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On this day in history - March 20

What Happened On This Day – March 20

  • 2003 The United States invade Iraq, assisted by the United Kingdom, Australia, and Poland

    The Iraq War, which was termed illegal by then UN Secretary, Kofi Annan, caused hundreds of thousands of Iraqi deaths.

  • 1995 Japanese terrorists release poisonous gas in the Tokyo subway

    12 people died and thousands are wounded after members of the religious cult, Aum Shinrikyo, had places containers leaking sarin on 5 different trains.

  • 1969 John Lennon and Yoko Ono marry

    After the wedding in Gibraltar, the artists spent their honeymoon in Amsterdam with a Bed-In for Peace, which lasted a whole week.

  • 1916 Albert Einstein presents his general theory of relativity

    The revolutionary theory describes the interdependency of matter on the one hand and space and time on the other. It is one of the most influential theories in Physics.

  • 1852 Harriet Beecher Stowe publishes her novel Uncle Tom's Cabin

    The anti-slavery story played an important role in setting the scene for the American Civil War.

Illustration of stork, signifying birth

Births On This Day,
March 20

  • 1984 Fernando Torres

    Spanish footballer

  • 1959 Sting

    American wrestler

  • 1957 Spike Lee

    American actor, director, screenwriter, producer

  • 1939 Brian Mulroney

    Canadian politician 18th Prime Minister of Canada

  • 1828 Henrik Ibsen

    Norwegian poet, playwright, director

Illustration of tombstone, signifying death

Deaths On This Day,
March 20

  • 2004 Juliana of the Netherlands

  • 1925 George Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston

    English politician, Governor-General of India

  • 1897 Apollon Maykov

    Russian poet

  • 1793 William Murray, 1st Earl of Mansfield

    Scottish judge, politician

  • 1726 Isaac Newton

    English physicist, mathematician, astronomer, philosopher, theologian