Summary of the Day ✨ 20 September (20/09)
Millions worldwide joined climate protests led by Greta Thunberg while Hurricane Maria devastated Puerto Rico and a ferry disaster claimed 161 lives in Tanzania. The US military ended its discriminatory “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy as a deadly bombing at Islamabad’s Marriott hotel killed dozens and injured hundreds.
Historical Events 📜
- 2019: Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.
- 2018: At least 161 people die after a ferry capsizes close to the pier on Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania.
- 2017: Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis.
- 2011: The United States military ends its “don’t ask, don’t tell” policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.
- 2008: A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others.
- 2007: Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate.
- 2003: Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards.
- 2001: In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a “war on terror”.
- 2000: The United Kingdom’s MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile.
- 1990: South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia.
- 1989: USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people.
- 1984: A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people.
- 1982: NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike.
- 1979: A French-supported coup d’état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.
- 1977: Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.
Famous Births 👶
- 2003: Thomas Matthew Crooks, American attempted assassin of Donald Trump (died 2024)
- 1998: Trevon Diggs, American football player
- 1997: Itamar Einhorn, Israeli Olympic cyclist
- 1996: Ioana Loredana Roșca, Romanian tennis player
- 1995: Laura Dekker, Dutch sailor
- 1995: Sammi Hanratty, American actress
- 1995: Rob Holding, English footballer
- 1993: Kyle Anderson, American-Chinese basketball player
- 1993: Julian Draxler, German footballer
- 1992: Michał Żyro, Polish footballer
- 1991: Isaac Cofie, Ghanaian footballer
- 1990: Ken Giles, American baseball player
- 1990: Carlos Hyde, American football player
- 1990: Donatas Motiejūnas, Lithuanian basketball player
- 1990: Phillip Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2025: Matt Beard, English football manager (born 1978)
- 2024: Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah militant (born 1962)
- 2024: Kathryn Crosby, American actress and singer (born 1933)
- 2024: Daniel J. Evans, American politician, 16th Governor of Washington (born 1925)
- 2024: Sayuri, Japanese musician (born 1996)
- 2024: Cleo Sylvestre, English actress (born 1945)
- 2024: Eduardo Xol, American designer and author (born 1966)
- 2023: Maddy Cusack, English football player (born 1995)
- 2016: Curtis Hanson, American film director and screenwriter (born 1945)
- 2016: Peter Leo Gerety, American bishop (born 1912)
- 2015: Mario Caiano, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1933)
- 2015: Jagmohan Dalmiya, Indian businessman (born 1940)
- 2015: Jack Larson, American actor (born 1928)
- 2014: Anatoly Berezovoy, Russian colonel, pilot, and cosmonaut (born 1942)
- 2014: Polly Bergen, American actress and singer (born 1930)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Christian feast day:
Agapitus (Western Christianity) - Christian feast day:
Eustace (Western Christianity) - Christian feast day:
Evilasius - Christian feast day:
Fausta of Cyzicus - Christian feast day:
Glycerius of Milan - Christian feast day:
Jean-Charles Cornay (one of Vietnamese Martyrs) - Christian feast day:
John Coleridge Patteson (commemoration, Anglicanism) - Christian feast day:
José Maria de Yermo y Parres - Christian feast day:
Korean Martyrs, including Andrew Kim Taegon and Laurent-Marie-Joseph Imbert - Christian feast day:
Theodore, Philippa and companions - Christian feast day:
Vincent Madelgarius (Maelceadar) - Christian feast day:
September 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Constitution Day (Nepal)
- Independence Day of South Ossetia (not fully recognized)
- National Youth Day (Thailand)