October 20
October 20 is the 294th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar; 72 days remain until the year's end. It falls in autumn (northern hemisphere) and under the astrological sign of Libra.
External references
Curated jump-off points to the major almanacs, encyclopaedias and primary sources for this date.
Astronomy
On October 20 the Sun's declination is approximately -11.7°. At this latitude the Sun is south of the celestial equator, giving the Northern Hemisphere shorter days than nights.
For specific rise/set times at your location, see the U.S. Naval Observatory, or the NASA APOD archive for any imagery published on a October 20.
Position in the year
Holidays & observances
- Christian feast days: Acca of Hexham
- Christian feast days: Aderald
- Christian feast days: Artemius
- Christian feast days: Caprasius of Agen
- Christian feast days: Hedwig (in Canada, moved from Oct. 16)
Events
A selection of widely-documented historical events that took place on this date. Years marked BCE follow standard astronomical convention.
2022 — Liz Truss steps down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party amid the country's political crisis, serving for the least time of any British Prime Minister (49 days). ↗(4 years ago)more
Mary Elizabeth Truss is a British politician who was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from September to October 2022. On her fiftieth day in office, she stepped down amid a government crisis, making her the shortest-serving prime minister in British history.
2017 — Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign. ↗(9 years ago)more
The Syrian Civil War was an armed conflict that began with the Syrian revolution in March 2011, when popular discontent with the Ba'athist regime ruled by Bashar al-Assad triggered large-scale protests and pro-democracy rallies across Syria, as part of the wider Arab Spring.
2011 — Libyan Crisis: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill them shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war. ↗(15 years ago)more
The Libyan crisis is the current humanitarian crisis and political-military instability occurring in Libya, beginning with the Arab Spring protests of 2011, which led to two civil wars, foreign military intervention, and the ousting and killing of Muammar Gaddafi.
2005 — The general conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passes the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. ↗(21 years ago)more
The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization is a specialized agency of the United Nations (UN) with the aim of promoting world peace and security through international cooperation in education, arts, sciences and culture.
2003 — The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University. ↗(23 years ago)more
The Sloan Great Wall (SGW) is a cosmic structure formed by a giant wall of galaxies. Its discovery was announced from Princeton University on October 20, 2003, by J. Richard Gott III, Mario Jurić, and their colleagues, based on data from the Sloan Digital Sky Survey.
- 2002 — Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premieres on BBC. ↗(24 years ago)
more
Top Gear is a British motoring-themed magazine television programme. It is a revival of the 1977–2001 show of the same name for the BBC, devised by Jeremy Clarkson and Andy Wilman, which premiered on 20 October 2002.
1995 — Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-73. ↗(31 years ago)more
Space Shuttle Columbia (OV-102) was a Space Shuttle orbiter manufactured by Rockwell International and operated by NASA. Named after the first American ship to circumnavigate the globe, and the female personification of the United States, Columbia was the first of five Space Shuttle orbiters to fly in space, debuting the Space Shuttle launch vehicle on it...
- 1991 — A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people. ↗(35 years ago)
more
The moment magnitude scale is a measure of an earthquake's magnitude based on its seismic moment. Mw was defined in a 1979 paper by Thomas C. Hanks and Hiroo Kanamori. Similar to the local magnitude/Richter scale (ML ) defined by Charles Francis Richter in 1935, it uses a logarithmic scale; small earthquakes have approximately the same magnitudes on both ...
1991 — A massive firestorm breaks out in the hills of Oakland and Berkeley, California killing 25 people and destroying more than 3,000 homes, apartments and condominiums. ↗(35 years ago)more
A firestorm is a conflagration which attains such intensity that it creates and sustains its own wind system. It is most commonly a natural phenomenon, created during some of the largest bushfires and wildfires.
1986 — Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashes while landing at Kuibyshev Airport (now Kuromoch International Airport) in Kuibyshev (now present-day Samara, Russia), killing 70 people. ↗(40 years ago)more
Aeroflot Flight 6502 was a Soviet domestic passenger flight operated by a Tupolev Tu-134A from Sverdlovsk to Grozny via Kuibyshev, which crashed in Kuibyshev on 20 October 1986. 70 of the 94 passengers and crew on board were killed when the plane overran the runway, after the pilot attempted to make an instrument-only approach with curtained cockpit windo...
