September 20 in History

Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.

At least 161 people die after a ferry capsizes close to the pier on Ukara Island in Lake Victoria, Tanzania.

Hurricane Maria makes landfall in Puerto Rico as a powerful Category 4 hurricane, resulting in 2,975 deaths, US$90 billion in damage, and a major humanitarian crisis.

The United States military ends its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.

A dump truck full of explosives detonates in front of the Marriott hotel in Islamabad, Pakistan, killing 54 people and injuring 266 others.

Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate.

Civil unrest in the Maldives breaks out after a prisoner is killed by guards.

In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror".

The United Kingdom's MI6 Secret Intelligence Service building is attacked by individuals using a Russian-built RPG-22 anti-tank missile.

South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia.

USAir Flight 5050 crashes into Bowery Bay during a rejected takeoff from LaGuardia Airport, killing two people.

A suicide bomber in a car attacks the U.S. embassy in Beirut, Lebanon, killing twenty-two people.

NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike.

A French-supported coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.

Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.

Billie Jean King beats Bobby Riggs in the Battle of the Sexes tennis match at the Houston Astrodome.

Singer Jim Croce, songwriter and musician Maury Muehleisen and four others die when their light aircraft crashes shortly after takeoff from Natchitoches Regional Airport in Louisiana.

Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific.

The Cunard Liner Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched in Clydebank, Scotland.

Following the Battle of Burki, the Indian Army captures Dograi in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.

Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

The Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR is signed.

The Moomin comics, created by Tove Jansson and Lars Jansson, is published internationally in the London newspaper The Evening News.

The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed for seven years due to World War II.

Six days after a referendum, King Christian X of Denmark annuls the declaration of independence of the Faroe Islands.

The Holocaust in Lithuania: Lithuanian Nazis and local police begin a mass execution of 403 Jews in Nemenčinė.

Irish War of Independence: British police known as "Black and Tans" burn the town of Balbriggan and kill two local men in revenge for an IRA assassination.

The White Star Line's RMS Olympic collides with the British warship HMS Hawke.

Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.

U.S. President Chester A. Arthur is sworn in upon the death of James A. Garfield the previous day.

Bishop John Coleridge Patteson, first bishop of Melanesia, is martyred on Nukapu, now in the Solomon Islands.

The Bersaglieri corps enter Rome through the Porta Pia, and complete the unification of Italy.

American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, ends in a Confederate victory.

The future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom begins the first visit to North America by a Prince of Wales.

The Indian Rebellion of 1857 ends with the recapture of Delhi by troops loyal to the East India Company.

Crimean War: British and French troops defeat Russians at the Battle of Alma.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.

The decade-long Ragamuffin War starts when rebels capture Porto Alegre in Brazil.

French troops stop an allied invasion of France at the Battle of Valmy.

The Walking Purchase concludes, which forces the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,900 km2) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.

The Treaty of Ryswick is signed by France, England, Spain, the Holy Roman Empire and the Dutch Republic, ending the Nine Years' War.

The Spanish-held Dutch town of Grave capitulates to a besieging Dutch and English army under the command of Maurice of Orange.

A number of conspirators in the Babington Plot are hanged, drawn and quartered.

Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition which ultimately culminates in the first circumnavigation of the globe.

The Nankai tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kōtoku-in; it has been located outside ever since.

Cardinal Robert of Geneva is elected as Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism.

The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.

Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.

At the Battle of Fulford, Harald Hardrada defeats earls Morcar and Edwin.

Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.

Thomas Matthew Crooks, American attempted assassin of Donald Trump (died 2024)

