February 20

Sunday 20, 2005:

Jeff Gordon wins his third Daytona 500.

Thursday 20, 2003:

In Rhode Island, in the USA, The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.

Wednesday 20, 2002:

In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.

Tuesday 20, 2001:

FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.

Friday 20, 1998:

The afternoon newspaper Nashville Banner publishes its final edition.

Thursday 20, 1992:

The FA Premier League is formed and takes over as the professional league in England from season 1992–93.

Friday 20, 1987:

Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, in the USA, a bomb explodes in a computer store.

Friday 20, 1976:

The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands.

Wednesday 20, 1974:

Science fiction writer Philip K. Dick claims he began experiencing intense gnostic visions on this date.

Saturday 20, 1965:

Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.

Tuesday 20, 1962:

Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes, becoming the first American to orbit the earth.

Friday 20, 1959:

The Avro Arrow programme to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.

Wednesday 20, 1952:

The film The African Queen opens at the Capitol Theatre in New York City.

Sunday 20, 1944:

World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.

Saturday 20, 1943:

The Paricutín volcano begins to form in Paricutín, México.

Friday 20, 1942:

Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.

Friday 20, 1931:

California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

Sunday 20, 1921:

The film The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.

Thursday 20, 1913:

King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.

Wednesday 20, 1901:

The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.

Thursday 20, 1873:

The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.

Tuesday 20, 1872:

In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.

Saturday 20, 1864:

Battle of Olustee

Friday 20, 1835:

Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake

Tuesday 20, 1816:

Gioachino Rossini's The Barber of Seville debuts at Teatro Argentina, with a fiasco.

Tuesday 20, 1810:

Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, was executed.

Monday 20, 1792:

The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.

Tuesday 20, 1725:

The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.

Sunday 20, 1724:

The premiere of Giulio Cesare, an Italian opera by George Frideric Handel, takes place in London.

Thursday 20, 1547:

Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.

Tuesday 20, 1472:

Orkney and Shetland are annexed to the crown of Scotland.

More on February, 20

• People Born on February, 20
• They left us on February, 20