On This Day October 20th

 OTD

October 20th is the two hundred ninety-third day of the year, and there are 72 days remaining until the end of the year.

 

Events

1740 – France, Prussia, Bavaria, and Saxony refuse to honor the Pragmatic Sanction, and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.

1781 – The Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Austria.

1803 – The United States Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.

1883 – Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancón, in which the Tarapacá province was ceded to the latter, ending Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.

1944 – Liquefied natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland and then explodes, leveling 30 blocks and killing 130 people.

1961 – The Soviet Navy performs the first armed test of a submarine-launched ballistic missile, launching an R-13 from a Golf-class submarine.

1973 – Elizabeth II opens the Sydney Opera House after 14 years of construction.

1982 – During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people were crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.

2002 – Top Gear, the revived popular British TV motoring magazine, premiered on BBC.

 

Birthdays

1616 – Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (d. 1680)

1632 – Christopher Wren, English physicist, mathematician, and architect, designed St Paul's Cathedral (d. 1723)

1719 – Gottfried Achenwall, German historian, economist, and jurist (d. 1772)

1882 – Margaret Dumont, American actress (d. 1965)

1891 – James Chadwick, English physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)

1913 – Grandpa Jones, American singer-songwriter and banjo player (d. 1998)

1931 – Mickey Mantle, American baseball player and sportscaster (d. 1995)

1937 – Wanda Jackson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

1950 – Tom Petty, American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and producer (d. 2017)

1971 – Snoop Dogg, American rapper, producer, and actor

1983 – Michel Vorm, Dutch footballer

 

 Holiday Spotlight

Bridge Day

Construction on the New River Gorge Bridge began in June 1974 and was completed three years later, opening to the public on October 22, 1977. At 876 feet high, it was the world’s longest single-span arch bridge for 26 years and is now the fifth-longest. The first Bridge Day was held in 1980, and it has been an annual event on the third Saturday of October, except in 2001 and 2020. The day's events include BASE jumps, rappels, and white-water rafting. Bungee jumping was once part of Bridge Day but was banned in 1994. The event has been the site of several world records, including the world’s longest bungee jump from a fixed structure in 1992.

 

Holidays And Observance.

Bridge Day  

Dress Like a Dork Day

Evaluate Your Life Day

International Gin and Tonic Day

International Independent Video Store Day  

International Repair Day  

LGBT Center Awareness Day

National Fetch Day  

National Seafood Bisque Day

New Friends Day  

Rainforest Day

Sweetest Day  

World Pediatric Bone and Joint Day