September 20 is the 263rd day of the year (264th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 102 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events |

Up to 1900 |

• 
  331 BC – Alexander the Great crosses the Tigris on his way to conquering the Persians.


• 
  1058 – Agnes de Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to talk about the border zone in present-day Burgenland.


• 
  1187 – Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.


• 
  1260 – The Great Prussian Uprising among the old Prussians begins against the Teutonic Knights.


• 
  1459 – First documented mention of Bucharest.


• 
  1498 – An earthquake and tsunami washes away the building housing the Great Buddha at Kotoku-in in Kamagura, Kanagawa, Japan. Since then, the Buddha statue has sat in open-air.


• 
  1519 – Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Spain with 270 crew members, of whom only 18 return home in 1522. Magellan is killed in the Philippines in 1521.


• 
  1596 – Diego de Montemayor founds the city of Monterrey, Mexico.


• 
  1697 – The Treaty of Rijswijk is signed by France, England, Spain and the Holy Roman Empire, ending the Nine Years' War.


• 
  1848 – The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.


• 
  1854 – Crimean War: British and French troops defeat the Russians in the Battle of Alma.


• 
  1859 – For the electric oven, American George B. Simpson is given a US patent.


• 
  1860 – Future King Edward VII of the United Kingdom (then the Prince of Wales), visits the United States.


• 
  1863 – American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga ends in Confederate victory.


• 
  1870 – The Unification of Italy is completed.


• 
  1881 – Chester A. Arthur is inaugurated as the 21st President of the United States. This is after the death of James Garfield the previous day, as a result of injuries from being shot on July 2 by Charles J. Guiteau.


• 
  1893 – The first gasoline-powered car in America debuts in Springfield, Massachusetts.

1901 – 2000 |

• 
  1906 – The Cunard Line's ship RMS Mauretania is launched in Newcastle upon Tyne.


• 
  1908 – Near Prince of Wales Island, Southeast Alaska, the barque (a type of ship) Star of Bengal collides with a rock and sinks, killing 110 people.


• 
  1909 – The British Parliament passes the South Africa Act of 1909, creating the Union of South Africa from the British colonies of Good Hope, Natal, Orange River and Transvaal.


• 
  1910 – The Ocean Liner SS France is launched.


• 
  1911 – The White Star line's RMS Olympic collides with British warship HMS Hawke.


• 
  1914 – World War I: The cathedral in Reims, France, is severely damaged by German artillery.


• 
  1920 – Foundation of the Spanish Legion.


• 
  1932 – Mahatma Gandhi begins a hunger strike in prison in Pune, India.


• 
  1942 – Holocaust: In Letychev, Ukraine, the SS murders 3,000 Jews in two days.


• 
  1946 – The first Cannes Film Festival is held. It still takes place every year, in May.


• 
  1961 – Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.


• 
  1962 – African American James Meredith is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.


• 
  1967 – The ship RMS Queen Elizabeth 2 is launched at Clydebank near Glasgow.


• 
  1971 – Hurricane Irene crosses the Caribbean Sea, through Nicaragua, to the Pacific Ocean to become Hurricane Olivia; This is the first time a hurricane is known to have crossed from the Caribbean to the Pacific.


• 
  1973 – Billie Jean King defeats Bobby Riggs in a 'Battle of the Sexes' tennis match in Houston, Texas.


• 
  1977 – The Socialist Republic of Vietnam joins the UN.


• 
  1978 – Johannes Rau, future President of Germany, is chosen as Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, a position he will hold for 20 years.


• 
  1979 – In the present-day Central African Republic, Jean Bedel Bokassa, self-declared Emperor Bokassa I, is overthrown.


• 
  1982 – NFL players begin a 57-day strike.


• 
  1984 – A bomb attack targets the US Embassy in Beirut, Lebanon.


• 
  1990 – South Ossetia declares its independence from the Republic of Georgia.

From 2001 |

• 
  2001 – George W. Bush declares War on Terror.