Trevon Diggs, American football player

Itamar Einhorn, Israeli Olympic cyclist

Ioana Loredana Roșca, Romanian tennis player

Laura Dekker, Dutch sailor

Sammi Hanratty, American actress

Rob Holding, English footballer

Ryan Hartman, American ice hockey player

Kyle Anderson, American-Chinese basketball player

Julian Draxler, German footballer

Michał Żyro, Polish footballer

Isaac Cofie, Ghanaian footballer

Ken Giles, American baseball player

Carlos Hyde, American football player

Donatas Motiejūnas, Lithuanian basketball player

Phillip Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

John Tavares, Canadian ice hockey player

Sergei Bobrovsky, Russian ice hockey player

Coby Fleener, American football player

Khabib Nurmagomedov, Russian mixed martial artist

Ayano Ōmoto, Japanese singer and dancer

Ryan Simpkins, Australian rugby league player

Gain, South Korean singer

Jack Lawless, American drummer

Tito Tebaldi, Italian rugby player

Hayato Fujita, Japanese wrestler

Aldis Hodge, American actor

İbrahim Kaş, Turkish footballer

Jason Nightingale, New Zealand rugby league player

A. J. Ramos, American baseball player

Ian Desmond, American baseball player

Mami Yamasaki, Japanese model and actress

Brian Joubert, French figure skater

Sancho Lyttle, Vincentian-Spanish basketball player

Freya Ross, Scottish runner

Ángel Sánchez, Puerto Rican baseball player

Jason Bacashihua, American ice hockey player

Aaron Burkart, German race car driver

Brian Fortuna, American dancer and choreographer

Inna Osypenko-Radomska, Ukrainian-Azerbaijani sprint kayaker

Sexy Star, Mexican wrestler

Athanasios Tsigas, Greek footballer

Feliciano López, Spanish tennis player

David McMillan, American football player (died 2013)

Ryan Tandy, Australian rugby league player (died 2014)

Jordan Tata, American baseball player

Yung Joc, American rapper

Vladimir Karpets, Russian cyclist

Crystle Stewart, American actress and beauty queen

Jason Bay, Canadian-American baseball player

Patrizio Buanne, Austrian-Italian singer-songwriter and producer

Héctor Camacho Jr., Puerto Rican-American boxer

Dante Hall, American football player

Sarit Hadad, Israeli singer

Scott Minto, Australian rugby league player

Charlie Weber, American actor

The-Dream, American singer, songwriter, and producer

Chris Mooney, American journalist and academic

Jon Bernthal, American actor

Ainsley Earhardt, American political commentator

Asia Argento, Italian actress

Moon Bloodgood, American actress

Joel Gertner, American wrestling announcer

Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombian race car driver

Jason Robinson, American saxophonist and composer

Ronald McKinnon, American football player

Jo Pavey, English runner

Enuka Okuma, Canadian actress

Victor Ponta, Romanian jurist and politician, 63rd Prime Minister of Romania

Todd Blackadder, New Zealand rugby player and coach

Masashi Hamauzu, Japanese pianist and composer

Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer and manager

Dominika Peczynski, Swedish singer and television host

N'Bushe Wright, American actress and dancer

Patrick Pentland, Irish-Canadian singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer

Tim Rogers, Australian singer-songwriter and guitarist

Ben Shepherd, American musician and songwriter

Richard Witschge, Dutch footballer and coach

Ijaz Ahmed, Pakistani cricketer and coach

Philippa Forrester, English television and radio presenter, producer and author

Leah Pinsent, Canadian actress

Darrell Russell, American race car driver (died 2004)

Norah Vincent, American writer (died 2022)

Roger Anderson, American wrestler

Martin Harrison, American football player

Kristen Johnston, American actress

Gunnar Nelson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Matthew Nelson, American singer-songwriter and bass player

Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese singer-songwriter and guitarist

Poul-Erik Høyer Larsen, Danish badminton player

Randy Bradbury, American bass player

Anil Dalpat, Pakistani cricketer

Jim Al-Khalili, Iraqi-English physicist, author, and academic

Lisa Bloom, American lawyer and journalist

Caroline Flint, English politician, Minister of State for Europe

Erwin Koeman, Dutch retired football player and coach

Lee Hall, English playwright and screenwriter

Dave Hemingway, English singer-songwriter and drummer

Deborah Roberts, American journalist

Joseph Alessi, American trombonist and educator

Joanna Domańska, Polish pianist and educator

Meral Okay, Turkish actress, producer, and screenwriter (died 2012)

Arn Anderson, American wrestler and trainer

Alannah Currie, New Zealand singer-songwriter

Michael Hurst, New Zealand actor and director

Vladimir Tkatchenko, Russian basketball player

Jennifer Tour Chayes, American mathematician and computer scientist

Gary Cole, American actor

Steve Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader

John Harle, English saxophonist, composer, conductor, and producer

Betsy Brantley, American actress

Johnny Kidd, English wrestler

Haim Moshe, Israeli singer

José Rivero, Spanish golfer

Anne McIntosh, Scottish lawyer and politician

Henry Samueli, American businessman, co-founded Broadcom Corporation

Rocky Mattioli, Italian-Australian boxer

Steve Tom, American actor

Guy Lafleur, Canadian ice hockey player (died 2022)

Javier Marías, Spanish journalist, author, and academic (died 2022)

