Saturday 20th of September 1519

39-year-old Explorer Ferdinand Magellan sets sail in the first attempt to circumnavigate the earth in Sanlúcar de Barrameda, Cádiz, Spain.

The fleet included five ships: the flagship Trinidad,  San Antonio, Concepcion, Santiago and Victoria. The crew of about 270 included men from several nations including Portugal, Spain, Italy, Germany, Belgium, Greece, England and France.

Friday 20th of September 1822

Carpenter and inventor Peter Mitterhofer known for inventing the typewriter is born in Partschins, Südtirol, Austria.

Tuesday 20th of September 1853

King of Siam Rama V aka The Royal Buddha is born as Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poraminthra Maha Chulalongkorn Phra Chunla Chom Klao Chao Yu Hua in Phra Borom Maha Ratcha Wang, Phra Nakhon, Phra Nakhon, Kingdom of Siam.

Tuesday 20th of September 1859

Naturalist writer Cyriel Cyrillus Gustave Emile Buysse is born in Nevele, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

Sunday 20th of September 1863

Philologist, folklorist and mythologist Jacob Ludwig Carl Grimm dies of natural causes at the age of 78 in Berlin, Berlin, Germany.

Monday 20th of September 1880

Prostitute cum serial killer Louise Peete is born as Lofie Louise Preslar in Bienville, Louisiana, United States.

Saturday 20th of September 1913

The first stone of the first Goetheanum is laid by 52-year-old Philosopher, social reformer, architect and esotericist Rudolf Joseph Lorenz Steiner aka The Father of Anthroposophy in Goetheanum, Dornach, Solothurn, Switzerland.

The building was destroyed by arson on New Year's Eve, 31 December 1922 - 1 January 1923.

Wednesday 20th of September 1916

Food entrepreneur Rudolf-August Oetker is born in Bielefeld, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Friday 20th of September 1918

31-year-old Stigmatised monk Pio of Pietrelcina has his first occurence of stigmata while kneeling before a cross in Chiesa di Santa Maria delle Grazie, San Giovanni Rotondo, Puglia, Italy.

This phenomenon continued for fifty years, until Pio's death in 1968.

Sunday 20th of September 1925

King of Thailand Rama VIII aka Ananda Mahidol is born as Phra Bat Somdet Phra Poramentharamaha Ananda Mahidol Phra Atthama Ramathibodindara in Heidelberg, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Friday 20th of September 1929

Experimental filmmaker Kurt Kren aka Lord of the Frames is born in Wien, Wien, Austria.

Sunday 20th of September 1931

Thousands surround the county jail where 39-year-old Serial killer Harry Powers aka Cornelius O. Pierson aka A. R. Weaver is being held and demanded that he be given to them to render mob justice in Clarksburg, West Virginia, United States.

The Clarksburg Fire Department tried fire hoses to disperse the crowd, and eventually tear gas was used.

Tuesday 20th of September 1932

63-year-old Indian nationalist leader Mahatma Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi aka The Apostle of Non-violence embarks on a six-day fast as start of a new campaign to improve the lives of untouchables in Yerwada Central Jail, Pune, Maharashtra, India.

Wednesday 20th of September 1933

Theosophist, writer and women's rights activist Annie Wood Besant dies of unknown causes at the age of 86 in The Theosophical Society, Adyar, Madras, India.

Wednesday 20th of September 1933

Assassin of SA-leader Horst Wessel Albrecht Höhler aka Ali is abducted and shot to pieces by an SA commando at the age of 35 in Frankfurt an der Oder, Brandenburg, Germany.

Berlin SA-Gruppenführer Karl Ernst ordered Höhler to be taken from a Gestapo prison at Alexanderplatz to Frankfurt an der Oder. In a wooded area near the highway Höhler was surrounded by armed men, riddled with bullets and buried in a shallow grave.

Thursday 20th of September 1934

Actress Sophia Loren is born as Sofia Villani Scicolone in Clinica Regina Margherita, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Sunday 20th of September 1936

Criminal Roger Bontems is born in Aydoilles, Vosges, France.

Monday 20th of September 1937

Serial art vandal Hans-Joachim Bohlmann is born in Breslau, Schlesien, Germany.

