February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian Calendar. There are 314 days remaining, 315 in leap years.
- 1472 - The Orkneys and Shetlands are annexed to the crown of Scotland
- 1547 - Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey
- 1725 - The first reported case of white men scalping Native Americans takes place in New Hampshire colony.
- 1792 - The Postal Service Act[?], establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
- 1809 - A decision by the Supreme Court of the United StateUnited States Supreme Court[?] states that the power of the federal government is greater than any individual state.
- 1872 - In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
- 1873 - The University of California opens its first medical school[?] in San Francisco, California.
- 1901 - The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
- 1921 - The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse[?] film, starring Rudolph Valentino, premieres.
- 1929 - American Samoa becomes organized as a territory of the United States
- 1931 - California gets the go-ahead by the United States Congress to build the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.
- 1942 - Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace[?]
- 1943 - American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information[?] to censor movies
- 1944 - World War II: "Big Week" begins with American bomber raids on Nazi aircraft manufacturing centers.
- 1944 - World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island
- 1952 - Emmett L. Ashford[?] becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League[?].
- 1952 - The film The African Queen opens (Capitol Theatre in New York City).
- 1962 - Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7[?], John Glenn orbits the earth three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes becoming the first American to orbit the earth.
- 1965 - Ranger 8[?] crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
- 1976 - The Southeast Asia Treaty Organization disbands
- 1987 - Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, Utah a bomb explodes in a computer store.
- 2001 - FBI agent Robert Hanssen is arrested and charged with spying for Russia for 15 years.
- 2002 - In Reqa Al-Gharbiya[?], Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
- 2003 - The Station nightclub fire kills about 100 and injures over 200.
- 1751 - Johann Heinrich Voß, poet (+ 1826)
- 1757 - John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, philanthropist and patron of the arts and sciences (+ 1834)
- 1844 - Ludwig Boltzmann, physicist (+ 1906)
- 1844 - Joshua Slocum, seaman and adventurer (+ 1909)
- 1887 - Carl Ebert[?], opera manager and director (+ 1980)
- 1887 - Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada) + 1967)
- 1902 - Ansel Adams, photographer (+ 1984)
- 1904 - Alexei Kosygin[?], Premier of the Soviet Union[?] (+ 1980)
- 1912 - Pierre Boulle, author (+ 1994)
- 1924 - Gloria Vanderbilt, jeans designer and entrepreneur
- 1925 - Robert Altman, film director
- 1925 - Heinz Kluncker[?], labor union leader
- 1926 - Richard Matheson, author
- 1926 - Rob Richards[?], track and field athlete
- 1927 - Sidney Poitier, actor
- 1934 - Bobby Unser[?], automobile racer
- 1937 - Nancy Wilson[?], singer
- 1937 - Roger Penske[?], automobile racer
- 1941 - Buffy Sainte-Marie[?], singer
- 1942 - Phil Esposito[?], ice hockey player
- 1943 - Mike Leigh[?], director
- 1946 - Jerome Geils[?] of the J Geils band[?]
- 1946 - Brenda Blethyn[?], actress
- 1947 - Peter Osgood, English football player
- 1947 - Peter Strauss[?], actor
- 1951 - Gordon Brown, British politician
- 1954 - Patty Hearst, socialite
- 1954 - Anthony Stewart Head, actor
- 1955 - Kelsey Grammer, actor
- 1966 - Cindy Crawford[?], model
- 1967 - Kurt Cobain, rock musician (+ 1994)
- 1975 - Brian Littrell[?], musician ("NSYNC")
- 1194 - Tancred, King of Sicily
- 1431 - Pope Martin V
- 1579 - Nicholas Bacon, English politician
- 1626 - John Dowland, composer and lutenist
- 1773 - King Charles Emmanuel III of Savoy
- 1790 - Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor
- 1871 - Paul Kane, painter
- 1893 - P.G.T. Beauregard, Confederate general
- 1895 - Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer
- 1920 - Robert Peary, explorer
- 1966 - Chester Nimitz, American admiral
- 1968 - Anthony Asquith[?], director, writer
- 1969 - Ernest Ansermet, conductor
- 1972 - Walter Winchell, journalist
- 1985 - Clarence Nash, Disney voice actor
- 1992 - Dick York[?], actor
- 1993 - Ferrucio Lamborghini[?], automobile manufacturer
- 1996 - Toru Takemitsu, composer
- 1999 - Gene Siskel[?], film critic
- 1999 - Sarah Kane, playwright
See Also: January,
February,
March,
April,
May,
June,
July,
August,
September,
October,
November,
December
February 19 - February 21 - January 20 - March 20 - more historical anniversaries