/year

November 20 in history

231 sourced entries recorded on November 20, from 284 CE to 2025 CE. Every line is quoted from the revision it came from.

Events

  • 284The commander of Numerian's domestici (household troops), Diocles, is chosen to be the new emperor. In a military assembly outside Nicomedia (modern İzmit, Turkey), Diocles claims that the praetorian prefect (and rival for the throne) Arrius Aper murdered Numerian, and he personally stabs and kills the prefect on the spot. The new emperor changes his name to the Latinised 'Diocletian'. Building on existing trends, Diocletian presents his rule as that of a god-like dominus or autocrat.source
  • 303The Augusti Diocletian and Maximian reunite in Rome to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Diocletian's accession, which is now treated as a joint anniversary for both emperors. A series of columns in the Roman Forum and a triumphal arch are dedicated to the emperors. The two emperors also agree on a plan of abdication.source
  • 869Vikings conquer East Anglia, killing King Edmund the Martyr.source
  • 1202November 10–24 – Siege of Zara: The Crusaders under Boniface of Montferrat besiege and conquer Zara (modern-day Zadar) in Dalmatia. Despite letters from Innocent III forbidding such an action, and threatening excommunication. The leading citizens of Zara hang banners of crosses along the outer walls, professing their Catholic faith. Nevertheless, the Crusaders breach and sack the city, killing many.source
  • 1214A group of English nobles, after finding a copy of the Charter of Liberties, swear an oath at the altar of Bury St Edmunds, to force King John to acknowledge their rights.source
  • 1249Louis IX sets out (against the advice of his nobles) with a Crusader force from Damietta, along the southern road to Mansourah. A garrison is left to guard the city – where Queen Margaret of Provence and Patriarch Robert of Nantes remain. The Crusaders make slow progress along the Nile, carrying a number of supplies and equipment. After 32 days, Louis orders to make camp opposite the Ayyubid camp near Mansourah, protected by a branch of the river and fortifications. Both camps use their catapults to bombard each other.source
  • 1316Upon the death of the infant John I, Philip the Tall, eldest surviving brother of King Louis X of France, becomes King Philip Vsource
  • 1376Richard of Bordeaux, son of the Black Prince, is created Prince of Wales in succession to his father.source
  • 1393The conqueror Timur of the Timurid Empire in the Middle East begins the three-week siege of Takrit in what is now Iraq.source
  • 1407A solemn truce is agreed upon between John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Louis I, Duke of Orléans under the auspices of John, Duke of Berry.source
  • 1407A truce is agreed between the warring nobles John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy and Louis I, Duke of Orléanssource
  • 1441The Peace of Cremona (1441) ends the war between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan.source
  • 1449Karl Knutsson, reigning as King Karl VIII of Sweden, is crowned as King Karl I of Norway in a ceremony at Nidaros Cathedral in Trondheim.source
  • 1451Janos Hunyadi, Regent-Governor of the Kingdom of Hungary during the minority of the 11-year-old king, Ladislaus V, signs a 3-year truce with the Ottoman Empire.source
  • 1459In England, the "Parliament of Devils" (so called because it consists of Lancastrian supporters and Yorkist nobles are not invited) opens its session at Coventry in St Mary's Priory and Cathedral.source
  • 1468The Hanseatic warship Hanneke Vrome capsizes and sinks off of the coast of Finland, killing its estimated 180 passengers and crew, along with a valuable cargo including 10,000 Rheingulden coins, equivalent to at least 34,000 kg of gold. The ship had been sailing between the Hanseatic cities of Lübeck (in Germany) and Reval (now Tallinn, capital of Estonia) when it ran into a gale.source
  • 1473The Battle of Vodna Stream, near Râmnicu Sărat, ends after two days in what is now Romania, Stephen the Great, Prince of Moldavia, routs the army of Wallachia, commanded by Prince Radu the Handsome. Prince Radu then flees to Dâmbovița.source
  • 1490The first edition of the chivalric romance Tirant lo Blanch, by Joanot Martorell, is printed in Valencia.source
  • 1496King Henry VII of England summons the English Parliament to assemble starting on January 16.source