Friday 20th of September 1940

The one and only concentration camp for Belgium is inaugurated by 38-year-old SS-Sturmbannführer and commandant of Fort Breendonk Philipp Johann Adolf Schmitt in Breendonk KZ, Breendonk, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Initially prisoners were petty criminals, people deemed anti-social or trespassers of the new race laws. Later on resistance fighters, political prisoners and innocent hostages were detained as well. Another section was used as a transit camp for Jews being sent to death camps such as Auschwitz.

Friday 20th of September 1940

Frau Lausche is thrown out of a train by serial killer Paul Ogorzow aka Der Schnell-Bahn Mörder in Berlin, Karlshorst, Berlin, Germany.

Lausche survived.

Sunday 20th of September 1942

Film director Robbe De Hert is born in Farnborough, Hampshire, United Kingdom.

Thursday 20th of September 1945

Occultist, explorer, traveller, cannibal and journalist William Buehler Seabrook aka The White Cannibal of New York commits suicide by a drug overdose at the age of 39 in Rhinebeck, New York, United States.

"It was like good, fully developed veal, not young, but not yet beef. It was very definitely like that, and it was not like any other meat I had ever tasted. It was so nearly like good, fully developed veal that I think no person with a palate of ordinary, normal sensitiveness could distinguish it from veal. It was mild, good meat with no other sharply defined or highly characteristic taste such as for instance, goat, high game, and pork have. The steak was slightly tougher than prime veal, a little stringy, but not too tough or stringy to be agreeably edible. The roast, from which I cut and ate a central slice, was tender, and in color, texture, smell as well as taste, strengthened my certainty that of all the meats we habitually know, veal is the one meat to which this meat is accurately comparable."

Thursday 20th of September 1945

SS-Standortarzt at Auschwitz KZ Eduard Wirths commits suicide by hanging in his cell at the age of 36 in Civil Internment Camp No. 5, Staumühle in der Senne, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Wirth was found hanging in his cell but still alive a few days before, he nevertheless died of his injuries.

Friday 20th of September 1946

The first Cannes Film Festival opens in Casino Municipal, Boulevard de la Croisette, Cannes, Alpes-Maritimes, France.

Saturday 20th of September 1947

23-year-old Miscarriage of justice victim Timothy John Evans aka The Innocent Strangler of 10 Rillington Place marries Beryl Suzanna Thornley in Kensington Registry Office, Kings Road, London, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Monday 20th of September 1948

KZ-Aufseherin Emma Zimmer is executed by hanging at the age of 60 in Zuchthaus Hameln, Hameln, Sachsen, Germany.

Zimmer was known for her extreme sadistic behaviour. In late 1943 she was discharged from Auschwitz-Birkenau KZ due to alcohol problems.

Thursday 20th of September 1951

Victim of Ted Bundy aka The Only Living Witness Caryn Ilene Campbell is born in Dearborn, Michigan, United States.

Thursday 20th of September 1951

Monkey astronaut Yorick aka Albert VI along with 11 mouse crewmates becoms the first animal to survive a flight in an Aerobee rocket in Holloman Air Force Base, Alamogordo, New Mexico, United States.

Yorick died 2 hours after landing. Two of the mice also died after recovery. All of the deaths were thought to be related to stress from overheating in the sealed capsule in the New Mexico sun while awaiting the recovery team.

Monday 20th of September 1954

32-year-old Serial poisoner Christa Lehmann aka The Mass Poisoner of Worms is sentenced to life-imprisonment in Mainz, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

Imprisoned in Neuwied, Lehmann tried to commit suicide several times. She was released from prison after 23 years and changed her name. Her last words to a journalist after sentencing were "Ich mag Beerdigungen."

Friday 20th of September 1957

Composer Jean Johan Julius Christian Sibelius dies of a cerebral hemorrhage at the age of 92 in Ainola, Järvenpää, Uusimaa, Finland.

Sibelius was buried in his garden. His wife Aino died on 8 June 1969 and was buried next to him.

Saturday 20th of September 1958

29-year-old Martin Luther King is stabbed in the upper left side of his chest with a letter opener by would-be assassin Izola Curry in Blumstein's Department Store, New York, Harlem, New York, United States.

