August 20

Today in History
• 1000 - The foundation of the Hungarian state, Hungary is established as a Christian kingdom
• 1191 - Crusader King Richard I kills 3,000 muslim prisoners in Akko
• 1566 - Iconoclasm reaches Antwerp, the Cathedral's interior is torn apart by Protestants
• 1612 - 9 Pendle witches hanged at Gallows Hill in Lancaster, England
• 1741 - Alaska first sighted by Danish explorer Vitus Bering at head of Russian expedition
• 1781 - George Washington begins to move his troops south to fight Cornwallis
• 1866 - President Andrew Johnson formally declares US Civil War over
• 1896 - Dial telephone patented


Holidays - Traditional and Obscure
• Anniversary of the Revolution of the King and the People
• Hungary National Day
• National Bacon Lovers Day
• National Chocolate Pecan Pie Day
• National Radio Day
• Onam
• St. Stephen’s Day
• World Mosquito Day

Birthdays
• 1377 - Shahrukh Mirza, Ruler of Persia and Transoxonia (1405-47)
• 1517 - Antoine Perrenot de Granvelle, Spanish cardinal and viceroy of Naples (1571-75)
• 1637 - Cornelis Van Aerssen, Dutch governor of Suriname (1638-88)
• 1779 - Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian explorer who discovered Antarctica
• 1785 - Oliver Hazard Perry, American Naval hero (Battle of Lake Erie)
• 1832 - Thaddeus S. C. Lowe, American aeronaut and inventor
• 1833 - Benjamin Harrison, 23rd President of the United States (Republican: 1889-93)
• 1860 - Raymond Poincaré, French president and Prime Minister (1912)