Events for March 20
1903 – The first of a series of auctions of sheep farming land in southern Patagonia takes place impacting established settlers.[2]
1848 – German revolutions of 1848–49: King Ludwig I of Bavaria abdicates.
1933 – Reichsführer-SS Heinrich Himmler ordered the creation of Dachau concentration camp as Chief of Police of Munich and appointed Theodor Eicke as the camp commandant.
1760 – The Great Boston Fire of 1760 destroys 349 buildings.
2019 – Kassym-Jomart Tokayev is sworn in as acting president of Kazakhstan, following the resignation of long-time president Nursultan Nazarbayev.[9]
1995 – The Japanese cult Aum Shinrikyo carries out a sarin gas attack on the Tokyo subway, killing 14 and wounding over 6,200 people.
1987 – The Food and Drug Administration approves the anti-AIDS drug, AZT.
1951 – Fujiyoshida, a city located in Yamanashi Prefecture, Japan, in the center of the Japanese main island of Honshū is founded.
2015 – A Solar eclipse, equinox, and a supermoon all occur on the same day.
1616 – Sir Walter Raleigh is freed from the Tower of London after 13 years of imprisonment.
2012 – At least 52 people are killed and more than 250 injured in a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq.
1914 – In the Curragh incident over 100 British Army officers threatened to resign if ordered to march against the Ulster Volunteers.[3]
1896 – With the approval of Emperor Guangxu, the Qing dynasty post office is opened, marking the beginning of a postal service in China.
2000 – Jamil Abdullah Al-Amin, a former Black Panther once known as H. Rap Brown, is captured after murdering Georgia sheriff's deputy Ricky Kinchen and critically wounding Deputy Aldranon English.
1969 – A United Arab airlines (now Egyptair) Ilyushin Il-18 crashes at Aswan international Airport, killing 100 people.[6]
1815 – After escaping from Elba, Napoleon enters Paris with a regular army of 140,000 and a volunteer force of around 200,000, beginning his "Hundred Days" rule.
1948 – With a Musicians Union ban lifted, the first telecasts of classical music in the United States, under Eugene Ormandy and Arturo Toscanini, are given on CBS and NBC.
1964 – The precursor of the European Space Agency, ESRO (European Space Research Organisation) is established per an agreement signed on June 14, 1962.
1883 – The Paris Convention for the Protection of Industrial Property is signed.
1861 – An earthquake destroys Mendoza, Argentina.
1923 – The Arts Club of Chicago hosts the opening of Pablo Picasso's first United States showing, entitled Original Drawings by Pablo Picasso, becoming an early proponent of modern art in the United States.
2003 – Iraq War: The United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland begin an invasion of Iraq.
2006 – Over 150 Chadian soldiers are killed in eastern Chad by members of the rebel UFDC. The rebel movement sought to overthrow Chadian president Idriss Déby.
Notable Births & Deaths for March 20
1987 – Daniel Maa Boumsong, Cameroonian footballer
2023 – John Sattler, Australian rugby league player (born 1942)[64]
2001 – Trevor Zegras, American ice hockey player[42]
1986 – Román Torres, Panamanian footballer
2014 – Khushwant Singh, Indian journalist and author (born 1915)[56]
1987 – Sergei Kostitsyn, Belarusian ice hockey player
1993 – Fabian Fahl, German politician[38]
1991 – Mattia Destro, Italian footballer
1992 – Justin Faulk, American ice hockey player[37]
2003 – Cooper Hoffman, American actor[44]
2011 – Johnny Pearson, English pianist, conductor, and composer (born 1925)
1993 – JaKarr Sampson, American basketball player[39]
2013 – George Lowe, New Zealand-English mountaineer and explorer (born 1924)[51]
2015 – Eva Burrows, Australian 13th General of The Salvation Army (born 1929)[57]
1987 – Pedro Ken, Brazilian footballer
2017 – David Rockefeller, American billionaire and philanthropist (born 1915)[60]
2016 – Anker Jørgensen, Danish politician, Prime Minister of Denmark (born 1922)[59]
2013 – Zillur Rahman, Bangladeshi lawyer and politician, 19th President of Bangladesh (born 1929)[52]
2023 – Kyle White, Australian rugby league player (born 1970)[65]
1991 – Michał Kucharczyk, Polish footballer
1990 – Marcos Rojo, Argentine footballer
2014 – Hennie Aucamp, South African poet, author, and academic (born 1934)[53]
