Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/May 20
This is a list of selected May 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled featured article or picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
Images
Use only ONE image at a time
-
Abraham Ortelius -
Abraham Ortelius' world map -
Vasco da Gama -
Levi Strauss
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1293 – Sancho IV, King of Castile and León, established what is now the Complutense University of Madrid, today one of Spain's top public universities. | refimprove |
| 1498 – Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrived at Calicut, India, opening up trade with the Far East directly by sea. | appears on February 12 |
| 1570 – The first modern atlas, Theatrum Orbis Terrarum (world map pictured) by cartographer Abraham Ortelius, was issued. | refimprove |
| 1873 – Clothing manufacturer Levi Strauss and tailor Jacob Davis were granted a patent for using copper rivets to strengthen the pockets of denim overalls, paving the way for their business Levi Strauss & Co. to start manufacturing their first line of blue jeans. | both Levi Strauss and Jeans articles have refimprove |
| 1882 – The Triple Alliance was created between Germany, Austria-Hungary and Italy. | unreferenced section, date not verified |
| 1902 – Cuba officially gained independence from the United States, with Tomás Estrada Palma becoming its first president. | needs more footnotes |
| 1969 – Vietnam War: After ten days of battle, U.S. infantry troops captured the strategically insignificant Hill 937, only to abandon it two weeks later. | needs more footnotes |
| 1996 – The U.S. Supreme Court struck down laws in Colorado that would have prevented any city, town or county in the state from taking any legislative, executive, or judicial action to protect homosexual citizens from discrimination on the basis of their sexual orientation. | refimprove |
Eligible
- 1217 – In the last land battle of the First Barons' War, William the Marshal drove Prince Louis of France out of England.
- 1609 – Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's sonnets, which may have been without William Shakespeare's consent.
- 1983 – A team of researchers led by French virologist Luc Montagnier published their discovery of HIV, although they did yet not know if caused AIDS.
May 20: National Day in Cameroon (1972); Independence Day in East Timor (2002); Day of Remembrance in Cambodia; National Awakening Day in Indonesia (1908)
- 325 – The First Council of Nicaea, the first ecumenical council of the Christian Church, was formally opened in present-day Iznik, Turkey.
- 685 – The Picts defeated the Northumbrians near Dunnichen, severely weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.
- 1862 – U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed the Homestead Act into law, which gave the right to claim freehold title to about 160 acres (0.65 km2) of undeveloped land in the American West.
- 1927 – By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud (pictured) over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia.
- 2002 – East Timor gained independence from Indonesia, becoming the first new sovereign state of the 21st century.