Debbi Morgan, American actress

Greg Valentine, American wrestler

Loredana Bertè, Italian singer

Matt Blair, American football player (died 2020)

Mahesh Bhatt, Indian director, producer, and screenwriter

Anthony Denison, American actor

Rey Langit, Filipino journalist and radio host

Victoria Mallory, American singer and actress (died 2014)

George R. R. Martin, American novelist and short story writer

Chuck Panozzo, American bass player

John Panozzo, American drummer (died 1996)

Mia Martini, Italian singer (died 1995)

Patrick Poivre d'Arvor, French journalist and author

Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, Spiritual Master, Head of Science of Spirituality

Pete Coors, American businessman and politician

Markandey Katju, Indian lawyer and judge

Paul Madeley, English footballer (died 2018)

Rose Francine Rogombé, Gabonese lawyer and politician, President of Gabon (died 2015)

Dale Chihuly, American sculptor and educator

Sammy McMillan, Irish footballer

Tarō Asō, Japanese target shooter and politician, 92nd Prime Minister of Japan

William Finley, American actor (died 2012)

Anna Pavord, Welsh-English journalist and author

Eric Gale, American guitarist and producer (died 1994)

Jane Manning, English soprano and educator (died 2021)

Birgitta Dahl, Swedish politician, Swedish Minister for the Environment

Garry Johnson, English general

Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (died 2005)

Andrew Davies, Welsh author, screenwriter, and producer

Salvador Reyes Monteón, Mexican footballer and manager (died 2012)

David Pegg, English footballer (died 1958)

Keith Roberts, English author and illustrator (died 2000)

Jim Taylor, American football player and sportscaster (died 2018)

Hamit Kaplan, Turkish World and Olympic champion sports wrestler (died 1976)

Sophia Loren, Italian actress

David Marquand, Welsh academic and politician (died 2024)

Jeff Morris, American actor (died 2004)

Rajinder Puri, Indian cartoonist, journalist, and activist (died 2015)

Dennis Viollet, English footballer and manager (died 1999)

Cherd Songsri, Thai director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2006)

Richard Montague, American mathematician and philosopher (died 1971)

Anne Meara, American actress and playwright (died 2015)

Vittorio Taviani, Italian film director and screenwriter (died 2018)

Joe Temperley, Scottish saxophonist and clarinet player (died 2016)

Alberto de Lacerda, Mozambican-Portuguese poet and radio host (died 2007)

Olga Ferri, Argentinian dancer and choreographer (died 2012)

Donald Hall, American poet, editor, and critic (died 2018)

Juarez Teixeira, Brazilian footballer (died 2026)

Colette Bonheur, Canadian singer (died 1966)

John Dankworth, English saxophonist, clarinet player, and composer (died 2010)

Red Mitchell, American bassist, composer, and poet (died 1992)

Rachel Roberts, Welsh actress (died 1980)

Libero Liberati, Italian motorcycle racer (died 1962)

James Bernard, English composer and screenwriter (died 2001)

Ananda Mahidol, King Rama VIII of Thailand (died 1946)

Nelly Moretto, Argentine composer (died 1978)

Gogi Grant, American singer (died 2016)

Hartini, wife of President Sukarno of Indonesia (died 2002)

Albert Marre, American director, and producer (died 2012)

Jackie Paris, American singer and guitarist (died 2004)

Maurice Sauvé, Canadian economist, academic, and politician (died 1992)

Chico Hamilton, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (died 2013)

Jay Ward, American animator, producer, and screenwriter, founded Jay Ward Productions (died 1989)

Red Auerbach, American basketball player and coach (died 2006)

Olga Dahl, Swedish genealogist (died 2009)

Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (died 1994)

Clarice Taylor, American actress (died 2011)

Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer (died 1996)

Malik Meraj Khalid, Pakistani politician, Prime Minister of Pakistan (died 2003)

Kenneth More, English actor (died 1982)

Sidney Dillon Ripley, American ornithologist and academic (died 2001)

Dorothy Vaughan, American mathematician (died 2008)

Jean Dréville, French actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1997)

Vera Faddeeva, Russian mathematician (died 1983)

Stevie Smith, English author and poet (died 1971)

Leo Strauss, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (died 1973)

Walter Dubislav, German logician and philosopher of science (died 1937)

Colin Fraser Barron, Scottish-Canadian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (died 1958)

Hermann Lux, German footballer and manager (died 1962)

Tomás Garrido Canabal, Mexican revolutionary (died 1943)

