Friday 20 September 2024 Calendar with holidays, observances and special days
Calendars: Argentina, Austria, Azerbaijan, Brazil, Career Holidays (Recognition Holidays), Children’s Days, Dog Holidays and Celebrations, Environmental Dates, Father’s Days, Food holidays, France, Germany, Health Calendar, Pet and Animal Holidays, Professional Engineers Day, Sports and Fitness Special Days, Thailand, US Holidays, United Kingdom, United Nations Holidays, Unusual Holidays (Weird and Funny Holidays), Venezuela, Wine holidays, Women’s Days, Worldwide Holidays
Holidays and observancesEvents- In 2016 Sandisk announces the first 1 terabyte SD card at photokina 2016.
- In 2016 a Japanese team accurately sequences a tardigrade genome, finds minimal foreign DNA, and discovers a protein that confers resistance to radiation when transferred into human cells.
- 2011 – The United States military ends its "Don't ask, don't tell" policy, allowing gay men and women to serve openly for the first time.
- 2001 – In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "War on Terror".
- 1971 – Having weakened after making landfall in Nicaragua the previous day, Hurricane Irene regains enough strength to be renamed Hurricane Olivia, making it the first known hurricane to cross from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific.
- 1962 – James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.
- 1946 – The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed seven years due to World War II.
- 1893 – Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.
- 1871 – Bishop John Coleridge Patteson is martyred on the island of Nukapu, a Polynesian outlier island now in the Temotu Province of the Solomon Islands. He is the first bishop of Melanesia.
- 1863 – American Civil War: The conclusion of the Battle of Chickamauga in northwestern Georgia, the bloodiest two-day battle of the conflict, and the only significant Confederate victory in the war's Western Theater.
- 1860 – The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VII of the United Kingdom) visits Canada and the United States.
- 1792 – French troops stop allied invasion of France, during the War of the First Coalition at the Battle of Valmy.
Births- 1990 – Phillip Phillips, American singer-songwriter and guitarist. His debut album The World from the Side of the Moon was released on November 19, 2012.
- 1987 – Jack Lawless, American drummer. He grew up in Middletown Township, New Jersey, part of Monmouth County.
- 1985 – Ian Desmond, American baseball player. Desmond (born September 20, 1985) is an American professional baseball infielder and outfielder for the Colorado Rockies of Major League Baseball (MLB).
- 1982 – Brian Fortuna, American dancer and choreographer. Brian Fortuna (born September 20, 1982) is an American professional ballroom dancer, choreographer and instructor.
- 1982 – Jason Bacashihua, American ice hockey player. Jason Bacashihua (born September 20, 1982) is an American professional ice hockey goaltender currently playing for WSV Sterzing Broncos in the Alps Hockey League (AlpsHL).
- 1981 – Jordan Tata, American baseball player. Jordan Arthur Tata (TAY-ta) (born September 20, 1981) is a retired major league pitcher.
- 1978 – Dante Hall, American football player. Damieon Dante Hall (born September 20, 1978) is a former American football return specialist and wide receiver who played nine seasons in the National Football League (NFL).
- 1978 – Héctor Camacho Jr., Puerto Rican-American boxer. Héctor Machito Camacho Herrera Jr. (born September 20, 1978) is a Puerto Rican professional boxer residing in Phoenix, Arizona, United States.
- 1978 – Jason Bay, Canadian-American baseball player. Bay played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for the San Diego Padres, Pittsburgh Pirates, Boston Red Sox, New York Mets and Seattle Mariners.
- 1975 – Joel Gertner, American wrestling announcer. Joel Gertner (born September 20, 1975) is an American professional wrestling announcer and manager best known for his work in Extreme Championship Wrestling.
- 1973 – Ronald McKinnon, American football player. He was the winner of 1995 Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II's equivalent to the Heisman Trophy).
- 1969 – Ben Shepherd, American musician and songwriter (Soundgarden). Hunter Benedict Shepherd (born September 20, 1968) is an American musician best known as the bassist in the rock band Soundgarden from 1990 to 2019.
- 1967 – Kristen Johnston, American actress. She also starred as Wilma Flintstone in The Flintstones in Viva Rock Vegas and as Holly Franklin in the sitcom The Exes.
