On This Day
This Day in History: (20-May)
Bonne of Luxembourg, Queen of John II of France (d. 1349)
Pietro Bembo, Italian cardinal, poet, and scholar (d. 1547)
Levinus Lemnius, Dutch writer (d. 1568)
Thado Minsaw of Ava, Viceroy of Ava (d. 1584)
Hieronymus Fabricius, Italian anatomist (d. 1619)
Robert Heath, English judge and politician (d. 1649)
Andreas Schlüter, German sculptor and architect (d. 1714)
Francis Cotes, English painter and academic (d. 1770)
Toussaint Louverture, Haitian revolutionary, Lieutenant Governor of Saint-Domingue (d. 1803)
William Thornton, Virgin Islander-American architect, designed the United States Capitol (d. 1828)
Andreas Vokos Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
Sir William Congreve, 2nd Baronet, English inventor and politician, developed Congreve rockets (d. 1828)
Simon Fraser, American-Canadian fur trader and explorer (d. 1862)
Honoré de Balzac, French novelist and playwright (d. 1850)
John Stuart Mill, English economist, civil servant, and philosopher (d. 1873)
Alfred Domett, English-New Zealand poet and politician, 4th Prime Minister of New Zealand (d. 1887)
William Fargo, American businessman and politician, co-founded Wells Fargo and American Express (d. 1881)
Frédéric Passy, French economist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1912)
Cadmus M. Wilcox, Confederate States Army general (d. 1890)
Hector Malot, French author (d. 1907)
Jules Méline, French lawyer and politician, 65th Prime Minister of France (d. 1925)
Emile Berliner, German-American inventor, invented the Gramophone record (d. 1929)
George Prendergast, Australian politician, 28th Premier of Victoria (d. 1937)
Henri-Edmond Cross, French Neo-Impressionist painter (d. 1910)
Eduard Buchner, German chemist, zymologist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1917)
Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower (d. 1953)
Pat Leahy, Irish-American jumper (d. 1927)
Hans Meerwein, German chemist (d. 1965)
Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
Faisal I of Iraq (d. 1933)
Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club (d. 1951)
Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru and scholar (d. 1994)
R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B (d. 1937)
Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author (d. 1983)
Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower (d. 1986)
Eduard Ole, Estonian painter (d. 1995)
Aleksandr Deyneka, Russian painter and sculptor (d. 1969)
John Marshall Harlan II, American lawyer and jurist (d. 1971)
Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet and author (d. 1977)
Max Euwe, Dutch chess player, mathematician, and author (d. 1981)
Doris Fleeson, American journalist (d. 1970)
Margery Allingham, English author of detective fiction (d. 1966)
Giuseppe Siri, Italian cardinal (d. 1989)
Carl Mydans, American photographer and journalist (d. 2004)
Henry Bolte, Australian politician, 38th Premier of Victoria (d. 1990)
Louis Daquin, French actor and director (d. 1980)
Francis Raymond Fosberg, American botanist and author (d. 1993)
James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
Gardner Fox, American author (d. 1986)
Annie M. G. Schmidt, Dutch author and playwright (d. 1995)
Teodoro Fernández, Peruvian footballer (d. 1996)
William Redington Hewlett, American engineer, co-founded Hewlett-Packard (d. 2001)
Peter Copley, English actor (d. 2008)
Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician, 5th Israeli Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1981)
Joff Ellen, Australian comedian and actor (d. 1999)
Owen Chadwick, English rugby player, historian, and academic (d. 2015)
Alexey Maresyev, Russian soldier and pilot (d. 2001)
Ondina Valla, Italian sprinter and hurdler (d. 2006)
Tony Cliff, Israeli-English author and activist (d. 2000)
Guy Favreau, Canadian lawyer, judge, and politician, 28th Canadian Minister of Justice (d. 1967)
Edward B. Lewis, American biologist, geneticist, and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 2004)
George Gobel, American comedian (d. 1991)
John Cruickshank, Scottish lieutenant and banker, Victoria Cross recipient
Wolfgang Borchert, German author and playwright (d. 1947)
Hal Newhouser, American baseball player and scout (d. 1998)
Hao Wang, Chinese-American logician, philosopher, and mathematician (d. 1995)
Edith Fellows, American actress (d. 2011)
David Chavchavadze, English-American CIA officer and author (d. 2014)
Zelmar Michelini, Uruguayan journalist and politician (d. 1976)
Alexei Tupolev, Russian engineer, designed the Tupolev Tu-144 (d. 2001)
Bob Sweikert, American race car driver (d. 1956)
Bud Grant, American football player and coach
David Hedison, American actor
Franciszek Macharski, Polish cardinal (d. 2016)
Gilles Loiselle, Canadian politician and diplomat, 33rd Canadian Minister of Finance
Sam Etcheverry, American football player and coach (d. 2009)
Ken Boyer, American baseball player and manager (d. 1982)
Louis Smith, American trumpeter
Constance Towers, American actress and singer
José Mujica, Uruguayan guerrilla leader and politician, 40th President of Uruguay
Anthony Zerbe, American actor
Dave Hill, American golfer (d. 2011)
Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter (d. 2014)
Shorty Long, American singer-songwriter and producer (d. 1969)
Stan Mikita, Slovak-Canadian ice hockey player and sportscaster
