On this day: 20 October

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

Events

• 1740 – Under the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa ascended the Habsburg throne. Read more: Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 Maria Theresa Habsburg monarchy
• 1939 – Pope Pius XII published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which critiqued ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism. Read more: Pope Pius XII Encyclical Summi Pontificatus
• 1967 – Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest in California. Read more: Patterson–Gimlin film Bigfoot Six Rivers National Forest
• 1969 – Experimental results from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were published showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks. Read more: SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory Proton Quark
• 1973 – Watergate scandal: Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned after refusing to obey President Richard Nixon's order to have Archibald Cox fired. Read more: Watergate scandal Elliot Richardson William Ruckelshaus
• 2022 – Protests broke out across Chad after President Mahamat Déby declared his intentions to extend his rule by another two years. Read more: 2022 Chadian protests Mahamat Déby
• 2024 – Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka were sworn in as president and vice president of Indonesia, becoming the oldest and the youngest person to assume respective offices. Read more: Prabowo Subianto Gibran Rakabuming Raka Inauguration of Prabowo Subianto

Born on this day

• 1942 – Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist and geneticist, Nobel Prize laureate Read more: Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1946 – Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian author and playwright, Nobel Prize laureate Read more: Elfriede Jelinek Nobel Prize in Literature
• 1948 – Piet Hein Donner, Dutch jurist and politician, Dutch Minister of Justice Read more: Piet Hein Donner Ministry of Justice and Security
• 1948 – Melih Gökçek, Turkish journalist and politician, Mayor of Ankara Read more: Melih Gökçek Mayor of Ankara
• 1957 – Hilda Solis, American academic and politician, 25th United States Secretary of Labor Read more: Hilda Solis United States Secretary of Labor
• 1963 – Julie Payette, Canadian engineer, astronaut, and 29th Governor General of Canada Read more: Julie Payette Governor General of Canada
• 1964 – Kamala Harris, American politician and lawyer, 49th Vice President of the United States Read more: Kamala Harris Vice President of the United States
• 1966 – Patrick Volkerding, American computer scientist and engineer, founded Slackware Read more: Patrick Volkerding Slackware
• 2000 – Kenneth Walker III, American football player Read more: Kenneth Walker III
• 2001 – Paige Bueckers, American basketball player Read more: Paige Bueckers
• 2002 – Yéremy Pino, Spanish footballer Read more: Yeremy Pino
• 2003 – Carney Chukwuemeka, English footballer Read more: Carney Chukwuemeka

Text from Wikipedia: Selected anniversaries / October 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.