May 20

May 20 is the 140th day of the year (141st in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days remaining after May 20 until the end of the year.

[change] Births

• 1315  – Bonne of Luxembourg, queen of John II of France (d. 1349)
• 1470  – Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal (d. 1547)
• 1554  – Paolo Bellasio, Italian composer (d. 1594)
• 1660  – Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor (d. 1714)
• 1663  – William Bradford, British-born printer (d. 1752)
• 1706  – Seth Pomeroy, American gunsmith and soldier (d. 1777)
• 1726  – Francis Cotes, English painter (d. 1770)
• 1737  – William Petty Fitzmaurice, British statesman (d. 1805)
• 1759  – William Thornton, West Indian-born architect (d. 1828)
• 1768  – Dolley Madison, First Lady of the United States (d. 1849)
• 1772  – Sir William Congreve, English inventor (d. 1828)
• 1799  – Honoré de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
• 1806  – John Stuart Mill, English philosopher (d. 1873)
• 1822  – Frédéric Passy, French economist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1912)
• 1830  – Hector Malot, French writer (d. 1907)
• 1838  – Jules Méline, French statesman (d. 1925)
• 1851  – Emil Berliner, German-born telephone and recording pioneer (d. 1929)
• 1860  – Eduard Buchner, German chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
• 1882  – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
• 1883  – King Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
• 1895  – R. J. (Reginald Joseph) Mitchell, British aircraft designer (d. 1937)
• 1901  – Max Euwe, Dutch chess player (d. 1981)
• 1903  – Barbara Hepworth, British sculptor (d. 1975)
• 1906  – Giuseppe Cardinal Siri, Italian Catholic cardinal (d. 1989)
• 1908  – James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
• 1911  – Gardner Fox, American writer (d. 1986)
• 1913  – William Hewlett, American engineer and computer manufacturer (d. 2001)
• 1915  – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician (d. 1981)
• 1916  – Trebisonda Valla, Italian athlete
• 1916  – Alexei Petrovich Maresiev, Russian flying ace (d. 2001)
• 1917  – Bergur Sigurbjörnsson, Icelandic politician (d. 2005)
• 1918  – Edward B. Lewis, American geneticist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 2004)
• 1919  – George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
• 1920  – Betty Driver, English singer and actress
• 1921  – Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
• 1921  – Hal Newhouser, baseball player (d. 1998)
• 1926  – Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
• 1927  – Bud Grant, American football coach
• 1931  – Ken Boyer, baseball player (d. 1982)
• 1935  – Marinella, Greek singer
• 1936  – Anthony Zerbe, American actor
• 1940  – Stan Mikita, Slovak-born hockey player
• 1940  – Sadaharu Oh, Japanese baseball player
• 1943  – Al Bano, Italian singer
• 1944  – Joe Cocker, British singer
• 1944  – Boudewijn de Groot, Dutch singer
• 1944  – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman
• 1946  – Cher, American actress and singer
• 1947  – Greg Dyke, British broadcast executive
• 1952  – Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer
• 1953  – Robert Doyle, Australian politician
• 1954  – David Paterson, American politician
• 1955  – Zbigniew Preisner, Polish film composer
• 1956  – Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian author
• 1958  – Ron Reagan, American dancer and talk show host
• 1958  – Jane Wiedlin, American singer (The Go-Go's)
• 1959  – Israel Kamakawiwo'ole, American singer
• 1959  – Bronson Pinchot, American actor
• 1960  – John Billingsley, American actor
• 1960  – Chuck Brodsky, American musician
• 1960  – Tony Goldwyn, American actor
• 1962  – Mike Jeffries, American soccer coach
• 1966  – Mindy Cohn, American actress
• 1968  – Timothy Olyphant, American actor
• 1970  – Louis Theroux, British television presenter
• 1971  – Tony Stewart, American race car driver
• 1972  – Tina Hobley, British actress
• 1972  – Busta Rhymes, American singer and rapper
• 1976  – Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player
• 1977  – Miriam Parrish, American actress
• 1981  – Íker Casillas, Spanish footballer
• 1981  – Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
• 1982  – Petr Cech, Czech footballer

[change] Deaths

• 1506  – Christopher Columbus, seafarer
• 1996  – Jon Pertwee, British actor
• 2011  – Randy Savage, American pro wrestler

[change] Events

• 1506  – Christopher Columbus dies.
• 2002  – East Timor becomes independent from Indonesia.