Prabowo Subianto
Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka were sworn in as president and vice president of Indonesia, becoming the oldest and the youngest person to assume respective offices.
What happened on October 20
33 events · 20 births · 20 deaths · 8 observances. From 1740 to 2024.
Standout on October 20
2024
Prabowo Subianto
Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka were sworn in as president and vice president of Indonesia, becoming the oldest and the youngest person to assume respective offices.
About October 20
October 20 is the 293rd day of the year. These facts are computed from the calendar, not copied from anywhere.
- Day of the year
- Day 293 of 365 (294 in leap years)72 days left in the year (72 in leap years)
- Falls on
- Tuesday in 2026, Wednesday in 2027, Friday in 2028, Saturday in 2029, Sunday in 2030
- Week
- ISO week 43 of 2026 · Q4
- Zodiac sign
- ♎ Libra (September 23 – October 22)
- Season
- Autumn in the north · Spring in the south
- October birthstone
- Opal / Tourmalinehope, creativity and confidence
- October birth flower
- Marigold / Cosmoswarmth, creativity and harmony
- Next occurrence
- In 358 days
- Roman numerals
- XX.Xday.month — see the Roman numeral date tool
Anniversaries in 2026
- 90thMabel Freer1936
- 75thCollege football1951
- 75thJohnny Bright incident1951
- 50thLuling–Destrehan Ferry1976
- 40thAeroflot Flight 65021986
- 30thAnthony Sinisuka Ginting1996
- 25thPaige Bueckers2001
- 10thJunko Tabei2016
October 20 through the years
- 10 years ago2016
- Junko Tabei · Michael Massee · Robert E. Kramek
- 25 years ago2001
- Paige Bueckers
- 50 years ago1976
- Luling–Destrehan Ferry
- 100 years ago1926
- Nothing recorded
- 200 years ago1826
- Nothing recorded
Born on October 20 — ages this year
- 2003Carney Chukwuemekaturns 23
- 2002Yéremy Pinoturns 24
- 2001Paige Bueckersturns 25
- 2000Kenneth Walker IIIturns 26
- 1999YoungBoy Never Broke Againturns 27
- 1999Chuuturns 27
Historical events 33
A dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
Liz Truss
Liz Truss steps down as British Prime Minister and leader of the Conservative Party amid the country's political crisis, serving for the least time of any British Prime Minister (49 days).
2022 Chadian protests
Protests broke out across Chad after President Mahamat Déby (pictured) declared his intentions to extend his rule by another two years.
Syrian civil war
Syrian civil war: The Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) declare victory in the Raqqa campaign.
Libyan crisis
Libyan Crisis: Rebel forces capture Libyan dictator Muammar Gaddafi and his son Mutassim in his hometown of Sirte and kill them shortly thereafter, ending the first Libyan civil war.
Libyan civil war (2011)
First Libyan Civil War: Muammar Gaddafi, the deposed Libyan leader, was captured by rebel forces during the Battle of Sirte, and was killed shortly thereafter.
UNESCO
The general conference of the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) passes the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.
Sloan Great Wall
The Sloan Great Wall, once the largest cosmic structures known to humanity, is discovered by students at Princeton University.
Top Gear (2002 TV series)
Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premieres on BBC.
Space Shuttle Columbia
Space Shuttle Columbia launches on STS-73.
Firestorm
A massive firestorm breaks out in the hills of Oakland and Berkeley, California killing 25 people and destroying more than 3,000 homes, apartments and condominiums.
Moment magnitude scale
A 6.8 Mw earthquake strikes the Uttarkashi region of India, killing more than 1,000 people.
1991 Uttarkashi earthquake
An earthquake struck the Indian state of Uttarakhand, killing at least 768 people and destroying thousands of homes.
Aeroflot Flight 6502
Aeroflot Flight 6502 crashed on approach to Kurumoch Airport in Samara, Russia (then Kuybyshev in the Soviet Union), killing 70 people on board.
Sinking of the Spanish trawler Sonia
The Spanish trawler Sonia sank in British waters after a five-hour chase by the Irish Naval Service patrol vessel Aisling, during which almost 600 shots were fired.
FC Spartak Moscow
During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
1982–83 UEFA Cup
During a UEFA Cup match between Spartak Moscow and Haarlem, a large number of attendees trying to leave the Central Lenin Stadium resulted in a stampede that caused 66 deaths.
Brink's
Two police officers and a Brink's armored car guard are killed during an armed robbery carried out by members of the Black Liberation Army and Weather Underground in Nanuet, New York.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Three members of the American rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd died when their chartered plane crashed in Gillsburg, Mississippi.