  • 1511The vessel Frol de la Mar, transporting Afonso de Albuquerque and the valuable treasure of the conquest of Malacca, sinks en route to Goa.source
  • 1562Maximilian of Bohemia is elected King of the Romans.source
  • 1567Linköping is burnt when the Swedish army pursues the Danes out of Sweden.source
  • 1571Clan Gordon defeats Clan Forbes in the Battle of Craibstone, fought near Aberdeen in Scotland. Clan Forbes sustains 300 deaths and 200 men are taken prisoner out of its original contingent of 900, while Clan Gordon suffers 200 deaths of its 800 men.source
  • 1608Sir Thomas Gates, Governor of the London Company's colony at Jamestown, Virginia, is ordered by the Board of Directors to forcibly convert the native Indians in the area to Christianity as Anglicans.source
  • 1610The cession of Larache, a port in Morocco, takes place as Mohammed esh Sheikh el Mamun, Sultan of Morocco, transfers control of the city to Spain in return for. The Marquis de la Hinojosa accepts on behalf of King Felipe III of Spain in return for Spain's aid to the Sultan's fight against the Sultan's brother, Zidan Abu Maali. Larache remains under Spanish control for the next 79 years until another sultan retakes it.source
  • 1612The Treaty of Nasuh Pasha is signed, between the Ottoman Empire (Turkey) and the Safavid Empire (Iran), with the Ottomans ceding back land they had captured from the Safavids after 1555, in return for Safavid payment of 200 loads of silk.source
  • 1627Thirty Years' War: Bogislaw XIV, Duke of Pomerania, signs the Capitulation of Franzburg, in which Pomerania is forced to pay for the Imperial army that Wallenstein sent to occupy it. Nonetheless, despite the treaty, Pomerania is devastated by the Imperial troops.source
  • 1645The Colegio de Santo Tomas is elevated by Pope Innocent X into the University of Santo Tomas, in his brief In Supreminenti. It has the oldest extant University Charter in the Philippines, as well as the whole of Asia.source
  • 1656The Treaty of Labiau is signed, between Charles X Gustav of Sweden and Frederick William, Elector of Brandenburg.source
  • 1681Don Melchor de Navarra, Duke of Palata arrives in Lima after a voyage of almost 10 months from Spain and becomes the new Viceroy of Peru, succeeding the Archbishop of Lima, Melchor Liñán y Cisneros, who had administered the area since 1678.source
  • 1682Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 1st Earl of Shaftesbury, flees to Holland after being accused of planning a coup against King Charles II.source
  • 1685the Loyal Parliament is prorogued and never meets again.source
  • 1688November 20 (November 10 OS) – The Wincanton Skirmish between forces loyal to James II led by Patrick Sarsfield and a party of Dutch troops is one of the few armed clashes in England during the Glorious Revolution.source
  • 1700First boats reach Leeds from the tideway by way of the Aire and Calder Navigation.source
  • 1706a copy of the Treaty of Union is burnt publicly in Dumfries.source
  • 1720A violent storm damages the northwest tower of Llandaff Cathedral. The southwest tower, reported in 1719 to be in a state of collapse, is further damaged, and a programme of restoration work begins.source
  • 1722The Dutch East India Company cargo ship Schoonenberg runs aground in South Africa's Struis Bay and is looted by most of its 110 crew, beginning a legend and questions of whether the wreck was part of a conspiracy or simply an accident. Almost 300 years later, the event is reconstructed in detail by investigators.source
  • 1725the horse-post from Edinburgh to London vanishes after passing through Berwick-upon-Tweed; horse and rider are thought to have perished on tidal sands near Lindisfarne.source
  • 1739November 20–22 – War of Jenkins' Ear – Battle of Porto Bello: British marine forces capture the Panamanian silver-exporting town of Portobelo from the Spanish.source
  • 1740Biron was arrested by the guards led by Burkhard Christoph von Münnichsource
  • 1755William Pitt the Elder is dismissed from the position of Paymaster of the Forces while Henry Bilson Legge resigns as Chancellor of the Exchequer and George Grenville as Treasurer of the Navy in protest over payments made to Russia to protect Hanover.source
  • 1759Battle of Quiberon Bay: The British fleet of Sir Edward Hawke defeats a French fleet under Marshal de Conflans, near the coast of Brittany. This is the decisive naval engagement of the Seven Years' War – after this, the French are no longer able to field a significant fleet.source
