of the Josephinist reforms, the Patent extended religious freedom to non-Catholic Christians living in the crown lands of the Habsburg monarchy, including Lutherans, Calvinists, and the Eastern Orthodox. Specifically, these members of minority faiths were now legally permitted to hold "private religious exercises" in clandestine churches.

  6. 1803 The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
  7. 1818 The Convention of 1818 is signed between the United States and the United Kingdom, which settles the Canada–United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
  8. 1827 Greek War of Independence: In the Battle of Navarino, a combined Turkish and Egyptian fleet is defeated by British, French and Russian naval forces in the last significant battle fought with wooden sailing ships.
  9. 1883 Peru and Chile sign the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
  10. 1904 Chile and Bolivia sign the Treaty of Peace and Friendship, delimiting the border between the two countries.
  11. 1910 British ocean liner RMS Olympic is launched.
  12. 1935 The Long March, a mammoth retreat undertaken by the armed forces of the Chinese Communist Party a year prior, ends.
  13. 1941 World War II: Thousands of civilians in German-occupied Serbia are murdered in the Kragujevac massacre.
  14. 1944 World War II: The Soviet Red Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade.
  15. 1944 Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people.
Show 15 earlier entries from October 20
  1. 1944 World War II: American general Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he comes ashore during the Battle of Leyte.
  2. 1947 Cold War: The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of the Hollywood film industry, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
  3. 1948 A KLM Lockheed L-049 Constellation crashes on approach to Glasgow Prestwick Airport, killing 40.
  4. 1951 The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.
  5. 1952 The Governor of Kenya Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising.
  6. 1961 The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
  7. 1962 China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
  8. 1973 Watergate scandal: "Saturday Night Massacre": United States President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Solicitor General Robert Bork.
  9. 1973 The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
  10. 1976 The Luling–Destrehan Ferry MV George Prince is struck by the Norwegian freighter SS Frosta while crossing the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die, and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.
  11. 1977 A plane carrying the rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in woodland in Mississippi, United States. Six people, including three band members, are killed.
  12. 1981 Two police officers and a Brink's armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground in Nanuet, New York.
  13. 1982 During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
  14. 1986 Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashes while landing at Kuibyshev Airport (now Kuromoch International Airport) in Kuibyshev (now present-day Samara, Russia), killing 70 people.
  15. 1991 A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.

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