- 1967 – Martin Harrison, American football player. Martin Harrison can refer to
- 1967 – Matthew Nelson, American singer-songwriter and bass player. Nelson is an American rock band founded by singer/songwriters Matthew and Gunnar Nelson (twin sons of Ricky Nelson and Kristin Nelson).
- 1967 – Roger Anderson, American wrestler, was a professional wrestling tag team composed of Frank "The Tank" Parker and "Ruthless" Roger Anderson. They competed in numerous regional and independent promotions throughout the Southern United States in the 1990s, and were arguably one of the region's top "heel" teams during this period.
- 1964 – Randy Bradbury, American bass player. Randy Bradbury (born September 20, 1964 in Long Beach, California) is the current bass guitar player for the Californian punk band Pennywise.
- 1961 – Lisa Bloom, American lawyer and journalist. Lisa Read Bloom (née Bray; born September 20, 1961) is an American civil rights attorney known for advising Harvey Weinstein amid sexual abuse allegations and offering to attempt to discredit one of Weinstein’s accusers, Rose McGowan, by publicly spreading misinformation about her.
- 1960 – Deborah Roberts, American journalist. Deborah Ann Roberts (born September 20, 1960) is an American television journalist for the ABC News division of the ABC broadcast television network.
- 1959 – Joseph Alessi, American trombonist and educator. Joseph Norman Alessi (born September 20, 1959) is an American classical trombonist who is currently Principal Trombone of the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and a soloist, teacher/clinician and recording artist.
- 1958 – Arn Anderson, American wrestler and trainer. Martin Anthony Lunde (born September 20, 1958), better known by his ring name Arn Anderson, is an American road agent, author, and retired professional wrestler currently signed to All Elite Wrestling (AEW).
- 1956 – Gary Cole, American actor. On television, he has had starring roles in the TV series Midnight Caller, American Gothic, The West Wing, Crusade, The Good Wife, The Good Fight, Veep, Chicago Fire, and Mixed-ish.
- 1956 – Jennifer Tour Chayes, American mathematician and computer scientist. Jennifer Tour Chayes is a Technical Fellow and Managing Director of Microsoft Research New England in Cambridge, Massachusetts, which she founded in 2008, and Microsoft Research New York City, which she founded in 2012.
- 1956 – Steve Coleman, American saxophonist, composer, and bandleader. In 2014, he was named a MacArthur Fellow.
- 1955 – Betsy Brantley, American actress. Betsy Brantley (born September 20, 1955) is an American actress.
- 1955 – Peter Scolari, American actor and director. Scolari received three Emmy nominations for his work on Newhart and won the Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Guest Actor in a Comedy Series for his recurring role as Tad Horvath on Girls in 2016.
- 1954 – Henry Samueli, American businessman, co-founded Broadcom. He serves as Chairman of the Board of Broadcom Inc.
- 1951 – Greg Valentine, American wrestler. Jonathan Anthony Wisniski (born September 20, 1951) is an American professional wrestler, better known as Greg "The Hammer" Valentine.
- 1951 – Joanna Cameron, American actress and model (The Secrets of Isis), was later rebroadcast as The Secrets of Isis.
- 1948 – Chuck Panozzo, American bass player (Styx). Charles Salvatore "Chuck" Panozzo (born September 20, 1948 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American musician best known as the bass player for the rock band Styx.
- 1948 – George R. R. Martin, American novelist and short story writer. George Raymond Richard Martin (born George Raymond Martin; September 20, 1948), also known as GRRM, is an American novelist and short story writer in the fantasy, horror, and science fiction genres, screenwriter, and television producer.
- 1948 – John Panozzo, American drummer (Styx) (d. 1996), was an American drummer best known for his work with rock band Styx.
- 1948 – Victoria Mallory, American singer and actress (d. 2014), was an American singer and actress, best known for originating the role of Anne Egerman in the Broadway musical A Little Night Music. She was also an accomplished martial artist and model.
- 1947 – Billy Bang, American violinist and composer (d. 2011), was an American free jazz violinist and composer.