  • 1763Hólar Cathedral was consecrated, following completion earlier in the year,source
  • 1767The new American Colonies Act 1766, commonly called the "Declaratory Act", goes into effect, virtually providing for Great Britain's Parliament to govern lawmaking in 13 colonies and exacerbating tensions there.source
  • 1767the "Declaratory Act" (American Colonies Act 1766) goes into effect, repealing unpopular duties imposed in 1765 on the Thirteen Colonies but declaring Parliament's authority to be the same in North America as in Britain.source
  • 1774Daniel Boone retires from the Virginia colonial militia in order to devote his full time to establishing a settlement in Kentucky.source
  • 1776American Revolutionary War: Battle of Fort Lee – The invasion of New Jersey, by British and Hessian forces, leads to the subsequent general retreat of the American Continental Army.source
  • 1788In the United Kingdom, the Houses of Parliament are given the first formal report by Prime Minister Pitt of the mental illness of King George III. Parliament adjourns for two weeks, to await the results of examinations by royal physicians.source
  • 1789New Jersey ratifies the United States Bill of Rights, the first state to do so.source
  • 1794Battle of St-Laurent-de-la-Muga fought between French and Spanish forces.source
  • 1804Said bin Sultan, Sultan of Muscat and Oman, starts to rule.source
  • 1805Beethoven's only opera Fidelio, in its original form (known retrospectively as Leonore), is premiered at the Theater an der Wien in Vienna, which at this time is under French military occupation.source
  • 1807sinking of the Rochdale and the Prince of Wales: The British troopships Rochdale (brig) and Prince of Wales (packet ship) sink in a storm in Dublin Bay with the loss of around 400 lives.source
  • 1815The Napoleonic Wars come to an end after 12 years, with the British government restoring the status quo of France, prior to when the French Revolution began in 1789, after 26 years of turmoil.source
  • 1817The first Seminole War begins in Florida.source
  • 1817O'Higgins authorizes privateers to engage as commerce raiders against the Spanish.source
  • 1820After the sinking of the American whaleship Essex of Nantucket, by a sperm whale in the southern Pacific Ocean, the survivors are left afloat in three small whaleboats. They eventually resort, by common consent, to cannibalism to allow some to survive.source
  • 1837The Prussian king has Clemens August Droste zu Vischering, archbishop of Cologne, arrested over differences concerning the treatment of mixed protestant-catholic marriages. The archbishop remains in custody for over a year.source
  • 1845Anglo-French blockade of the Río de la Plata – Battle of Vuelta de Obligado: The Argentine Confederation is narrowly defeated by an Anglo–French fleet on the waters of the Paraná River, but the victors suffer serious damage to their ships, and Argentina attracts political support in South America.source
  • 1845Battle of Vuelta de Obligado between the Argentine Confederation and an Anglo-French fleet on the waters of the Paraná River.source
  • 1845a relief commission for Ireland first meets.source
  • 1860The frigate Jylland is launched at Holmen in Copenhagen.source
  • 1864The judicial reform of Alexander II is launched in the Russian Empire.source
  • 1871Initial operation of the Java telegraph cable, landed at Darwin, linking Australia to the UK.source
  • 187220 November − Eymundsson, Iceland's oldest bookstore is established.source
  • 1873November 18–21 – Irish Home Rule movement: The Home Government Association reconstitutes itself as the Home Rule League.source
  • 1885November 14–28 – Serbo-Bulgarian War: Serbia declares war against Bulgaria, but is defeated in the Battle of Slivnitsa on November 17–19.source
  • 1887The radical left wing Democrat Party is founded.source
  • 1889Argentina is the first country to recognize the abolition of the monarchy in Brazil.source
  • 1889Argentina becomes the first nation to recognize the new government of Deodoro da Fonseca.source
  • 1889Gustav Mahler premieres his Symphony No. 1, in Budapest.source
  • 1899Lieutenant-General John French arrives at the Colesberg in the Cape Colony front to co-ordinate the defense of the British colonies in South Africa against the Boer attack and conducts a series of distracting maneuvers that succeed in preventing the South African Republic from attempting an invasion of the Cape Colony.source
