Famous Events For March 20 – Today In History

March 20: Today in History – Historical Events

Early Centuries – March 20  Historic Events – Before the 1700s

1. 20^th March 1602: The United Dutch East India Company (V O C) was formed today.
2. 20^th March 1616: Walter Raleigh was released today from the Tower of London to seek gold in Guyana.
3. 20^th March 1627: France and Spain today signed an accord to fight Protestantism.
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   18th Century – What Happened on March 20 – The 1700s

4. 20^th March 1739: Nadir Shah of Persia occupied Delhi, in India today and took possession of the Peacock Throne.
5. 20^th March 1760: The great fire destroyed 349 buildings in Boston.
6. 20^th March 1792: The use of the guillotine in France was today approved by the Legislative Assembly in Paris.
   

   19th Century – March 20 This Day That Year – The 1800s

7. 20^th March 1816: The US Supreme Court today affirmed its right to review state court decisions.
8. 20^th March 1852: Today marks the publication of the book “Uncle Tom’s Cabin” by Harriet Beecher Stowe, subtitled “Life Among the Lowly”.
9. 20^th March 1865: A plan to abduct President Abraham Lincoln, by John Wilkes Booth failed when Lincoln changed his plan and did not appear at the Soldier’s Home near Washington D.C.
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10. 20^th March 1883: The Unity treaty was signed in Paris today. This was aimed at protecting industrial property.
11. 20^th March 1886: The first alternating current power plant in the US began commercial operation today.
12. 20^th March 1890: The General Federation of Women’s Club was founded today.
13. 20^th March 1891: The first computing scale company was incorporated today in Dayton, OH.
14. 20^th March 1896: With a view of protecting US citizens in the wake of revolution US Marines landed today in Nicaragua.
15. 20^th March 1897: In New York today the first US Orthodox Jewish Rabbinical Seminary was incorporated.
16. 20^th March 1899: Martha M. Place, sentenced to death for the murder of her stepdaughter, became the first female prisoner to be executed in the electric chair at the Sing Sing prison.
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    20th Century – Important Events On This Day March 20th – The 1900s

17. 20^th March 1900: It was announced today that the European powers had agreed to keep doors open for trade with China.
18. 20^th March 1902: The Anglo-Japanese alliance was today acknowledged by France and Russia. They asserted their right to protect their interest in China and Korea.
19. 20^th March 1903: The paintings of Henry Matisse were today shown at the “Salon des Independents” in Paris.
20. 20^th March 1906: There was a mutiny of army officers at Sevastopol in Russia.
21. 20^th March 1911: The National Squash Tennis Association was today formed in New York City.
22. 20^th March 1915: The Champagne offensive on the western front was today called off by the French.
23. 20^th March 1918: American aid was today asked by the Bolsheviks of the Soviet Union to rebuild their army.