- 1947 – Bruce Pasternack, American businessman, was the President and CEO of the Special Olympics International from 2005-2007. He served on the board of directors of Codexis (NASDAQ: CDXS), a biotechnology company based out of Redwood City California, Accelrys, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACCL) a software company specializing in biotechnology, BEA Systems (NASDAQ: BEAS) a company specialized in enterprise infrastructure software products, Quantum Corporation (NYSE: QTM) a manufacturer of data storage devices and systems, and Symyx Technologies (NASDAQ: SMMX) a company that specialized in informatics and automation products.
- 1947 – Chris Ortloff, American journalist and politician. George C. "Chris" Ortloff (born September 20, 1947) is an American journalist and politician from New York.
- 1947 – Jude Deveraux, American author. Jude Deveraux (born September 20, 1947 in Fairdale, Kentucky, née Jude Gilliam) is an American author of historical romances.
- 1946 – Pete Coors, American businessman and politician. He formerly served as the chairman of the Molson Coors Brewing Company and chairman of MillerCoors.
- 1941 – Dale Chihuly, American sculptor and educator. His works are considered to possess outstanding artistic merit in the field of blown glass, "moving it into the realm of large-scale sculpture." The technical difficulties of working with glass forms are considerable, yet Chihuly uses it as the primary medium for installations and environmental artwork.
- 1938 – Eric Gale, American guitarist and producer (d. 1994). Gale (September 20, 1938 – May 25, 1994) was an American jazz and session guitarist.
- 1937 – Robert L. Gerry III, American businessman. Robert Livingston "Bobby" Gerry III (born 20 September 1937) is a businessman and petroleum industry executive.
- 1934 – Takayuki Kubota, Japanese-American martial artist and actor. Kubota holds the title of Sōke for his development of the Gosoku-ryū style of karate.
- 1930 – Richard Montague, American mathematician and philosopher (d. 1971). At the University of California, Berkeley, Montague earned a B.A. in Philosophy in 1950, an M.A. in Mathematics in 1953, and a Ph.D. in Philosophy in 1957, the latter under the direction of the mathematician and logician Alfred Tarski.
- 1929 – Anne Meara, American actress and playwright (d. 2015), was an American actress and comedian. Along with her husband Jerry Stiller, she was one-half of a prominent 1960s comedy team, Stiller and Meara.
- 1928 – Donald Hall, American poet, editor, and critic, was an American poet, writer, editor and literary critic. He was the author of over 50 books across several genres from children's literature, biography, memoir, essays, and including 22 volumes of verse.
- 1927 – Red Mitchell, American bassist, composer, and poet (d. 1992), was an American jazz double-bassist, composer, lyricist, and poet.
- 1925 – Bobby Nunn, American R&B singer (The Robins; The Coasters) (d. 1986). Robert Nunn is an American Football defensive line coach.
- 1924 – Albert Marre, American director, and producer (d. 2012), was an American stage director and producer. He directed the stage musical Man of La Mancha in 1965, for which he won the Tony Award for Best Director of a Musical.
- 1924 – Gogi Grant, American singer (d. 2016). She is best known for her No. 1 hit in 1956, "The Wayward Wind".
- 1924 – Jackie Paris, American singer and guitarist (d. 2004), was an American jazz singer and guitarist. He is best known for his recordings of "Skylark" and "'Round Midnight" from the late 1940s to the early 1950s.
- 1921 – Chico Hamilton, American drummer, composer, and bandleader (d. 2013), was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He came to prominence as sideman for Lester Young, Gerry Mulligan, Count Basie, and Lena Horne.
- 1920 – Jay Ward, American animator, producer, and screenwriter, founded Jay Ward Productions (d. 1989), was an American creator and producer of animated TV cartoon shows. He produced animated series based on such characters as Crusader Rabbit, Rocky & Bullwinkle, Dudley Do-Right, Peabody and Sherman, Hoppity Hooper, George of the Jungle, Tom Slick, and Super Chicken.
- 1917 – Clarice Taylor, American actress (d. 2011), was an American stage, film and television actress.
- 1917 – Red Auerbach, American basketball player and coach (d. 2006). Arnold Jacob "Red" Auerbach (September 20, 1917 – October 28, 2006) was an American basketball coach of the Washington Capitols, the Tri-Cities Blackhawks and, most notably, the Boston Celtics.