Linda Eenpalu, Estonian activist and politician (died 1967)

Oskar Kaplur, Estonian wrestler (died 1962)

Charles Reidpath, American runner and general (died 1975)

Charles Williams, English author, poet, and critic (died 1945)

Enrico Mizzi, Maltese lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (died 1950)

Maxwell Perkins, American editor (died 1947)

Ildebrando Pizzetti, Italian composer, musicologist and critic (died 1968)

Upton Sinclair, American novelist, critic, and essayist (died 1968)

Francisco Lagos Cházaro, acting president of Mexico (died 1932)

Carleton Ellis, American inventor and chemist (died 1941)

Matthias Erzberger, German publicist and politician (died 1921)

Sidney Olcott, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (died 1949)

Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian race car driver (died 1944)

Maurice Gamelin, French general (died 1958)

Herbert Putnam, American lawyer and publisher, 8th Librarian of Congress (died 1955)

Chulalongkorn, Siamese king (died 1910)

Henry Arthur Jones, English playwright and critic (died 1929)

Susanna Rubinstein, Austrian psychologist (died 1914)

William H. Illingworth, English-American photographer (died 1893)

James Dewar, Scottish-English chemist and physicist (died 1923)

Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian soldier and journalist, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1918)

Kate Harrington, American poet and educator (died 1917)

John F. Reynolds, American general (died 1863)

Frederick Ellsworth Sickels, American inventor (died 1895)

Richard Dry, Australian politician, 7th Premier of Tasmania (died 1869)

Benjamin Franklin White, American singer and composer (died 1879)

Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian admiral, cartographer, and explorer (died 1852)

Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Haitian emperor (died 1806)

Maurice, Count de Benyovszky, Slovak-Hungarian explorer (died 1786)

Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, Italian violinist and composer (died 1751)

Mateo de Toro Zambrano, 1st Count of La Conquista, President of the First Government Junta of Chile (died 1811)

Martino Martini, Italian missionary, cartographer and historian (died 1661)

Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest and mystic, founder of the Society of Saint-Sulpice (died 1657)

Christian the Younger of Brunswick (died 1623)

Gottfried Scheidt, German organist and composer (died 1661)

Philipp IV, Count of Hanau-Lichtenberg (died 1590)

Philip III, Count of Nassau-Weilburg (died 1559)

Arthur, Prince of Wales (died 1502)

Philipp I, Count of Hanau-Münzenberg (died 1500)

Emperor Takakura of Japan (died 1181)

Kyunyeo, Korean poet (died 973)

Matt Beard, English football manager (born 1978)

Ibrahim Aqil, Hezbollah militant (born 1962)

Kathryn Crosby, American actress and singer (born 1933)

Daniel J. Evans, American politician, 16th Governor of Washington (born 1925)

Sayuri, Japanese musician (born 1996)

Cleo Sylvestre, English actress (born 1945)

Eduardo Xol, American designer and author (born 1966)

Maddy Cusack, English football player (born 1995)

Curtis Hanson, American film director and screenwriter (born 1945)

Peter Leo Gerety, American bishop (born 1912)

Mario Caiano, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1933)

Jagmohan Dalmiya, Indian businessman (born 1940)

Jack Larson, American actor (born 1928)

Anatoly Berezovoy, Russian colonel, pilot, and cosmonaut (born 1942)

Polly Bergen, American actress and singer (born 1930)

Takako Doi, Japanese scholar and politician (born 1928)

George Sluizer, French-Dutch director, producer, and screenwriter (born 1932)

James B. Vaught, American general (born 1926)

Gilles Verlant, Belgian journalist and critic (born 1957)

Fortunato Baldelli, Italian cardinal (born 1935)

Richard H. Cracroft, American author and academic (born 1936)

Tereska Torrès, French soldier and author (born 1920)

Oscar Handlin, American historian and author (born 1915)

Burhanuddin Rabbani, Afghan academic and politician, 10th President of Afghanistan (born 1940)

Leonard Skinner, American soldier and educator (born 1933)

Johnny Gavin, Irish footballer (born 1928)

Armin Jordan, Swiss conductor (born 1932)

Sven Nykvist, Swedish director, producer, and cinematographer (born 1922)

John W. Peterson, American pilot and songwriter (born 1921)

Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian human rights activist, Holocaust survivor (born 1908)

Brian Clough, English footballer and manager (born 1935)

Townsend Hoopes, American soldier and historian (born 1922)

Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwean politician, 1st Vice-President of Zimbabwe (born 1922)

