Summary of the Day ✨ 20 November (20/11)
The 2022 FIFA World Cup made history by becoming the first tournament held in the Middle East as it kicked off in Qatar, while NASCAR driver Jimmie Johnson secured his seventh championship to join legends Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt in the record books. Elsewhere in the world, tragedy struck with a hostage siege in Mali claiming 19 lives, Istanbul experienced devastating bombings that destroyed key buildings, and a Taliban court controversially absolved Osama bin Laden of responsibility for the 1998 embassy bombings.
Historical Events 📜
- 2022: The 2022 FIFA World Cup begins in Qatar. This is the first time the tournament was held in the Middle East.
- 2016: Jimmie Johnson wins his seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time.
- 2015: Following a hostage siege, at least 19 people are killed in Bamako, Mali.
- 2003: After the November 15 bombings, a second day of the 2003 Istanbul bombings occurs in Istanbul, Turkey, destroying the Turkish head office of HSBC Bank AS and the British consulate.
- 1998: A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden “a man without a sin” in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.
- 1998: The first space station module component, Zarya, for the International Space Station is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.
- 1996: A fire breaks out in an office building in Hong Kong, killing 41 people and injuring 81.
- 1994: The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war. (Localized fighting resumes the next year.)
- 1993: Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his “dealings” with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.
- 1993: North Macedonia’s deadliest aviation disaster occurs when Avioimpex Flight 110, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashes near Ohrid Airport, killing all 116 people on board.
- 1992: In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, badly damaging the castle and causing over £50 million worth of damage.
- 1991: An Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter carrying 19 peacekeeping mission team with officials and journalists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend District of Azerbaijan.
- 1990: Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union’s most prolific serial killers, is arrested; he eventually confesses to 56 killings.
- 1989: Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.
- 1985: Microsoft Windows 1.0, the first graphical personal computer operating environment developed by Microsoft, is released.
Famous Births 👶
- 2002: Madisyn Shipman, American actress
- 2001: Caty McNally, American tennis player
- 2001: Adrien Truffert, French footballer
- 2000: Connie Talbot, English singer-songwriter
- 1997: Levi Garcia, Trinidadian footballer
- 1996: Blaž Janc, Slovenian handballer
- 1996: Denis Zakaria, Swiss footballer
- 1995: Timothy Cheruiyot, Kenyan athlete
- 1995: Shaolin Sándor Liu, Hungarian short track speed skater
- 1995: Kyle Snyder, American wrestler
- 1994: Timothy Kitum, Kenyan middle-distance runner
- 1993: Anna Prugova, Russian ice hockey player
- 1992: Amit Guluzade, Azerbaijani footballer
- 1992: Zoltán Harcsa, Hungarian boxer
- 1992: Kristiina Mäkelä, Finnish triple jumper
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Ursula Haverbeck, German Holocaust denier (born 1928)
- 2024: Andy Paley, American songwriter (born 1952)
- 2024: John Prescott, British sailor and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (born 1938)
- 2024: Jodi Rell, American politician, 87th Governor of Connecticut (born 1946)
- 2020: Jan Morris, Welsh historian, author and travel writer (born 1926)
- 2019: Wataru Misaka, American basketball player (born 1923)
- 2018: James H. Billington, 13th Librarian of Congress (born 1929)
- 2018: Aaron Klug, Lithuanian-English chemist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1926)
- 2017: Peter Berling, German actor, film producer and writer (born 1934)
- 2016: Gabriel Badilla, Costa Rican footballer (born 1984)
- 2016: Gene Guarilia, American basketball player (born 1937)
- 2016: Konstantinos Stephanopoulos, Greek statesman (born 1926)
- 2016: William Trevor, Irish novelist, playwright, and short story writer (born 1928)
- 2015: Keith Michell, Australian actor (born 1926)
- 2015: Jim Perry, American-Canadian singer and game show host (born 1933)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- 20-N (Spain)
- Africa Industrialization Day (international)
- Black Awareness Day (Brazil)
- Children’s Day (World Children’s Day)
- Christian feast day:
Agapius - Christian feast day:
Ambrose Traversari - Christian feast day:
Ampelus and Caius - Christian feast day:
Blessed Anacleto González Flores, José Sánchez del Río, and companions (Martyrs of Cristero War) - Christian feast day:
Bernward of Hildesheim - Christian feast day:
Dasius of Durostorum - Christian feast day:
Edmund the Martyr - Christian feast day:
Felec (or Felix) of Cornwall - Christian feast day:
Gregory of Dekapolis - Christian feast day:
Blessed Josaphata Hordashevska (Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church) - Christian feast day:
Solutor, Octavius, and Adventor