• 
  2002 – A Rock-Ice Slide occurs with the partial collapse of the Kolka Glacier in North Ossetia, southern Russia. The resulting avalanche kills 125 people.


• 
  2003 – Voters in Latvia approve entry to the EU in a referendum.


• 
  2004 – Wikipedia publishes articles in its 100th language.


• 
  2008 – A bomb attack at the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad kills 54 people.


• 
  2011 – Former President of Afghanistan Burhanuddin Rabbani is assassinated.


• 
  2014 – Prime Minister of New Zealand John Key wins a third term in office, after his New Zealand National Party wins the parliamentary election.


• 
  2017 – Hurricane Maria hits Puerto Rico and cuts the whole island's electricity supply.

Births |

Up to 1900 |

• 
  524 – Kan B'alam I, ruler of the Mayan city of Palenque (d. 583)


• 
  1486 – Arthur Tudor, son of Henry VII of England (d. 1502)


• 
  1503 – Andrzej Frycz Modrzewski, Polish scholar, humanist and theologian (d. 1572)


• 
  1593 – Gottfried Scheidt, German composer and organist (d. 1661)


• 
  1599 – Christian the Younger of Brunswick, German Protestant military leader (d. 1626)


• 
  1685 – Giuseppe Matteo Alberti, Italian baroque composer and violinist (d. 1751)


• 
  1710 – Thomas Simpson, English mathematician (d. 1761)


• 
  1746 – Maurice Benyovszky, Hungarian explorer and writer (d. 1786)


• 
  1758 – Jean-Jacques Dessalines, Emperor of Haiti (d. 1806)


• 
  1778 – Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, Russian naval officer and explorer (d. 1852)


• 
  1800 – Benjamin Franklin White, American singer and composer (d. 1879)


• 
  1815 – Richard Dry, Australian politician, 7th Premier of Tasmania (d. 1869)


• 
  1820 – John F. Reynolds, American general (d. 1863)


• 
  1830 – Yoshida Shoin, Japanese intellectual, teacher and revolutionary (d. 1859)


• 
  1831 – Kate Harrington, American teacher, writer and poet (d. 1917)


• 
  1832 – Johann Joseph Abert, German-Bohemian composer and conductor (d. 1915)


• 
  1833 – Ernesto Teodoro Moneta, Italian pacifist (d. 1918)


• 
  1842 – James Dewar, Scottish chemist and physicist (d. 1923)


• 
  1843 – Nicholas Alexandrovich, Tsarevich of Russia (d. 1865)


• 
  1851 – Henry Arthur Jones, English writer (d. 1929)


• 
  1853 – Rama V, King of Siam (d. 1910)


• 
  1860 – James Gillett, 22nd Governor of California (d. 1937)


• 
  1861 – Herbert Putnam, American Librarian of Congress (d. 1955)


• 
  1872 – Maurice Gamelin, French army general (d. 1958)


• 
  1873 – Sidney Olcott, Canadian movie director (d. 1949)


• 
  1873 – Ferenc Szisz, Hungarian racing driver (d. 1944)


• 
  1875 – Matthias Erzberger, German publicist and politician (d. 1921)


• 
  1878 – Upton Sinclair, American writer (d. 1968)


• 
  1884 – Maxwell Perkins, American editor and publisher (d. 1947)


• 
  1885 – Jelly Roll Morton, American jazz pianist (d. 1941)


• 
  1885 – Enrico Mizzi, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (d. 1950)


• 
  1889 – Charles Reidpath, American city planner and athlete (d. 1975)


• 
  1890 – Linda Eenpalu, Estonian politician and activist (d. 1962)


• 
  1893 – Hans Scharoun, German architect (d. 1972)


• 
  1897 – Humberto de Alencar Castelo Branco, President of Brazil (d. 1967)


• 
  1899 – Leo Strauss, German-born philosopher (d. 1973)