24. 20^th March 1922: The US troops were today ordered back from Rhineland by President Warner G. Harding of the US.
25. 20^th March 1922: The first aircraft carrier for the US Navy, the USS Langley was commissioned today.
26. 20^th March 1922: The US Post Master General, Hubert Work, today ordered that all homes must have mailboxes, else relinquish delivery of mail.
27. 20^th March 1933: Various European countries were discussing a new peace plan which leaders like Prime Minister Benito Mussolini of Italy and Prime Minister Ramsay Mac Donald of Great Britain were facilitating.
28. 20^th March 1933: The first German concentration camp at Dachau was completed today.
29. 20^th March 1934: In Kiel Germany, Rudolf Kuhnold today gave a demonstration of the radar.
30. 20^th March 1935: The American radio show “Your Hit Parade” debuted on the American airwaves today. It opened up opportunities for the most successful singers in the American Music Industry.
31. 20^th March 1940: An all-night air raid was conducted by the British Royal Air Force on the Nazi air base at Sylt, Germany.
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32. 20^th March 1943: Field Marshall Erwin Rommel’s forces were today attacked by the Allied forces.
33. 20^th March 1945: The British today liberated Mandalay in Burma from Japanese occupancy. Japan had in 1942 captured Mandalay.
34. 20^th March 1947: In the South Atlantic a blue whale weighing 180 metric tons was caught today.
35. 20^th March 1948: An Australian company that was hiring workers put up an advertisement today that it is willing to pay up to $32.00 to each employee that referred workers to the company (upon hire).
36. 20^th March 1952: The treaty with Japan was today ratified by the US Senate.
37. 20^th March 1954: The first newspaper vending machine was installed in Columbia, Pennsylvania.
38. 20^th March 1955: In Japan two Americans were held for involuntary manslaughter after a girl was shot. They were however acquitted later as the situation was ruled an accident.
39. 20^th March 1956: Tunisia today gained independence from France.
40. 20^th March 1956: U.S.S.R performs nuclear test.
41. 20^th March 1956: The 156-day strike in Westinghouse Electric Corporation, ended today.
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42. 20^th March 1956: Today Mount Benzymianny on the Kamchatka Peninsula in the USSR exploded.
43. 20^th March 1957: Britain accepts NATO’s offer to mediate peace in Cyprus, but Greece rejects it.
44. 20^th March 1963: The “Pop Art” exhibit began today in New York City.
45. 20^th March 1963: The US Air Force planned to use chute-less parachutes. Assault troops would soon be exiting aircraft without parachutes fairly soon.
46. 20^th March 1964: The European Space Research Organization (ESRO) was established today.
47. 20^th March 1965: Today 4000 troops were ordered by US President Lyndon B Johnson, for the protection of the Selma-Montgomery civil rights marchers.
48. 20^th March 1966: The World Cup which was kept on display in Westminster Hall in London, before the start of the World Cup. It was found a week later in a South London garden. It was lying in the garden, wrapped in a newspaper.
49. 20^th March 1969: US Senator Edward Kennedy called on the US today to close all bases in Taiwan.
50. 20^th March 1969: US President Richard Nixon today proclaimed that he would end the Vietnam War in 1970.
51. 20^th March 1972: During an Avalanche, 19 mountaineers were killed on Mount Fuji in Japan.
52. 20^th March 1974: There was an attempt to kidnap Prince Ann and her husband Captain Mark Phillips as they were returning to Buckingham Palace. They escaped the kidnap attempt.
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53. 20^th March 1976: For her role in the hold-up in San Francisco Bank, Patricia Hearst was convicted today.
54. 20^th March 1977: The municipal elections in France were won by Communists/Socialists.
55. 20^th March 1977: Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India lost the general elections.
56. 20^th March 1980: The US today made an appeal to the International Court regarding the American hostages in Iran.
57. 20^th March 1981: Isabel Peron, the ex-president of Argentina was today sentenced to eight years in a convent.
58. 20^th March 1982: France performed a nuclear test today.
59. 20^th March 1982: The US scientists who were on an expedition to Antarctica, returned today with the fossils of the first land mammals found there.
60. 20^th March 1984: The US Senate today rejected an amendment to permit spoken prayer in public schools.
61. 20^th March 1985: Avon representatives today received a salary for the first time in 99 years. Till now they were only paid commissions.
62. 20^th March 1986: The first lesbian and gay rights legislation was passed by New York City.
63. 20^th March 1987: The US Food and Drug Administration today approved AZT, a drug that was proven to slow the progress of AIDS.

64. 20^th March 1987: NASA today launched Palapa B2P.
65. 20^th March 1988: In the Eritrean War of Independence the Peoples Liberation, after defeating the Nadew Command enters the town of Afabet, Victoriously concluding the battle of Afabet.
66. 20^th March 1989: Two policemen were today killed in Belfast for which the IRA claimed responsibility.
67. 20^th March 1989: The deputy director of the CIA, Robert M Gates was today replaced by Richard J Kerr.
68. 20^th March 1990: Namibia today became independent, ending 75 years of South African rule.
69. 20^th March 1990: To quell ethnic riots that had broken in Rumania, tanks were sent to the town of Tirgu Mures.
70. 20^th March 1991: Pop singer Michael Jackson today signed a $65 million deal with Sony Records for 6 albums.
71. 20^th March 1991: An American Jet fighter shot down an Iraqi SU-22 which was operating after an unofficial cease-fire agreement was made.
72. 20^th March 1991: The US Supreme Court today unanimously ruled that employers could not exclude women from jobs where exposure to toxic chemicals could damage the fetus.
73. 20^th March 1991: The US today wrote off the $ 2 million loan to Poland.
74. 20^th March 1992: Panama’s General and dictator Manual Noriega’s wife Falicidad was arrested for stealing buttons from dresses.
75. 20^th March 1993: An Irish Republican Army bomb was detonated today in Warrington. Two boys, one three-year-old and the other 12 years old were killed.
76. 20^th March 1993: Emergency rule was declared by Russian President Boris Yeltsin. He set a referendum on whether people wanted the hard-line Congress to govern or they trusted him.