King was signing copies of his book 'Stride Toward Freedom' when Curry said "I've been looking for you for five years" and stabbed him in the chest with a ivory handled steel letter opener. When the ambulance arrived King was sitting in a chair with the letter opener protruding from his chest. At Harlem Hospital Chief of Surgery Aubre de Lambert Maynard attempted to pull out the letter opener but cut his glove on the blade. A surgical clamp was finally used to pull out the blade.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

43-year-old Artist, writer and sound poet Brion John Clifford Gysin aka The Father of Cut-up introduces his friend William Burroughs to the Cut-up technique in Beat Hotel Room #15, 9 Rue Gît-le-Cœur, Paris, VIe, Île-de-France, France.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV is born in Parkstraat 17, Vilvoorde, Vlaams-Brabant, Belgium.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

20-year-old Assassin Lee Harvey Oswald starts a journey to Russia when boarding the SS Marion Lykes in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States.

He first arrived in Le Havre, from there to London, then Helsinki where he got a 6-day-visa for the Soviet Union.

Sunday 20th of September 1959

44-year-old Singer Édith Piaf aka La Môme Piaf breaks down on stage with stomach bleedings due to alcohol and drug abuse in Waldorf Astoria Hotel, 301 Park Avenue, New York City, New York, United States.

Wednesday 20th of September 1961

Consensual victim of Robert Frederick Glass Sharon Rina Lopatka is born as Sharon Denburg in Baltimore, Maryland, United States.

Sunday 20th of September 1964

Actress Maggie Man Yuk Cheung is born in Hong Kong, China.

Monday 20th of September 1965

36-year-old Serial killer Charles Ray Hatcher aka Evil Incarnate is sentenced to 5 years imprisonment for burglary in Maitland, Missouri, United States.

Tuesday 20th of September 1966

The US Surveyor 2 lunar lander is launched aboard an Atlas Centaur rocket in Cape Kennedy, Cape Canaveral, Florida, United States.

Two days later it crashed onto the Moon surface near Copernicus Crater.

Wednesday 20th of September 1967

38-year-old Experimental filmmaker Kurt Kren aka Lord of the Frames shoots his film '16/67:20. September' aka "the legendary eating, drinking, pissing, shitting film" with Wiener Aktionist Günter Brus in Wien, Wien, Austria.

Sunday 20th of September 1970

27-year-old Singer-songwriter and poet Jim James Douglas Morrison aka The Lizard King aka Mr. Mojo Risin' known from The Doors is convicted of indecent exposure and profanity by a three-man, three-women jury in Dade County Courthouse, 73 West Flagler Street, Miami, Florida, United States.

Sunday 20th of September 1970

Bank robber Larry Eugene Phillips is born in Los Angeles, California, United States.

Wednesday 20th of September 1972

31-year-old Mass murderer Richard Benjamin Speck aka Born to Raise Hell has his death-sentence voided by the Supreme Court in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

Wednesday 20th of September 1972

38-year-old Journalist and leader of the Rote Armee Fraktion Ulrike Marie Meinhof is transferred from Ossendorf Prison to take part in an identification line-up in Untersuchungsgefängnis, Johann-Schwebel-Straße 33, Zweibrücken, Rheinland-Pfalz, Germany.

Determined to ruin the process, Meinhof screams "Ich bin die Meinhof - mich sollt ihr identifizieren!" upon which the police instructs the five other women in the line-up to do the same.

Thursday 20th of September 1973

Singer-songwriter Jim James Joseph Croce dies in a Beechcraft E18S plane crash while taking off at the age of 30 in Natchitoches Regional Airport, Natchitoches, Louisiana, United States.

Apart from Croce, 24-year-old guitarist Maury Muehleisen, 57-year-old charter pilot Robert N. Elliott, 36-year-old comedian George Stevens, 28-year-old manager and booking agent Kenneth D. Cortose and 30-year-old road manager Dennis Rast also died. The plane crashed an hour after the end of a concert at Northwestern State University's Prather Coliseum.

Friday 20th of September 1974

15-year-old Kathy Schultz is beaten to death by serial killer Harvey Carignan aka The Want-Ad Killer aka Harv the Hammer in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States.

Tuesday 20th of September 1977

Postman to David Berkowitz aka Son of Sam Andrew Dupay commits suicide by a shot through the head at the age of 24 in Lincoln Terrace, Yonkers, New York, United States.

Dupay told a friend “Sometimes a mailman learns things about the people on his route he’d be better off not knowing, and he sees things he’d be better off not seeing”.

Thursday 20th of September 1979

8th President of the Czechoslovak Socialist Republic Ludvík Svoboda dies of unknown causes at the age of 84 in Praha, Bohemia, Czechoslovakia.

