Historical Events on November 20

  • 1776: Upon landing at Palisades, British troops then begin the assault on Fort Lee during the American Revolutionary War. This forces the retreat of the Continental Army.
  • 1789: The first state to ratify the U.S Bill of Rights is New Jersey.
  • 1820: Two thousand miles from the western coast of South America, an eighty-ton sperm whale attacks the whaling ship the Essex. This attack would later inspire Herman Melville to write Moby-Dick in 1851.
  • 1917: British forces initially advance during an attack on German fortifications but are eventually pushed back at the Battle of Cambrai during World War I.
  • 1940: Hungary officially joins the Axis Powers.
  • 1943: U.S Marines land on Tarawa Atoll at the Battle of Tarawa during World War II. The Japanese attack the invading Marines with heavy machine gun and shore gun fire.
  • 1945: The Nuremberg Trials begin when 24 Nazi war criminals begin their trials.
  • 1985: The operating system Windows 1.0 is released by Microsoft.
  • 1992: A fire breaks out in Windsor Castle in England. The fire causes over £50 million worth of damage.

Famous Birthdays on November 20

  • Swedish educator, author and Nobel Prize laureate, Selma Lagerlof is born in 1858.
  • English sailor Herbert Pitman is born in 1877.
  • American engineer Olive Dennis is born in 1885.
  • American author and cartoonist, Chester Gould is born in 1900.
  • American lawyer, politician and 64th U.S Attorney General, Robert F. Kennedy is born in 1925.
  • English soldier and author John Gardner is born in 1926.
  • English ventriloquist and actor, Terry Hall is born in 1926.
  • American soldier, pilot and Medal of Honor recipient, Ed Freeman is born in 1927.
  • American novelist and playwright Don DeLillos is born in 1936.
  • American lawyer and 46th President of the United States, Joe Biden is born in 1942.
  • American actor and screenwriter Bob Einstein is born in 1942.
  • American journalist Judy Woodruff is born in 1946.
  • American actor and singer Samuel E. Wright is born in 1946.