What Happened on March 20
Important Events
- 1602 United Dutch East Indian Company (VOC) forms
- 1800 Alessandro Volta reports his discovery of the electric battery in a letter to Joseph Banks, president of the Royal Society of London
- 1815 Napoleon enters Paris after escape from Elba, begins 100-day rule
- 1890 German Emperor Wilhelm II fires chancellor Otto von Bismarck
- 1900 US Secretary of State John Hay announces that all nations to whom he sent notes calling for an 'open door' policy in China have essentially accepted his stand
- 1933 Dachau the first Nazi concentration camp, is completed
- 2016 Barack Obama becomes the first US President to visit Cuba since 1928, arriving for a 3 day tour
March 20 in Film & TV
- 1952 24th Academy Awards: "An American in Paris", Humphrey Bogart & Vivian Leigh win
March 20 in Music
- 1991 Michael Jackson signs $65M 6 album deal with Sony records
March 20 in Sport
- 1973 Roberto Clemente elected to Hall of Fame, 11 weeks after his death in a plane crash
Famous Birthdays
Frederick Winslow Taylor
(1856 - 1915)- Carl Reiner
97 Years Old - Fred Rogers
(1928 - 2003) - Bobby Orr
71 Years Old - Spike Lee
62 Years Old - David Thewlis
56 Years Old
Frederick Winslow Taylor
Carl Reiner
Fred Rogers
Bobby Orr
Spike Lee
David ThewlisWould You Believe?
Indian rivers Yamuna and the Ganges declared "living entities" by court in the state of Uttarakhand
On March 20, 2017
Famous Weddings
- 1848 King Louis I of Bayern abdicates to marry dancer Lola Montez
- 1878 53rd UK Prime Minister Archibald Primrose (31) weds heiress Hannah de Rothschild (27) at the Board of Guardians in Mount Street, London
- 1934 Vietnam emperor Bảo Đại (20) weds empress Nam Phương (19) at the imperial city of Huế
Famous Divorces
- 2009 "Dawson's Creek" actor Kerr Smith (37) divorces actress Harmoni Everett (34) due to irreconcilable differences after 6 years of marriage
Albert of Prussia
A. E. Douglass
Brendan Behan
Malcolm FraserMarch in History
Dr Livingstone, I Presume?
Explorer David Livingstone, born on this day, spawned one of the most famous encounters when he was found in Africa by journalist Henry Stanley.
March 19, 1813A First Lady Goes Shoplifting
While former Panama military dictator Manuel Noriega was awaiting his fate on racketeering charges, his wife Felicidad was having her own run-in with the law.
March 20, 1992Welcome Shoppers, But No Whistling Please
Burlington Arcade, one of London's finest shopping streets, was opened on this day, partly as a deterrent to litter louts.
March 20, 1819The Most Expensive Divorce in History
Beautiful and rich, Eleanor of Aquitaine had one fault according to the King of France: she had not produced a son. So on this day they were divorced.
March 21, 1152
