Portal:United States/On this day/February 20
On this day for the United States
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Events
- 1792 - The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
- 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
- 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco.
- 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
- 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the U.S. Congress to build the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge.
- 1933 - The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution, which would end Prohibition in the United States.
- 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
- 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
- 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" ended with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
- 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- 1952 - Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
- 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.
- 1965 - Ranger 8 crashes into the Moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
- 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, in the USA, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
- 1998 - American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
Births
- 1839 - Benjamin Waugh, American minister; founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
- 1848 - Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
- 1893 - Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
- 1898 - Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (d. 1951)
- 1899 - Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (d. 1992)
- 1902 - Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
- 1906 - Gale Gordon, American television and radio actor (d. 1995)
- 1907 - Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, American socialite and clothing designer
- 1925 - Robert Altman, American film director (d. 2006)
- 1926 - Richard Matheson, American author
- 1927 - Roy Cohn, American lawyer (d. 1986)
- 1927 - Sidney Poitier, American actor
- 1929 - Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
- 1934 - Bobby Unser, American racing driver
- 1936 - Marj Dusay, American actress
- 1936 - Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1937 - Roger Penske, American racing driver, race team owner and entrepreneur
- 1937 - Nancy Wilson, American singer
- 1938 - Richard Beymer, American actor
- 1942 - Mitch McConnell, American politician
- 1945 - Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
- 1946 - Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
- 1946 - J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
- 1947 - Peter Strauss, American actor
- 1950 - Walter Becker, American guitarist (Steely Dan)
- 1951 - Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
- 1951 - Randy California, American guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)
- 1953 - Poison Ivy, American musician (The Cramps)
- 1954 - Jon Brant, American musician (Cheap Trick)
- 1954 - Patty Hearst, American socialite
- 1957 - Charlie Adler, American voice actor
- 1959 - Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
- 1960 - Joel Hodgson, American comedian (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
- 1962 - Kenn Nesbitt, American children's author
- 1963 - Charles Barkley, American basketball player
- 1963 - Jon Lynn Christensen, former Nebraska Congressman
- 1964 - French Stewart, American actor
- 1966 - Cindy Crawford, American model
- 1967 - Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)
- 1967 - Katherine Soucie, American voice actress
- 1967 - Andrew Shue, American television actor
- 1967 - Lili Taylor, American actress
- 1969 - Vaginal Davis, American drag queen and performance artist
- 1971 - Shawn McKenzie, American programmer
- 1975 - Brian Littrell, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
- 1977 - Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
- 1977 - T. J. Slaughter, American football player
- 1978 - Lauren Ambrose, American actress
- 1978 - Jay Hernandez, American actor
- 1981 - Chris Thile, American musician
- 1982 - Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
- 1983 - Justin Verlander, American baseball player
- 1985 - Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
Deaths
- 1806 - Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (b. 1725)
- 1893 - P. G. T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (b. 1818)
- 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer (b. 1818)
- 1905 - Jeremiah W. Farnham, American merchant captain
- 1920 - Robert Peary, American explorer (b. 1856)
- 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
- 1970 - Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
- 1972 - Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
- 1976 - Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist (b. 1907)
- 1985 - Clarence "Ducky" Nash, American voice actor (b. 1904)
- 1992 - Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
- 1996 - Solomon Asch, American psychologist (b. 1907)
- 1997 - Zachary Breaux, American jazz guitarist (b. 1960)
- 1999 - Gene Siskel, American film critic (b. 1946)
- 2001 - Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
- 2003 - Orville Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
- 2003 - Harry Jacunski, American football player
- 2003 - Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White) (b. 1971)
- 2005 - Pam Bricker, American jazz singer and Thievery Corporation vocalist (b. 1954)
- 2005 - Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1944)
- 2005 - John Raitt, American actor (b. 1917)
- 2005 - Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
- 2006 - Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
- 2007 - F. Albert Cotton, American chemist (b. 1930)