• 
  1900 – Nikolay Timofeev-Ressowski, Russian geneticist (d. 1981)

1901 – 1950 |

• 
  1908 – Ernest Manning, Canadian preacher and politician, Premier of Alberta (d. 1996)


• 
  1911 – Pandit Shri Ram Sharma Acharya, Indian philosopher (d. 1991)


• 
  1914 – Kenneth More, English actor (d. 1982)


• 
  1916 – Malik Meraj Khalid, Pakistani politician (d. 2003)


• 
  1917 – Red Auerbach, American basketball coach (d. 2006)


• 
  1917 – Fernando Rey, Spanish actor (d. 1994)


• 
  1917 – Obdulio Varela, Uruguayan footballer (d. 1996)


• 
  1920 – Alberto de Lacerda, Portuguese poet (d. 2007)


• 
  1920 – Jay Ward, American animator, producer and screenwriter (d. 1989)


• 
  1921 – Chico Hamilton, American jazz drummer and bandleader (d. 2013)


• 
  1921 – Carlo Parola, Italian footballer (d. 2000)


• 
  1923 – Akkineni Nageswara Rao, Indian actor and producer (d. 2014)


• 
  1924 – Gogi Grant, American singer (d. 2016)


• 
  1925 – Ananda Mahidol, King of Thailand (d. 1946)


• 
  1925 – James Bernard, English movie composer (d. 2001)


• 
  1925 – Bobby Nunn, American singer (d. 1986)


• 
  1926 – Libero Liberati, Italian motorcycle racer (d. 1962)


• 
  1927 – John Dankworth, English jazz musician (d. 2010)


• 
  1927 – Rachel Roberts, Welsh actress (d. 1980)


• 
  1928 – Donald Hall, American poet


• 
  1929 – Anne Meara, American comic and actress (d. 2015)


• 
  1929 – Hans von Borsody, Austrian-German actor (d. 2013)


• 
  1929 – Joe Temperley, Scottish jazz saxophonist (d. 2016)


• 
  1934 – Sophia Loren, Italian actress


• 
  1935 – Walter Eschweiler, German football referee


• 
  1936 – Andrew Davies, Welsh writer


• 
  1937 – Birgitta Dahl, Swedish politician


• 
  1937 – Monica Zetterlund, Swedish actress and singer (d. 2005)


• 
  1940 – Taro Aso, former Prime Minister of Japan
  


• 
  1942 – Gerald Tremblay, 41st Mayor of Montreal
  


• 
  1942 – Rose Francine Rogombé, Interim President of Gabon (d. 2015)


• 
  1943 – Sani Abacha, President of Nigeria (d. 1998)


• 
  1947 – Wojciech Kurtyka, Polish mountaineer
  


• 
  1947 – Mia Martini, Italian singer and actress (d. 1995)


• 
  1948 – George R. R. Martin, American writer, screenwriter and producer
  


• 
  1948 – Chuck Panozzo, American musician


• 
  1948 – John Panozzo, American musician (d. 1996)


• 
  1949 – Anthony Denison, American actor


• 
  1949 – Mahesh Bhatt, Indian director, producer and screenwriter
  


• 
  1949 – Victoria Mallory, American singer and actress (d. 2014)

1951 – 1975 |

• 
  1952 – Manuel Zelaya, former President of Honduras
  


• 
  1954 – Anne McIntosh, Scottish politician


• 
  1956 – Gary Cole, American actor


• 
  1956 – Steve Coleman, American jazz saxophonist, bandleader and composer
  


• 
  1959 – Joseph Alessi, American trombonist
  


• 
  1960 – Dave Hemingway, English singer-songwriter
  


• 
  1961 – Caroline Flint, English politician
  


• 
  1962 – Jim Al-Khalili, English physicist, writer and broadcaster


• 
  1966 – Nuno Bettencourt, Portuguese guitarist, singer-songwriter and record producer
  


