May 20 in History

Historical Events on May 20

1862 U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law.

1891 History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.

1902 Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.

1932 Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.

1940 The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

1948 Chiang Kai-shek is elected as the first President of the Republic of China.

1949 In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.

1989 The Chinese authorities declare martial law in the face of pro-democracy demonstrations, setting the scene for the Tiananmen Square massacre.

1990 The first post-Communist presidential and parliamentary elections are held in Romania.

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Famous Birthdays on May 20

1908 James Stewart

1971 Tony Stewart

1985 Chris Froome

All Births

Famous Deaths on May 20

1506 Christopher Columbus

1834 Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette

2002 Stephen Jay Gould

2011 Randy Savage

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