- 1913 – Sidney Dillon Ripley, American ornithologist and academic (d. 2001), was an American ornithologist and wildlife conservationist. He served as Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution for 20 years, from 1964 to 1984, leading the Institution through its period of greatest growth and expansion.
- 1899 – Leo Strauss, German-American political scientist, philosopher, and academic (d. 1973), was a German-American political philosopher and classicist who specialized in classical political philosophy. Born in Germany to Jewish parents, Strauss later emigrated from Germany to the United States.
- 1889 – Charles Reidpath, American runner and general (d. 1975), was an American track and field sprinter and winner of two gold medals at the 1912 Summer Olympics, who later went on to have an outstanding military career.
- 1884 – Maxwell Perkins, American editor (d. 1947), was an American book editor, best remembered for discovering authors Ernest Hemingway, F. Scott Fitzgerald and Thomas Wolfe.
- 1878 – Upton Sinclair, American novelist, critic, and essayist (d. 1968), was an American writer who wrote nearly 100 books and other works in several genres. Sinclair's work was well known and popular in the first half of the 20th century, and he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1943.
- 1876 – Carleton Ellis, American inventor and chemist (d. 1941), was an American inventor and a pioneer in the field of organic chemistry. He is the forgotten father of margarine, polyester, anti-knock gasoline, paint and varnish remover, and holder of 753 patents.
- 1873 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian-American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 1949), was a Canadian-born film producer, director, actor and screenwriter.
- 1861 – Herbert Putnam, American lawyer and publisher, 8th Librarian of Congress (d. 1955), was an American librarian. He was the eighth (and also the longest-serving) Librarian of Congress from 1899 to 1939.
- 1844 – William H. Illingworth, English-American photographer (d. 1893). Fisk's 1866 expedition to the Montana Territory and Lt.
- 1831 – Kate Harrington, American poet and educator (d. 1917), was an American television and movie actress.
- 1820 – John F. Reynolds, American general (d. 1863). John Fulton Reynolds (September 21, 1820 – July 1, 1863) was a career United States Army officer and a general in the American Civil War.
- 1819 – Frederick Ellsworth Sickels, American inventor (d. 1895), was an American inventor, best known for the invention of a cut-off valve for steam engines in 1841.
- 1800 – Benjamin Franklin White, American singer and composer (d. 1879), was a shape note "singing master", and compiler of the shape note tunebook known as The Sacred Harp. He was born near Cross Keys in Union County, South Carolina, the twelfth child of Robert and Mildred White.
- 1608 – Jean-Jacques Olier, French priest and mystic, founded the Society of Saint-Sulpice (d. 1657), was a French Catholic priest and the founder of the Sulpicians. He helped to establish the Société Notre-Dame de Montréal, which organized the settlement of a new town called Ville-Marie (now Montreal) in the colony of New France.
Deaths- 2016 – Curtis Hanson, American film director and screenwriter (b. 1945)
- 2016 – Peter Leo Gerety, American bishop (b. 1912)
- 2015 – Jack Larson, American actor (b. 1928)
- 2014 – Polly Bergen, American actress and singer (b. 1930)
- 2013 – James B. Vaught, American general (b. 1926)
- 2012 – Richard H. Cracroft, American author and academic (b. 1936)
- 2011 – Oscar Handlin, American historian and author (b. 1915)
- 2010 – Leonard Skinner, American soldier and educator (b. 1933)
- 2006 – John W. Peterson, American pilot and songwriter (b. 1921)
- 2004 – Townsend Hoopes, American soldier and historian (b. 1922)
- 1996 – Paul Weston, American pianist, composer, and conductor (b. 1912)
- 1994 – Jule Styne, American composer (b. 1905)
- 1987 – Michael Stewart, American playwright and composer (b. 1924)
- 1985 – Helen MacInnes, Scottish-American librarian and author (b. 1907)
- 1984 – Steve Goodman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1948)
- 1973 – Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1943)
- 1947 – Fiorello H. La Guardia, American lawyer and politician, 99th Mayor of New York City (b. 1882)
- 1927 – George Nichols, American actor, director, and screenwriter (b. 1864)
- 1906 – Robert R. Hitt, American politician, 13th United States Assistant Secretary of State (b. 1834)
- 1852 – Philander Chase, American bishop and educator, founded Kenyon College (b. 1775)
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