• 
  1967 – Kristen Johnston, American actress
  


• 
  1967 – Gunnar Nelson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist
  


• 
  1967 – Matthew Nelson, American singer-songwriter and bass player


• 
  1969 – Richard Witschge, Dutch footballer
  


• 
  1971 – Tinna Björk Baldvinsdottir, Icelandic footballer and psychologist
  


• 
  1971 – Henrik Larsson, Swedish footballer
  


• 
  1972 – Victor Ponta, former Prime Minister of Romania
  


• 
  1973 – Jo Pavey, English runner


• 
  1975 – Juan Pablo Montoya, Colombian race car driver


• 
  1975 – Asia Argento, Italian actress

From 1976 |

• 
  1976 – Jon Bernthal, American actor


• 
  1977 – Namie Amuro, Japanese pop singer


• 
  1979 – Dan Gillespie Sells, British musician (The Feeling)


• 
  1980 – Judith Schalansky, German writer, book designer and publisher


• 
  1980 – Robert Koren, Slovenian footballer
  


• 
  1980 – Igor Vori, Croatian handball player


• 
  1981 – Feliciano Lopez, Spanish tennis player


• 
  1981 – Ryan Tandy, Australian rugby league player (d. 2014)


• 
  1982 – Aaron Burkart, German rally driver


• 
  1982 – Brian Fortuna, American dancer and choreographer
  


• 
  1983 – Freya Murray, Scottish athlete


• 
  1984 – Brian Joubert, French figure skater


• 
  1987 – Gain, South Korean singer, actress and entertainer


• 
  1987 – Deon McCaulay, Belizean footballer
  


• 
  1987 – Reza Ghoochannejhad, Iranian footballer
  


• 
  1988 – Sergei Bobrovsky, Russian ice hockey player


• 
  1990 – John Tavares, Canadian ice hockey player


• 
  1990 – Phillip Phillips, American Idol winner


• 
  1990 – Waylon Francis, Costa Rican footballer
  


• 
  1991 – Spencer Locke, American actress


• 
  1992 – Safura Alizadeh, Azerbaijani singer


• 
  1992 – Peter Prevc, Slovenian ski jumper


• 
  1993 – Julian Draxler, German footballer
  


• 
  1995 – Laura Dekker, Dutch-New Zealand sailor
  


• 
  1995 – Sammi Hanratty, American actress


• 
  1996 – Marlos Moreno, Colombian footballer
  

Deaths |

Up to 1950 |

• 
  911 – Louis the Child, King of the East Franks (b. 893)


• 
  1328 – Ibn Taymiyyah, Syrian theologian and scholar (b. 1263)


• 
  1384 – King Louis of Naples (b. 1339)


• 
  1460 – Gilles Binchois, Flemish composer (b. 1400)


• 
  1590 – Lodovico Agostini, Italian composer (b. 1534)


• 
  1629 – Jan Pieterszoon Coen, Dutch colonial governor (b. 1587)


• 
  1630 – Claudio Saracini, Italian composer (b. 1586)


• 
  1684 – Kim Seok-ju, Korean scholar, politician and author (b. 1634)


• 
  1793 – Fletcher Christian, English mutineer (b. 1764)


• 
  1839 – Thomas Hardy, 1st Baronet, British admiral (b. 1769)


• 
  1840 – Jose Gaspar Rodriguez de Francia, Paraguayan politician (b. 1766)


• 
  1845 – Matvei Gedenschtorm, Russian explorer (b. 1780)


• 
  1852 – Philander Chase, American bishop and educator (b. 1775)


• 
  1863 – Jacob Grimm, German writer and folklorist (b. 1785)


• 
  1898 – Theodor Fontane, German writer (b. 1819)


• 
  1908 – Pablo de Sarasate, Spanish violinist and composer (b. 1844)


• 
  1919 – Ramon Barros Luco, President of Chile (b. 1835)


• 
  1927 – George Nichols, American actor (b. 1864)