  • 1899The U.S. Supreme Court issues its decision in Brown v. New Jersey (175 U.S. 172) and upholds the constitutionality of the "struck jury" method of selecting jurors.source
  • 1902The Cordillera of the Andes Boundary Case 1902 (Argentina, Chile) is settled.source
  • 1910The Mexican Revolution begins, when Francisco I. Madero proclaims the elections of 1910 null and void, and calls for an armed revolution against the illegitimate presidency/dictatorship of Porfirio Díaz.source
  • 1918U-boats start to rendezvous off Harwich, to begin the surrender of the High Seas Fleet to the British Royal Navy; in the following week the German warships are escorted to internment in Scapa Flow.source
  • 1920Prince Arthur of Connaught is appointed the 3rd Governor-General of South Africa.source
  • 1920Prince Arthur of Connaught is appointed the 3rd Governor-General of the Union of South Africa.source
  • 1929Taiping Fire and Marine Insurance, as predecessor of China Taiping Insurance was founded in Shanghai.source
  • 1930Kjell Storvik, economist and former Governor of the Central Bank of Norwaysource
  • 1931Sir Arthur Grenfell Wauchope replaces Sir John Chancellor as High Commissioner of Palestine.source
  • 1934Willem de Sitter, mathematician, physicist and astronomer (born 1872)source
  • 1936The Maybury roadhouse opens on the outskirts of Edinburgh, a notable example of Art Deco by Paterson & Broom.source
  • 1936A levee failure and continued massive rain at the Mitsubishi Osarizawa mine, Kazuno, northeastern Akita, Japan, results in at least 375 deaths.source
  • 1936Mitsubishi Osarizawa mine and Nakazawa dam collapse by heavy rain, total 362 persons fatalities in Akita Prefecture, according to Japanese government official confirmed report.source
  • 1940November 20–24 – WWII: Hungary, Romania and Slovakia join the Axis powers.source
  • 1945The Nuremberg trials begin: Trials against 22 Nazis for war crimes of World War II start at the Palace of Justice, Nuremberg.source
  • 1946an outbreak of cholera leads to one death in Gardez. To contain the outbreak, the government takes steps to limit the movement of troops and civilians between Kabul and the southern province.source
  • 1947Paul Ramadier resigns as Prime Minister of France. He is succeeded by Robert Schuman, who calls in 80,000 army reservists to quell rioting miners in France.source
  • 1947Wedding of Princess Elizabeth and Philip Mountbatten, Duke of Edinburgh: Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth II), the daughter of George VI of the United Kingdom, marries The Duke of Edinburgh at Westminster Abbey in London.source
  • 1948Geoffrey B. Orbell rediscovers the Takahē, last seen 50 years previously, near Lake Te Anau, New Zealand.source
  • 1948Two takahē are discovered after being declared extinct for 50 years.source
  • 1949Hurum air disaster: an Aero Holland Douglas DC-3 crashes near Hurum, Norway, killing 34 of the 35 on board, including 26 Jewish children from Tunisia on their way to Norway, as an intermediary stop before immigrating to Israel.source
  • 1950The International Court of Justice hands down their decision on Colombia v. Peru or the Asylum case, siding with Peru. This allows Peru to deny Víctor Raúl Haya de la Torre, leader of the American People's Revolutionary Alliance, safe passage to political asylum in Colombia.source
  • 1951The Po River floods in northern Italy.source
  • 1952The Order of the Red Star (Albania) is established.source
  • 1952The first official passenger flight over the North Pole is made, from Los Angeles to Copenhagen.source
  • 1952One of the first successful gender-affirming surgeries is performed in Copenhagen on Christine Jorgensen.source
  • 1953November 20–22 – First Indochina War: Operation Castor – In a massive airborne operation in Vietnam, French forces establish a base at Điện Biên Phủ.source
  • 1953The Douglas D-558-2 Skyrocket, piloted by Scott Crossfield, becomes the first manned aircraft to reach Mach 2.source
  • 1953Authorities at the Natural History Museum, London announce that the skull of Piltdown Man (allegedly an early human discovered in 1912) is a hoax.source
  • 1956In Yugoslavia, former prime minister Milovan Đilas is arrested after he criticizes Josip Broz Tito.source
  • 1958The Jim Henson Company is founded as Muppets, Inc. in the United States.source
  • 1959The Declaration of the Rights of the Child is adopted by the United Nations.source
