Wikipedia:Selected anniversaries/June 20
This is a list of selected June 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, featured list 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
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Flag of Argentina -
Flag of West Virginia -
Queen Victoria in her coronation robes -
SS Savannah -
A ship in the Kiel Canal
Ineligible
| Blurb | Reason |
|---|---|
| 1756 – A garrison of the British army in India was imprisoned in the Black Hole of Calcutta in conditions so cramped that at least 43 died. | refimprove section |
| 1863 – American Civil War: West Virginia was admitted to the Union after it seceded from Virginia and the rest of the Confederacy. | refimprove section |
| 1973 – Snipers fired into a crowd of Peronists near the Ezeiza Airport in Buenos Aires, killing at least 13 people and injuring 365 others. | refimprove section |
Eligible
- 451 – Flavius Aetius, with the help of Roman foederati, defeated Attila in the Battle of the Catalaunian Plains, and halted the invasion of Gaul by the Huns and their allies.
- 1782 – The Congress of the Confederation adopted the Great Seal of the United States, used to authenticate certain documents issued by the federal government.
- 1789 – French Revolution: Meeting in a tennis court near the Palace of Versailles, members of France's Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath, pledging not to separate until a new constitution was established.
- 1819 – Arriving in Liverpool, the SS Savannah became the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
- 1837 – Victoria succeeded to the British throne, starting a reign that lasted for more than 63 years.
- 1862 – Barbu Catargiu, the first Prime Minister of Romania, was assassinated after denying people the right of assembly to commemorate the Revolutions of 1848.
- 1893 – After a widely publicized trial, American Lizzie Borden was acquitted of the axe murders of her father and stepmother.
- 1895 – The Kiel Canal, crossing the base of the Jutland peninsula and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, was officially opened.
- 1921 – Workers at the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills in the city of Chennai, India, began a four-month strike.
- 2009 – During the Iranian election protests, the death of Neda Agha-Soltan was captured on video and widely distributed on the Internet, making it "probably the most widely witnessed death in human history".
June 20: World Refugee Day; Flag Day in Argentina
- 1685 – Monmouth Rebellion: The Duke of Monmouth declared himself King of England at Bridgwater.
- 1887 – Victoria Terminus, now the busiest railway station in India, opened in Bombay on the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria.
- 1900 – Boxer Rebellion: The Imperial Chinese Army began a 55-day siege of the Legation Quarter in Beijing.
- 1947 – A Mafia hitman murdered gangster Bugsy Siegel (pictured) in Beverly Hills, California.
- 1963 – The so-called "red telephone" was established between the White House and the Kremlin, after the Cuban missile crisis demonstrated that direct communications between the two nations were necessary.