On this day: 20 May

Selected events and births on 20 May, from Wikipedia’s “On this day”.

Events

• 325 – The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened by Constantine the Great. Read more: First Council of Nicaea Ecumenical council Christianity
• 1515 – Ulysses, who would be famously depicted in a posthumous woodcut, landed in Lisbon, becoming the first of his species to visit Europe in a thousand years. Read more: Dürer's Rhinoceros
• 1609 – Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's sonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's consent. Read more: Thomas Thorpe Shakespeare's sonnets William Shakespeare
• 1714 – J. S. Bach led the first performance of his Pentecost cantata Erschallet, ihr Lieder at the chapel of Schloss Weimar. Read more: Johann Sebastian Bach Pentecost Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172
• 1875 – Representatives from seventeen countries signed the Metre Convention, which set up an institute for the purpose of coordinating international metrology and for coordinating the development of the metric system. Read more: Metre Convention Metrology Metric system
• 1927 – With the signing of the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of Ibn Saud over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia. Read more: Treaty of Jeddah (1927) Ibn Saud Hejaz
• 1943 – The Luttra Woman (skull pictured), a bog body from the Early Neolithic period, was discovered near Luttra, Sweden. Read more: Luttra Woman Bog body Neolithic
• 1947 – The first session of the National Diet opened in Tokyo, Japan. Read more: National Diet
• 1983 – A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier published their discovery of HIV, but were not then certain that it caused AIDS. Read more: Virology Luc Montagnier HIV
• 1993 – "One for the Road", the series finale of American television sitcom Cheers, was watched by 42.4 million American households on its original airing. Read more: One for the Road (Cheers) Cheers

Born on this day

• 1932 – Dieter Rams, German industrial designer Read more: Dieter Rams Industrial design Designer
• 1941 – Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore Read more: Goh Chok Tong Prime Minister of Singapore
• 1942 – Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States Read more: Raymond Chrétien List of ambassadors of Canada to the United States
• 1952 – Michael Wills, English politician, British Minister of Justice Read more: Michael Wills Ministry of Justice (United Kingdom)
• 1953 – Robert Doyle, Australian educator and politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne Read more: Robert Doyle List of mayors and lord mayors of Melbourne
• 1954 – David Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of New York Read more: David Paterson Governor of New York
• 1957 – Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan Read more: Yoshihiko Noda Prime Minister of Japan
• 1964 – Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs Read more: Kōichirō Genba Minister for Foreign Affairs (Japan)
• 1979 – Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 28th Leader of the Conservative Party of Canada Read more: Andrew Scheer List of Canadian conservative leaders
• 1998 – Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver Read more: Jamie Chadwick
• 1998 – Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater Read more: Nam Nguyen
• 2012 – Doug the Pug, American celebrity dog Read more: Doug the Pug

Text from Wikipedia: Selected anniversaries / May 20 and the linked articles, via the Wikimedia “On this day” feed, under CC BY-SA 4.0. We leave out entries about wars, violence and disasters to keep this page family-friendly.