  • 1962Cuban Missile Crisis: In response to the Soviet Union agreeing to remove its missiles from Cuba, President John F. Kennedy ends the blockade of the island.source
  • 1963Commissioning of Otori Damsource
  • 1967The "population clock" of the United States Census Bureau records the U.S. population at 200 million people at 11:03 a.m. Washington, D.C. time.source
  • 1968The Farmington Mine disaster in Farmington, West Virginia, kills seventy-eight men.source
  • 1970The Miss World 1970 beauty pageant, hosted by Bob Hope at the Royal Albert Hall, London is disrupted by Women's Liberation protesters. Earlier on the same evening a bomb is placed under a BBC outside broadcast vehicle by The Angry Brigade, in protest at the entry of separate black and white contestants by South Africa.source
  • 1970Metro Hospital General opens.source
  • 1970Violent typhoon (Typhoon Patsy or Yoling) with winds of (more than) 125 mph raged through the heavily populated (Luzon) island, wrecking the harbor and airport facilities at Manila. Typhoon Patsy was one of the deadliest typhoons to strike the Philippines in its history. 611 people were killed (with 351 missing) on the island, and 135 people were killed at sea due to shipping failures. In Manila, 120 persons died, 60 others were missing, and more than 1,000 injured; property damage reached $80 million.source
  • 1971Fidel Castro visits Punta Arenas.source
  • 1974Lufthansa Flight 540 crashes in Nairobi, Kenya, due to a mechanical failure, killing 59 of its 157 occupants.source
  • 1975Amendments to the Misuse of Drugs Act were passed to introduce the mandatory death penalty for drug trafficking cases.source
  • 1979Grand Mosque seizure: A group of 200 Juhayman al-Otaybi militants occupy Mecca's Masjid al-Haram, the holiest place in Islam. They are driven out by Saudi military forces after bloody fighting that leaves 250 people dead and 600 wounded.source
  • 1980The Gang of Four trial begins in China.source
  • 1982The General Union of Ecuadorian Workers (UGTE) is founded.source
  • 1982University of California, Berkeley executes "The Play" in a college football game against Stanford. Completing a wacky 57-yard kickoff return that includes five laterals, Kevin Moen runs through Stanford band members who have prematurely come onto the field. His touchdown stands and California wins 25–20.source
  • 1985Archbishop Paul Reeves appointed Governor General.source
  • 1985Microsoft Corporation releases the first U.S. release of Windows 1.0, as version 1.01. International support comes with the release of Windows 1.02 in Europe in May 1986.source
  • 1988Soviet Armenian Supreme Council recognizes the Armenian genocide.source
  • 1989Cold War: Velvet Revolution – The number of peaceful protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.source
  • 1990Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, is arrested in Novocherkassk.source
  • 1991An Azerbaijani Mil Mi-8 helicopter carrying a 19-member peacekeeping mission team is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend District, Azerbaijan.source
  • 1993November 17–22 – The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) passes the legislative houses in the United States, Canada and Mexico.source
  • 1993AirAsia, Malaysia's first low-cost carrier was established.source
  • 1993An Avioimpex Yakovlev Yak-42D crashes into Mount Trojani near Ohrid, North Macedonia. All 8 crew members and 115 of the 116 passengers are killed.source
  • 1994The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol.source
  • 1995A car bomb explosion outside the Egyptian Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan destroys the façade of the building, killing at least 13 people and wounding dozens more.source
  • 1996The 1996 Garley Building fire occurred in Hong Kong, resulting in 41 deaths and 81 injuries.source
  • 1998A Russian Proton rocket is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, carrying the first segment of the International Space Station, the 21-ton Zarya Module.source
  • 1999China launches the first Shenzhou spacecraft.source
  • 2000Alberto Fujimori, President of Peru, faxes his resignation from a hotel room in Japan, having fled Peru after facing corruption charges. Fujimori would be officially removed from office by Congress on the 22nd.source
  • 2004The Angola national football team defeats Zambia to win the 2004 COSAFA Cup tournament.source
  • 2004NASA launches the Swift Gamma-Ray Burst Explorer telescope.source
  • 2004November 14–26 – Typhoon Muifa kills 600 people in the Philippines.source