Thursday 20th of September 1979

An undercover commando squad from the French intelligence agency SDECE and Special Forces' 1st Marine Infantry Parachute Regiment take over the airport in France's last colonial expedition, 'Operation Barracuda' to overthrow 58-year-old Self-proclaimed Emperor of Central Africa Jean-Bédel Bokassa in M'Poko International Airport, Ombella-M'Poko, Central African Republic.

Thursday 20th of September 1979

20-year-old Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV performs 'Anarchy!' in Galerie Valckesteyn, Koevoetstraat 23, Bergen op Zoom, Noord-Brabant, Netherlands.

Because I had problems with the owner of the gallery concerning my performance I tied him up read an explaining text and hung him with his feet from the ceiling.

Saturday 20th of September 1986

Child killer Travis James Mullis is born in Abingdon, Maryland, United States.

Mullis was orphaned at about ten months old when his mother died, his father having abandoned the family shortly after his birth. Due to this, Mullis was adopted by his uncle and aunt, Gary and Anne Mullis.

Wednesday 20th of September 1989

Triple murderer James Emery Paster aka Skip is executed by lethal injection at the age of 44 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Paster attempted to escape his death row cell by slathering himself with hair tonic and then crawling through an air vent. In his free time he was an Elvis Presley impersonator. His last meal request was for T-bone steak, salad, French fries and watermelon.

Monday 20th of September 1993

Noise music band Club Moral play their 82nd concert in Filmmuseum, Meir 50, Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Tuesday 20th of September 1994

Double murderer George Douglas Lott aka The Fort Worth Courthouse Gunman is executed by lethal injection at the age of 47 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Lott shot 41-year-old District Attorney Chris Marshall and 33-year-old defense attorney John Edwards with a semi-automatic Glock handgun at Tarrant County Courthouse in Fort Worth for no apparant reason.

Monday 20th of September 1999

Raisa Gorbachova dies of leukemia at the age of 67 in Universitätsklinikum, Münster, Nordrhein-Westfalen, Germany.

Wednesday 20th of September 2000

Cosmonaut Gherman Stepanovich Titov dies of a heart attack at the age of 65 in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Titov was the second person to orbit the earth aboard Vostok 2 on 6 August 1961, preceded by Yuri Gagarin.

Saturday 20th of September 2003

Would-be assassin Thomas Matthew Crooks known for attempting to assassinate Ex-President Donald Trump is born in Bethel Park, Pennsylvania, United States.

Saturday 20th of September 2003

An announcement for computer classes telling me that everything ends on 20 September in Pont Marie Métro, Paris, IVe, Île-de-France, France.

Monday 20th of September 2004

36-year-old School attacker Jia Qingyou injures 24 schoolchildren with a knife in No. 1 Experimental Primary School, Juxian, Shandong, China.

Tuesday 20th of September 2005

Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal dies of natural causes at the age of 97 in Wien, Wien, Austria.

Tuesday 20th of September 2005

An inquest in the death of 51-year-old Artist Richard Sumner told that he had deliberately handcuffed himself to a tree and threw the keys out of reach in Clocaenog Forest, Clawddnewydd, Wales, United Kingdom.

Sumner had disappeared in March 2002 and his skeleton was found by a woman who had become lost while walking her dog in April 2005. His sister Patricia Jones told the court that her brother had spoken of taking his own life and she confirmed there had been three previous attempts.

Wednesday 20th of September 2006

47-year-old Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV performs 'Corner Push Re-Formance' in Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

During the ‘official opening’ of the Bastard Art Gallery I did a ‘re-formance’ of the piece ‘Corner Push’ by Terry Fox.

Monday 20th of September 2010

Murderess Laurie Lawrencia Bembenek aka Run, Bambi, Run dies of liver and kidney failure at the age of 52 in Portland, Oregon, United States.

Friday 20th of September 2019

Unit 1 of the Nuclear Generating Station is shut down in Three Mile Island, Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, United States.

The plant is widely known for having been the site of the most significant accident in United States commercial nuclear energy on 28 March 1979 when TMI-2 suffered a partial meltdown.

Friday 20th of September 2024

Double murderer Freddie Eugene Owens is executed by lethal injection at the age of 46 in Broad River Correctional Institution, Columbia, South Carolina, United States.

Owens' last meal request was for two cheeseburgers, some french fries, a well-done ribeye steak, six chicken wings and two strawberry sodas as well as a slice of apple pie.