• 
  1930 – Gombojab Tsybikov, Russian anthropologist and explorer (b. 1873)


• 
  1932 – John Ellis, English executioner (b. 1874)


• 
  1933 – Annie Besant, British writer, philosopher and journalist (b. 1847)


• 
  1945 – Augusto Tasso Fragoso, President of Brazil (b. 1869)


• 
  1945 – William Seabrook, American occultist, journalist and explorer (b. 1884)


• 
  1946 – Raimu, French actor (b. 1883)


• 
  1947 – Fiorello La Guardia, Mayor of New York City (b. 1882)


• 
  1948 – Husain Salaahudin, Maldivian scholar, poet and writer (b. 1881)

1951 – 2010 |

• 
  1957 – Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer (b. 1865)


• 
  1970 – Alexandros Othonaios, Greek general and Prime Minister (b. 1879)


• 
  1971 – Giorgos Seferis, Greek poet (b. 1900)


• 
  1973 – Jim Croce, American singer-songwriter (b. 1943)


• 
  1975 – Saint-John Perse, French diplomat and writer (b. 1887)


• 
  1979 – Ludvik Svoboda, Czechoslovakian politician (b. 1895)


• 
  1993 – Erich Hartmann, German pilot and fighter ace (b. 1922)


• 
  1994 – Abioseh Nicol, Sierra Leonean diplomat and author (b. 1921)


• 
  1996 – Paul Erdős, Hungarian mathematician (b. 1913)


• 
  1996 – Reuben Kamenga, 1st Vice president of Zambia (b. 1929)


• 
  1998 – Muriel Humphrey Brown, United States Senator and wife of Hubert Humphrey (b. 1912)


• 
  1999 – Raisa Gorbachova, wife of Mikhail Gorbachev (b. 1932)


• 
  2002 – Sergei Bodrov, Jr., Russian actor (b. 1971)


• 
  2003 – Gordon Mitchell, American actor (b. 1923)


• 
  2003 – Simon Muzenda, Zimbabwean politician (b. 1922)


• 
  2004 – Brian Clough, English football manager (b. 1935)


• 
  2005 – Simon Wiesenthal, Austrian Holocaust survivor (b. 1908)


• 
  2006 – Sven Nykvist, Swedish cameraman and director (b. 1922)


• 
  2010 – Fud Leclerc, Belgian singer (b. 1924)

From 2011 |

• 
  2011 – Burhanuddin Rabbani, President of Afghanistan (b. 1940)


• 
  2012 – Fortunato Baldelli, Italian cardinal (b. 1935)


• 
  2014 – Anatoly Berezovoy, Soviet-Russian cosmonaut (b. 1942)


• 
  2014 – Polly Bergen, American actress (b. 1930)


• 
  2014 – Rob Bironas, American football player (b. 1978)


• 
  2014 – Vince Callahan, American politician (b. 1931)


• 
  2014 – Pino Cerami, Italian-Belgian cyclist (b. 1922)


• 
  2014 – Takako Doi, Japanese politician (b. 1928)


• 
  2014 – George Sluizer, Dutch film director (b. 1932)


• 
  2015 – Jack Larson, American actor, screenwriter and producer (b. 1928)


• 
  2015 – C. K. Williams, American poet (b. 1936)


• 
  2015 – Siegfried Gottwald, German mathematician (b. 1943)


• 
  2016 – Richie Dunn, American ice hockey player (b. 1957)


• 
  2016 – Peter Leo Gerety, American bishop (b. 1912)


• 
  2016 – Curtis Hanson, American movie director and screenwriter (b. 1945)


• 
  2017 – Ene Mihkelson, Estonian novelist (b. 1944)


• 
  2017 – Lillian Ross, American journalist and author (b. 1918)


• 
  2017 – Teddy Taylor, British politician (b. 1937)

Observances |

• National Youth Day (Thailand)


• Constitution Day (Nepal)