  • 2004The Museum of Modern Art reopens in its new location.source
  • 2008The Buzzard Coulee meteorite falls in Saskatchewan. Reported to be 5 times brighter than the full moon and is seen in Alberta, Manitoba, and even North Dakota.source
  • 2010Participants of the 2010 NATO Lisbon summit issue the Lisbon Summit Declaration.source
  • 2012November 14–21 – Israel launches Operation Pillar of Defense against the Palestinian-governed Gaza Strip, killing Hamas military chief Ahmed Jabari. In the following week 140 Palestinians and five Israelis are killed in an ensuing cycle of violence. A ceasefire between Israel and Hamas is announced by Egyptian Foreign Minister Mohamed Kamel Amr and US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton after the week-long escalation in hostilities in Southern Israel and the Gaza Strip.source
  • 2017Nature publishes an article recognising the high-velocity asteroid ʻOumuamua as originating from outside the Solar System, i.e. the first known interstellar object.source
  • 2018Minister of Foreign Affairs Miroslav Lajčák announced that he would contemplate his resignation if the parliament rejected the Global Compact for Migration.source
  • 2022November 19–November 26 – The 2022 Central American and Caribbean Beach Games are held in Santa Marta, Colombia.source
  • 2022December 18 – The 2022 FIFA World Cup is held in Qatar and won by Argentina.source
  • 2023A Boeing P-8A Poseidon operated by the United States Navy overshot the runway at Marine Corps Air Station Kaneohe Bay, Kaneohe, Hawaii. No one died.source
  • 2024November 11–22 – COP29 is held in Baku, Azerbaijan.source
  • 2025November 10–21 – The COP30 summit is held in Belém, Brazil, focusing on the role of the Amazon rainforest in climate action.source

Births

  • 939Tai Zong, emperor of the Song dynasty (died 997)source
  • 1418Robert de Morley, 6th Baron Morley, Lord of Morley Saint Botolph (died 1442)source
  • 1545Ernst Ludwig, Duke of Pomerania (died 1592)source
  • 1570Giovanni Battista Agucchi, Italian churchman, papal diplomat, and writer on art theory (died 1632)source
  • 1602Otto von Guericke, German inventor and Mayor of Magdeburg (died 1686)source
  • 1625Tønne Huitfeldt, landowner and military officer (died 1677).source
  • 1627Charlotte, Landgravine of Hesse-Kassel, German noble (died 1686)source
  • 165220 November (bapt.) – Marie Duchatel, painter (died 1692)source
  • 166920 November (probable date of baptism) – Susanna Centlivre, English poet and actress (died 1723)source
  • 1695John Bevis, physician and astronomer (died 1771)source
  • 1733Philip Schuyler, general in the American Revolution, United States Senator from New York, father of Angelica Schuyler Church and Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton (died 1804)source
  • 1739Jean-François de La Harpe, French critic (died 1803)source
  • 1752Thomas Chatterton, English poet (died 1770)source
  • 1753Louis-Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (died 1815)source
  • 1757Jacob Hersleb Darre, priest, member of the Norwegian Constitutional Assembly (died 1841).source
  • 1761Pope Pius VIII (died 1830)source
  • 1825António de Serpa Pimentel, politician (died 1900)source
  • 1841Sir Wilfrid Laurier, 7th Prime Minister of Canada (died 1919)source
  • 1925Robert F. Kennedy, American politician, Attorney General of the United States and a leading 1968 Democratic presidential candidate (died 1968)source
  • 1942Joe Biden, 46th President of the United Statessource
  • 1942Fan Chen-tsung, Magistrate of Hsinchu County (1989–1997).source
  • 1948John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the U.N., National Security Advisorsource
  • 1964Doug Ford, 26th Premier of Ontariosource
  • 1965Yoshiki, Japanese rock composer, pianist, and drummersource
  • 2017Mo'unga, Thoroughbred racehorsesource

Deaths

  • 284Numerian, Roman emperor (born 254)source
  • 345Abiatha, Hathes and Mamlacha, Syrian Orthodox priests, virgins, martyrs and saintssource
  • 763Domnall Midi, High King of Irelandsource
  • 855Theoktistos, co-regent of the Empire on behalf of 15-year old Emperor Michael III, is murdered on the orders of Michael.source
  • 855Theoktistos, Byzantine chief ministersource
  • 869November 20 (or 870) – Edmund the Martyr, king of East Angliasource
  • 870Edmund the Martyr, king of East Anglia (or 869)source
  • 923Li Zhen, official of Later Liangsource
  • 923Jing Xiang, Chinese strategistsource