2012 – Jim Stynes, Irish-Australian footballer (born 1966)
2013 – James Herbert, English author (born 1943)
2010 – Girija Prasad Koirala, Indian-Nepalese politician, 30th Prime Minister of Nepal (born 1924)
2014 – Tonie Nathan, American politician (born 1923)[55]
1989 – Tamim Iqbal, Bangladeshi cricketer
2012 – Lincoln Hall, Australian mountaineer and author (born 1955)
1986 – Julián Magallanes, Argentinian footballer
2025 – Eddie Jordan, Irish businessman, television personality and motorsport team owner (born 1948)[66]
2020 – Kenny Rogers, American singer (born 1938)[63]
1987 – Jon Brockman, American basketball player[33]
2002 – Jahmyr Gibbs, American football player[43]
2010 – Stewart Udall, American soldier, lawyer, and politician, 37th United States Secretary of the Interior (born 1920)
1991 – Nick Leddy, American ice hockey player[36]
2019 – Mary Warnock, English philosopher and writer (born 1924)[62]
1990 – Blake Ferguson, Australian rugby league player
2015 – Malcolm Fraser, Australian politician, 22nd Prime Minister of Australia (born 1930)[58]
2012 – Noboru Ishiguro, Japanese animator and director (born 1938)
2018 – C. K. Mann, a Ghanaian Highlife musician and producer (born 1936)[61]
1989 – Xavier Dolan, Canadian actor and director
2014 – Hilderaldo Bellini, Brazilian footballer (born 1930)[54]
2012 – Chaim Pinchas Scheinberg, Polish-Israeli rabbi and author (born 1910)
Quick Start
Our API is incredibly easy to use, check out the code samples below to get started:
Fetch Historical Events
All you need to do is send a request to https://today.zenquotes.io/api/[month]/[day]/[key] in order to generate a JSON array of historical events, including notable births and deaths. API data pulled from WikiPedia.
*[key] not required but recommended.
Sample Requests
https://today.zenquotes.io/api - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for current server time (UTC).
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/1/1 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for January 1.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/5/5 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for May 5.
https://today.zenquotes.io/api/12/25 - Generate notable events, births, and deaths for December 25.
Response
The result data is formatted as a JSON array, grouped by event type.
{ "info":"OnThisDay API", "date":"April_20", "updated":"1615972324",
"data":{
"Events":[
{
"text":"1303 – The Sapienza University of Rome is instituted by a bull of Pope Boniface VIII.[1]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1303\" title=\"1303\">1303</a> – The <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Sapienza_University_of_Rome\" title=\"Sapienza University of Rome\">Sapienza University of Rome</a> is instituted by a <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Papal_bull\" title=\"Papal bull\">bull</a> of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Pope_Boniface_VIII\" title=\"Pope Boniface VIII\">Pope Boniface VIII</a>."
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Births":[
{
"text":"1494 – Johannes Agricola, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)[8]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/1494\" title=\"1494\">1494</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Johannes_Agricola\" title=\"Johannes Agricola\">Johannes Agricola</a>, German theologian and reformer (d. 1566)"
},
//.. MORE DATA ..//
],
"Deaths":[
{
"text":"689 – Cædwalla, king of Wessex (b. 659)[21]",
"html":"<a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/689\" title=\"689\">689</a> – <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/C%C3%A6dwalla_of_Wessex\" title=\"Cædwalla of Wessex\">Cædwalla</a>, king of <a href=\"https://wikipedia.org/wiki/Wessex\" title=\"Wessex\">Wessex</a> (b. 659)" },
//.. MORE DATA ..//
}
]
} }Usage Limits and Attribution
Requests are restricted to 5 per 30 second period, an API key or registered IP is required for unlimited access and to enable Access-Control-Allow-Origin headers. We require that you show attribution with a link back to https://today.zenquotes.io/ when using the free version of this API. Contact [email protected] to chat with our friendly dev team and get registered.
Historical event data provided by <a href="proxy.php?url=https://today.zenquotes.io/" target="_blank">ZenQuotes.io</a>