1982 — During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster. ↗(44 years ago)more
FC Spartak Moscow is a Russian professional football club based in Moscow. Having won 12 Soviet championships and 10 Russian championships, it is the country's most successful club. They have also won a record 10 Soviet Cups, 4 Russian Cups and one Russian Super Cup.
1981 — Two police officers and a Brink's armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground in Nanuet, New York. ↗(45 years ago)more
The Brink's Company is an American cash handling company, headquartered in Richmond, Virginia. Its operations include cash-in-transit, ATM replenishment & maintenance, and cash management & payment services, such as vault outsourcing, money processing, intelligent safe services, and international transportation of valuables.
Notable births
- 2003 — Carney Chukwuemeka, English footballer ↗(23 years ago)
more
Carney Chibueze Chukwuemeka is an Austrian professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or left winger for Bundesliga club Borussia Dortmund and the Austria national team.
2002 — Yéremy Pino, Spanish footballer ↗(24 years ago)more
Yéremy Jesús Pino Santos is a Spanish professional footballer who plays as an attacking midfielder or winger for Premier League club Crystal Palace and the Spain national team.
2001 — Paige Bueckers, American basketball player ↗(25 years ago)more
Paige Madison Bueckers is an American professional basketball player for the Dallas Wings of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA) and for Breeze of Unrivaled. She played college basketball for the UConn Huskies.
2000 — Kenneth Walker III, American football player ↗(26 years ago)more
Kenneth Walker III is an American professional football running back for the Kansas City Chiefs of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Wake Forest Demon Deacons and Michigan State Spartans, winning the Walter Camp and Doak Walker Awards in 2021.
1999 — Chuu, South Korean singer and television personality ↗(27 years ago)more
Kim Ji-woo, known professionally as Chuu (츄), is a South Korean singer and actress. She is a former member of the South Korean girl group Loona and its sub-unit, yyxy.
1999 — YoungBoy Never Broke Again, American rapper ↗(27 years ago)more
Kentrell DeSean Gaulden, known professionally as YoungBoy Never Broke Again or NBA YoungBoy, is an American rapper, singer, and songwriter. Gaulden released eight mixtapes from 2015 to 2017, and garnered a regional following for his work.
Notable deaths
2024 — Barbara Dane, American folk, blues and jazz singer (born 1927) ↗(2 years ago)more
Barbara Jean Spillman, known professionally as Barbara Dane, was an American folk, blues and jazz singer, guitarist, record producer, and political activist. She co-founded Paredon Records with Irwin Silber.
2024 — Fethullah Gülen, Turkish preacher and theologian (born 1941) ↗(2 years ago)more
Muhammed Fethullah Gülen was a Turkish Muslim scholar, preacher, and leader of the Gülen movement, which as of 2010 had 8-10 million of followers globally and had established a network of over 2,000 STEM focused schools in more than 150 countries.
2024 — Walter Jacob, American Reform rabbi (born 1930) ↗(2 years ago)more
Walter Jacob was an American Reform rabbi. He was rabbi at the Rodef Shalom Congregation in Pittsburgh from 1955 to 1997. He served as chairman of organizations such as the Central Conference of American Rabbis and World Union for Progressive Judaism. Jacob wrote a book, Christianity Through Jewish Eyes in 1974, leading to interfaith dialogue.
2024 — Janusz Olejniczak, Polish classical pianist and actor (born 1952) ↗(2 years ago)more
Janusz Olejniczak was a Polish classical pianist, academic teacher and actor. He made an international career as a pianist, especially with the piano music of Chopin which he played on modern and period instruments. He portrayed the composer in the 1991 film Blue Note, and played piano music in the 2002 film The Pianist, also appearing as the hand double.
2024 — Paul White, Baron Hanningfield, British life peer (born 1940) ↗(2 years ago)more
Paul Edward Winston White, Baron Hanningfield,, was a British politician and farmer. As a member of the Conservative Party, he served in various leadership roles in local government in Essex and was influential in establishing the Local Government Association.
Numerical & calendrical curiosities
| Day-of-year (294) | 2 × 3 × 7^2 · composite (no) |
|---|---|
| Days remaining (72) | 2^3 × 3^2 |
| Date code DDMMYYYY | 20102026 · no palindrome in next 200 years |
| Sun declination | -11.75° (Cooper approximation) |
| Distance from solstice | 61 days |