  • 927Xu Wen, general and regent of Wu (born 862)source
  • 996Richard I, duke of Normandy (born 932)source
  • 996Richard I (the Fearless), duke of Normandy, dies after a 55-year reign. He is succeeded by his young son Richard II. During his minority, Rodulf of Ivry (his uncle), who wields the power as regent puts down a peasants revolt at the beginning of Richard's reign.source
  • 1008Geoffrey I, duke of Brittany (born 980)source
  • 1022Bernward, bishop of Hildesheimsource
  • 1084Otto II, margrave of Montferratsource
  • 1156Henry I, German nobleman (born 1115)source
  • 1194Emperor Henry VI enforces the inheritance claims by his wife, Constance I, against her illegitimate nephew, King Tancred of Lecce (who died on February 20). He takes Palermo (supported by the navy of Pisa and Genoa) and gains control of all of Sicily – ending Norman rule in Italy after 90 years.source
  • 1230Nicola de la Haye, English noblewomansource
  • 1242Narchat, Moksha queen (born 1216)source
  • 1263November 20(?) – Martino della Torre, Italian nobleman and condottierosource
  • 1314Albert II the Degenerate, German ruler and knight (born 1240)source
  • 1437Thomas Langley, cardinal bishop of Durham and lord chancellor of England (born 1363)source
  • 1465Malatesta Novello, Italian condottiero (born 1418)source
  • 1480Eleanor of Scotland, Scottish princess (born 1433)source
  • 1506Yeonsangun of Joseon, king of Korean Joseon Dynasty (born 1476)source
  • 1507Arthur Lynch, 22nd Mayor of Galway, drowned.source
  • 1517Sikandar Lodi, ruler of the Sultanate of Delhi from 1489source
  • 1518Pierre de La Rue, Flemish composer (born c. 1452)source
  • 1518Marmaduke Constable, English soldier (born c. 1455)source
  • 1529Karl von Miltitz, German papal nuncio (born c. 1490)source
  • 1551The Office of Cardinal Secretary of State, the second highest position in the Roman Catholic Church after the Pope, is created to temporarily fill the vacancy between the death of one Pontiff and the election of another. Cardinal Girolamo Dandini is appointed by Pope Julius III to serve as the first Secretary of State.source
  • 1551Hindal Mirza, Mughal Empire emperor (born 1519)source
  • 1559Frances Grey, Duchess of Suffolk, English noblewoman and claimant to the throne of England (born 1517)source
  • 1591Christopher Hatton, English politician (born 1540)source
  • 1593Hans Bol, Flemish artist (born 1534)source
  • 1594Gaspar de Quiroga y Vela, General Inquisitor of Spain (born 1512)source
  • 1597Princess Elizabeth of Sweden, princess (born 1549)source
  • 1606(burial date) John Lyly, English writer (born 1553)source
  • 1612John Harington, English courtier, writer and inventor of a flush toilet (born 1561)source
  • 1615Gervase Helwys, English murderer (born 1561)source
  • 1662Archduke Leopold Wilhelm of Austria, Governor of the Spanish Netherlands (born 1614)source
  • 1665Julius Henry, Duke of Saxe-Lauenburg (born 1586)source
  • 1695Zumbi, Brazilian leader of a runaway slave colony (born 1655)source
  • 1726Callinicus, Metropolitan of Heraclea dies suddenly only one day after being elected the Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople, the highest office in the Eastern Orthodox Church. Callinicus is said to have paid a record fee to the Ottoman Sultan to guarantee his appointment.source
  • 1737Caroline of Ansbach, queen of George II of Great Britain (born 1683)source
  • 1742Melchior de Polignac, French diplomat (born 1661)source
  • 1764Christian Goldbach, Prussian mathematician (born 1690)source
  • 1785James Wright, Governor of Georgia (born 1716)source
  • 1794Luis Firmín de Carvajal, Conde de la Unión, Peruvian-born general, killed during the Siege of Roses (1794–95) (born 1752)source
  • 1886William Bliss Baker, American painter (born 1859)source
  • 1894Anton Rubinstein, Russian pianist, composer (born 1829)source
  • 1907Paula Modersohn-Becker, German painter (born 1876)source
  • 1910November 20 (N.S.) – Leo Tolstoy, Russian writer (born 1828)source
  • 1925Queen Alexandra of the United Kingdom, consort of King Edward VII (born 1844)source
  • 1936Buenaventura Durruti, Spanish anarchist (born 1896)source
  • 1937Joseph Petrovykh, bishop of the Russian Orthodox Church and spiritual writer (born 1872)source
  • 1975Francisco Franco, Spanish general and politician, Caudillo of Spain (born 1892)source
  • 2007Ian Smith, 88, Rhodesian politician, Prime Minister (1964–1979).source
  • 2023Ten people are killed during a gold mine collapse in Suriname.source