Luling–Destrehan Ferry
The Luling–Destrehan Ferry MV George Prince is struck by the Norwegian freighter SS Frosta while crossing the Mississippi River in St. Charles Parish, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die, and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.
Sydney Opera House
The Sydney Opera House is opened by Elizabeth II after 14 years of construction.
Watergate scandal
Watergate scandal: Attorney General Elliot Richardson and his deputy William Ruckelshaus resigned after refusing to obey President Richard Nixon's order to have Archibald Cox fired.
SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory
Experimental results from the Stanford Linear Accelerator Center were published showing that protons were composed of smaller particles, the first evidence of quarks.
Patterson–Gimlin film
Roger Patterson and Robert Gimlin filmed an unidentified subject, which they claimed was Bigfoot, at Six Rivers National Forest in California.
China
China launches simultaneous offensives in Ladakh and across the McMahon Line, igniting the Sino-Indian War.
Soviet Navy
The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.
Evelyn Baring, 1st Baron Howick of Glendale
The Governor of Kenya Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising.
Johnny Bright incident
The "Johnny Bright incident" occurs during a football game between the Drake Bulldogs and Oklahoma A&M Aggies.
College football
African-American college football player Johnny Bright was the victim of an on-field assault, eventually leading to changes in NCAA football rules that mandated the use of more protective helmets with face guards.
World War II
World War II: Fulfilling a promise he made two years previously, General Douglas MacArthur landed on Leyte to begin the recapture of the Philippines.
Pope Pius XII
Pope Pius XII (pictured) published his first encyclical, Summi Pontificatus, which critiqued ideologies such as racism, cultural superiority and totalitarianism.
Mabel Freer
British woman Mabel Freer was refused entry to Australia after failing a dictation test given in Italian, leading to a debate over Australia's immigration policy.
Pragmatic Sanction of 1713
Under the terms of the Pragmatic Sanction, Maria Theresa (pictured) ascended the Habsburg throne.
Births 20
A notable person born on this day. Each links to a person page with their dates and story.
Deaths 20
A notable person who died on this day.
Paul White, Baron Hanningfield
Paul White, Baron Hanningfield, British life peer (born 1940)
Robert E. Kramek
Robert E. Kramek, former United States Coast Guard admiral (born 1939)
Michael Meacher
Michael Meacher, English academic and politician, Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (born 1939)
Holidays & observances 8
A holiday, feast day, awareness day or national day observed every year on this date.
Caprasius of Agen
Christian feast days: Caprasius of Agen
Aderald
Christian feast days: Aderald
Artemius
Christian feast days: Artemius
Hedwig of Silesia
Christian feast days: Hedwig (in Canada, moved from Oct. 16)
Magdalene of Nagasaki
Christian feast days: Magdalene of Nagasaki
Acca of Hexham
Christian feast days: Acca of Hexham
Margaret Mary Alacoque
Christian feast days: Margaret Marie Alacoque (in Canada, moved from Oct. 16)
Irene of Tomar
Christian feast days: Irene of Tomar
Spread across the centuries
- 18th century1
- 20th century40
- 21st century32
Earliest: Pragmatic Sanction of 1713 (1740). Most recent: Prabowo Subianto (2024).
What the categories mean, and how the standout is chosen
- Historical events
- A dated happening — a battle, treaty, launch, discovery, disaster or decision — recorded on this calendar day.
- Births
- A notable person born on this day. Each links to a person page with their dates and story.
- Deaths
- A notable person who died on this day.
- Milestones
- A first, a founding or a turning point our editors flagged as a landmark moment.
- Holidays & observances
- A holiday, feast day, awareness day or national day observed every year on this date.
- Standout / notable
- Editor-written entries come first, then entries covered by the most Wikipedia language editions. For the standout tile we prefer an entry that has a picture.
Nearby and related
Questions about October 20
What day of the year is October 20?
October 20 is the 293rd day of the year, with 72 days left after it.
What star sign is October 20?
October 20 falls under Libra (September 23 – October 22), a air sign ruled by Venus. The birthstone for the month is Opal or Tourmaline.
How many things happened on October 20?
We record 81 entries for October 20: 33 events · 20 births · 20 deaths · 8 observances. From 1740 to 2024.
Who was born on October 20?
Carney Chukwuemeka (2003) is among the notable births on October 20. The births section lists the rest.
How often is the October 20 page updated?
The day is filled the first time anyone opens it and then re-checked for new entries about every 90 days. Computed facts such as the weekday and the anniversaries update every year.
Get a daily entry like October 20
One short email a day from this calendar. Kept for this site only.
Text adapted from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0 and from Wikidata (CC0). Images come from Wikimedia Commons; credit and licence are shown with each image. Editorial entries are © What's On This Date. Sources & licensing · How this site works.