Historical Events on March 20

  • 1602: The Dutch East India Company is founded on this day.
  • 1616: After thirteen years of imprisonment, Sir Walter Raleigh is released from the Tower of London.
  • 1760: Almost 350 buildings are destroyed during the Great Boston Fire.
  • 1815: Napoleon enters the city of Paris with over 340,000 troops – a regular army of 140,000 and 200,00 volunteers. This begins his 100 Days of Rule.
  • 1852: Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe is published on this day.
  • 1854: In Ripon, Wisconsin, the Republican Party of the U.S is established.
  • 1861: Mendoza, Argentina is completely destroyed by an earthquake.
  • 1915: The Theory of Relativity is published by Albert Einstein.
  • 1933: For fatally shooting Anton Cermak as he was attempting to assassinate the President-Elect Franklin D. Roosevelt, Giuseppe Zangara is executed in an electric chair in Florida.
  • 1933: Heinrich Himmler order the creation of the Dachau Concentration Camp.
  • 1952: The U.S Senate ratifies a peace treaty with Japan.
  • 1956: Tunisia gains its independence from France.
  • 2003: The U.S., the U.K., Australia and Poland start military operations in Iraq.
  • 2012: Terror attacks across 10 Iraq cities result in over 250 people injured and over 50 people being killed.
  • 2014: 9 people are killed by 4 suspected Taliban members when they attack the Kabul Serena Hotel.
  • 2015: A Super Moon, the equinox and a solar eclipse all happen on the same day.

Famous Birthdays on March 20

  • French Emperor Napoleon II is born in 1811.
  • American painter and politician, George Caleb Bingham is born in 1811.
  • American psychologist and author, B.F. Skinner is born in 1904.
  • Mexican lawyer and Nobel Prize laureate, Alfonso Garcia Robles is born in 1911.
  • American TV game show host, Jack Barry is born in 1918.
  • American actor, screenwriter, director and producer, Carl Reiner is born in 1922.
  • American TV host Fred Rogers is born in 1928.
  • American actor Hal Linden is born in 1931.
  • American baseball player George Altman is born in 1933.