Gareth Williams, Baron Williams of Mostyn, Welsh lawyer and politician, Lord President of the Council (born 1941)

Sergei Bodrov Jr., Russian actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1971)

Gherman Titov, Russian general, pilot, and astronaut (born 1935)

Robert Lebel, Canadian businessman (born 1905)

Paul Erdős, Hungarian-Polish mathematician and academic (born 1913)

Reuben Kamanga, Zambian politician, 1st Vice-President of Zambia (born 1929)

Paul Weston, American pianist, composer, and conductor (born 1912)

Abioseh Nicol, Sierra Leonean physician, academic, and diplomat (born 1924)

Jule Styne, American composer (born 1905)

Erich Hartmann, German soldier and pilot (born 1922)

Michael Stewart, American playwright and composer (born 1924)

Steve Goodman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1948)

Ludvík Svoboda, Czech general and politician, 8th President of Czechoslovakia (born 1895)

Saint-John Perse, French poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1887)

Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1943)

Pierre-Henri Simon, French historian and author (born 1903)

Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet and diplomat, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1900)

James Westerfield, American actor (born 1913)

Alexandros Othonaios, Greek general and politician, 126h Prime Minister of Greece (born 1879)

Heino Kaski, Finnish pianist and composer (born 1885)

Jean Sibelius, Finnish violinist and composer (born 1865)

Fiorello H. La Guardia, American lawyer and politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (born 1882)

Jantina Tammes, Dutch biologist, geneticist, and academic (born 1871)

Augusto Tasso Fragoso, Brazilian politician, President of Brazil (born 1869)

William Seabrook, American occultist, journalist, and explorer (born 1884)

Eduard Wirths, German physician (born 1909)

Kārlis Ulmanis, Latvian prime minister and president (born 1877)

Paul Bruchési, Canadian archbishop (born 1855)

Annie Besant, English theosophist and activist (born 1847)

Francisco S. Carvajal, Mexican lawyer and politician, president 1914 (born 1870)

Gombojab Tsybikov, Russian anthropologist and explorer (born 1873)

George Nichols, American actor, director, and screenwriter (born 1864)

Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (born 1844)

Robert R. Hitt, American politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (born 1834)

Theodor Fontane, German author and poet (born 1819)

Leopold Fitzinger, Austrian zoologist and author (born 1802)

Jacob Grimm, German philologist and mythologist (born 1785)

José Trinidad Reyes, Honduran priest and educator (born 1797)

Philander Chase, American bishop and educator, founded Kenyon College (born 1775)

Matvei Gedenschtrom, Russian explorer and public servant (born 1780)

José Gaspar Rodríguez de Francia, Paraguayan lawyer and politician, Consul of Paraguay (born 1766)

Sir Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, English admiral (born 1769)

Nicolas Desmarest, French geologist and scholar (born 1725)

Robert Emmet, Irish republican (born 1780)

Fletcher Christian, English lieutenant and mutineer (born 1764)

Francis Scobell, English politician (born 1664)

Kim Seok-ju, Korean scholar and politician (born 1634)

Lucius Cary, 2nd Viscount Falkland, English soldier and politician, Secretary of State for England (born 1610)

Johannes Meursius, Dutch historian and scholar (born 1579)

Jan Gruter, Dutch scholar and critic (born 1560)

Heinrich Meibom, German historian and poet (born 1555)

Lodovico Agostini, Italian priest, composer, and scholar (born 1534)

Sir Anthony Babington, English Catholic conspirator (born 1561)

Chidiock Tichborne, English conspirator and poet (born 1558)

Cipriano de Rore, Flemish composer and teacher (born 1515)

Pavle Bakić, medieval Serb monarch; last Serb Despot

Veit Stoss, German sculptor (born c. 1447)

Agostino Barbarigo, Doge of Venice

Thomas Grey, 1st Marquess of Dorset, stepson of Edward IV of England (born 1457)

Anne Neville, Countess of Warwick (born 1426)

Gilles Binchois, Flemish composer (born 1400)

Frederick I, Elector of Brandenburg (born 1371)

Louis I, Duke of Anjou (born 1339)

Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian theologian and scholar (born 1263)

Jan Prandota, Bishop of Kraków

Michael of Chernigov (born 1185)

Conrad II of Salzwedel, German nobleman and bishop

Adelog of Hildesheim, German bishop

Hermann II, Count Palatine of Lotharingia (born 1049)

Gozbald, bishop of Würzburg