Sadaharu Oh, Japanese-Taiwanese baseball player and manager
Goh Chok Tong, Singaporean politician, 2nd Prime Minister of Singapore
John Strasberg, American actor and teacher
Raymond Chrétien, Canadian lawyer and diplomat, Canadian Ambassador to the United States
Lynn Davies, Welsh sprinter and long jumper
Carlos Hathcock, American sergeant and sniper (d. 1999)
Frew McMillan, South African tennis player
Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, actor, and winemaker
Deryck Murray, Trinidadian cricketer
Joe Cocker, English singer-songwriter (d. 2014)
Boudewijn de Groot, Indonesian-Dutch singer-songwriter and guitarist
Keith Fletcher, English cricketer and manager
Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian businessman, co-founded Red Bull GmbH
Vladimiro Montesinos, Peruvian intelligence officer
Cher, American singer-songwriter, producer, and actress
Bobby Murcer, American baseball player, coach, manager, and sportscaster (d. 2008)
Steve Currie, English bass player (d. 1981)
Greg Dyke, English journalist and academic
Robert Morin, Canadian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter
Michèle Roberts, English author and poet
Dave Thomas, Canadian actor, director, producer, and screenwriter
Andy Johns, English-American engineer and producer (d. 2013)
Reinaldo Merlo, Argentinian footballer and coach
Thomas Akers, American colonel, engineer, and astronaut
Mike Crapo, American lawyer and politician
Roger Milla, Cameroonian footballer and manager
Michael Wills, English politician, British Minister of Justice
Robert Doyle, Australian educator and politician, 103rd Lord Mayor of Melbourne
David Paterson, American lawyer and politician, 55th Governor of New York
Colin Sutherland, Lord Carloway, Scottish lawyer and judge
Steve George, American keyboard player and songwriter (Mr. Mister)
Zbigniew Preisner, Polish composer and producer
Ingvar Ambjørnsen, Norwegian-German author and critic
Douglas Preston, American journalist and author
Yoshihiko Noda, Japanese lawyer and politician, 62nd Prime Minister of Japan
Ron Reagan, American journalist and radio host
Jane Wiedlin, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and actress
Susan Cowsill, American singer-songwriter
Tony Goldwyn, American actor and director
Clive Allen, English footballer and manager
Nick Heyward, English singer-songwriter and guitarist
David Wells, American baseball player and sportscaster
Kōichirō Genba, Japanese politician, 80th Japanese Minister for Foreign Affairs
Edin Osmanović, Slovenian footballer, coach, and manager
Charles Spencer, 9th Earl Spencer, English journalist and author
Ted Allen, American television host and author
Stu Grimson, Canadian ice hockey player, sportscaster, and lawyer
Dan Abrams, American journalist and author
Graham Brady, English politician
Gabriele Muccino, Italian director, producer, and screenwriter
Timothy Olyphant, American actor and producer
Road Dogg, American wrestler, producer, and soldier
Terrell Brandon, American basketball player
Louis Theroux, Singaporean-English journalist and producer
Šárka Kašpárková, Czech triple jumper and coach
Tony Stewart, American race car driver
Michael Diamond, Australian shooter
Christophe Dominici, French rugby player
Busta Rhymes, American rapper, producer, and actor
Nathan Long, Australian rugby league player
Allison Amend, American novelist and short story writer
Juan Minujín, Argentinian actor, director, and screenwriter
Ramón Hernández, Venezuelan-American baseball player
Tomoya Satozaki, Japanese baseball player
Matt Czuchry, American actor
Leo Franco, Argentinian footballer
Angela Goethals, American actress
Stirling Mortlock, Australian rugby player
Vesa Toskala, Finnish ice hockey player
Hristos Banikas, Greek chess player
Pavla Hamáčková-Rybová, Czech pole vaulter
Nils Schumann, German runner
Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician, 35th Speaker of the Canadian House of Commons
Jayson Werth, American baseball player
Austin Kearns, American baseball player
Kassim Osgood, American football player
Iker Casillas, Spanish footballer
Rachel Platten, American singer and songwriter
Lindsay Taylor, American basketball player
Mark Winterbottom, Australian race car driver
Petr Čech, Czech footballer
Imran Farhat, Pakistani cricketer
Jessica Raine, English actress
Daniel Ribeiro, Brazilian director, producer, and screenwriter
Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan footballer
Matt Langridge, English rower
Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer
Patrick Ewing, Jr., American basketball player
Keith Grennan, American football player
Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist
Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer
Dexter Blackstock, English footballer
Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer
Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter
Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer
Julian Wright, American basketball player
Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player
Siosia Vave, Australian-Tongan rugby league player
Bastian Baker, Swiss singer, songwriter, and performer
Emre Colak, Turkish footballer
Cate Campbell, Australian swimmer
Jack Gleeson, Irish actor
Enes Kanter, Turkish basketball player
Caroline Zhang, American figure skater
Brian Kelly, Australian rugby league player
Jamie Chadwick, English race car driver
Nam Nguyen, Canadian figure skater