77. 20^th March 1994: El Salvador holds its first Presidential election followed by a 12-year civil war.
78. 20^th March 1995: In Tokyo, packages containing nerve gas were released in separate subway trains by terrorists belonging to the doomsday cult. Twelve people were killed and over 5,500 were taken ill.
79. 20^th March 1995: In pursuit of the separatist rebels of the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), 35,000 Turkish troops crossed the northern border of Iraq.
80. 20^th March 1996: It was announced in the UK that humans can catch the Mad Cow Disease (MCD).
81. 20^th March 1996: Eric and Lyle Menendez, in Los Angeles, were found guilty of first-degree murder in the killing of their parents.
82. 20^th March 1998: The Indian government today pledged to “excise the option to induct nuclear weapons”.
83. 20^th March 1999: The Earth was circumnavigated for the first time in a hot air balloon by Bertrand Piccard and Brian Jones. The non-stop trip began on 3^rd March and covered a distance of 26,500 miles.
    

    21st Century – March 20 This Day In History – The 2000s

84. 20^th March 2000: Pope John Paul II visited the Holy Land-Jordan, Israel, and Palestine.
85. 20^th March 2001: The world’s largest oil rig, Petrobras 36 Oil Platform sank with 400,000 US gallons of fuel and crude oil on board, after suffering three explosions on March 15^th.
86. 20^th March 2003: The British and American forces today invaded Iraq from Kuwait.
87. 20^th March 2003: It was today announced by Cisco Systems Incorporated that it was buying The Linksys Group Inc. for $ 50 million in stock.
88. 20^th March 2003: American missiles today hit the Iraqi capital Bagdad signaling the US-led campaign to unseat Saddam Hussein.
89. 20^th March 2004: Stephen Harper was today elected leader of the newly elected Conservative Party of Canada to become its first leader.
90. 20^th March 2005: An earthquake of magnitude 6.6 struck Fukuoka in Japan. This was Japan’s first major earthquake in over 100 years. One person was killed and hundreds were injured and evacuated.

91. 20^th March 2006: In Eastern Chad, members of the rebel UFDC, a rebel movement that sought to overthrow Chadian President Idriss Deby, killed about 150 Chadian soldiers.
92. 20^th March 2010: At the 56^th National Film Awards in India, the film “Antaheen” won the Golden Lotus.
93. 20^th March 2010: Nepal declares a national day of mourning in honor of Girija Prasad Koirala an elder statesman of South Asia who died at the age of 86 in Katmandu.
94. 20^th March 2012: There was a wave of terror attacks across ten cities in Iraq which killed 50 and injured 240.
95. 20^th March 2012: A massive earthquake of magnitude 7.4 struck near the border states of Guerrero and Oaxaca.
96. 20^th March 2013: Zillur Rahman, the President of Bangladesh, died in office, after a long illness at a hospital in Singapore. He was 84.
97. 20^th March 2013: Pierre Deligne won the 2013 Abel Prize in mathematics.
98. 20^th March 2014: The increase in Asian demand for Champagne will represent increased export growth. Japan is currently the fourth largest export market behind the U.K., the U.S., and Germany.
99. 20^th March 2015: Aducanumab, a new drug to treat Alzheimer’s was developed by Biogen. The drug has shown success in reducing the rate of mental impairment in trials.
100. 20^th March 2016: American President Barack Obama arrived in Cuba for a 2-day tour. He became the first US president to visit Cuba since 1928.

See Also:

• Famous People Born Today – March 20
• Famous People Who Died On March 20
• March 20 Famous Birthdays
• March 20 Birthday Personality Traits
• March Birthday Astrology