è successo un 20 Agosto

1910 : Huge fire in the U.S.


On August 20, 1910, a forest fire spreads in the states of Washington, Idaho and Montana. The summer is particularly dry and hundreds of smaller fires join and form a huge fire. In two days, 12,000 km2 of forest and several cities are destroyed by fire. 87 people including 78 firefighters are killed.

1940 : Assassination of Trotsky in Mexico


On August 20, 1940, Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded in Mexico by a Mexican Communist appointed by Stalin.
Trotsky was deported twice by the Russian authorities of the czar in 1900 and 1905 and had escaped both times (in 1902 and 1907). He then lived in various countries and was regularly expelled prior to participating in the 1917 Revolution in Russia. He became the heir of Lenin.
However, when Lenin died, Stalin managed to take power. Because of his criticism of Stalinist methods, Trotsky was gradually expelled from all his functions before being exiled to Central Asia and eventually being banned from the country in 1929.
He later lived in different countries before receiving political asylum in Mexico in 1936.

1968 : Soviet Union invades Czechoslovakia


On August 20, 1968, 5000 Soviet tanks and 200,000 soldiers from the Eastern bloc invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the reforms of the Prague Spring. The first secretary of the Czech Communist Party, Alexander Dubcek, had initiated major reforms to democratize the political and economic system. The Soviet Union, fearing the end of communism in Czechoslovakia, decided to intervene to regain control of the country.

1995 : A train explodes in colliding with another in India


On 20 August 1995, at 2 am, a train collided with a cow near Firozabad, India. The brakes were damaged during the accident, and the train stopped on the track. However, the signalman did not stop the next train which arrived at high speed with 1300 passengers onboard and which exploded as it hit the first train. 358 people were killed and over 400 injured.

Novità del giorno : 20 Agosto

Restoration of Independence Day in Estonia
August 20 is the Restoration of Independence Day in Estonia, which commemorates the restoration of its independence it had lost in 1939 against the Soviet Union and has recovered in 1991.
Revolution of the King and People in Morocco
August 20 is a national holiday in Morocco which celebrates the Revolution of the King and the People (Thawratou Maliki wa el Chaab). This festival commemorates the deportation of Mohammed V to Madagascar in 1953 after being deposed by France. This event marks the beginning of the resistance of the Moroccan people that will lead to the country's independence and the return of the sovereign.

Citazione del giorno : 20 Agosto

Joseph Staline
The people who cast the votes don't decide an election, the people who count the votes do.

Compleanni : 20 Agosto

Benjamin Harrison, 23o Presidente degli Stati Uniti (1833)
Raymond Poincaré, Politico francese (1860)
H. P. Lovecraft, Scrittore americano (1890)
Salvatore Quasimodo, Scrittore italiano, premio Nobel per la letteratura (1901)
Roger Wolcott Sperry, Neuropsicologo americano, Premio Nobel per la Medicina (1913)
Walter Bernstein, Sceneggiatore americano (1919)
Armi Kuusela, Reginetta di bellezza finlandese, Miss Universe 1952 (1934)
Hideki Shirakawa, Chimico giapponese, premio Nobel (1936)
Slobodan Milošević, 3 ° Presidente della Repubblica federale di Jugoslavia, 1 ° Presidente della Serbia, accusato di crimini di guerra e crimini contro l'umanità (1941)
Rajiv Gandhi, 6o Primo Ministro dell'India (1944)
Connie Chung, Giornalista americana (1946)
Laurent Fabius, Politico francese (1946)
Robert Plant, Musicista inglese (Led Zeppelin) (1948)
James Marsters, Attore americano (1962)
Fred Durst, Musicista americano (Limp Bizkit) (1970)
Maxim Vengerov, Violinista russo (1974)
Felipe Contepomi, Giocatore di rugby argentino (1977)
Manuel Contepomi, Giocatore di rugby argentino (1977)
Joshua Kennedy, Calciatore australiano (1982)
Andrew Garfield, Attore americano (1983)
Ranomi Kromowidjojo, Nuotatrice olandese (1990)
Demi Lovato, Attrice e cantante americana (1992)

Ci hanno lasciato un 20 Agosto

Jules Laforgue, Poeta francese (1887)
Paul Ehrlich, Immunologo tedesco, premio Nobel per la Fisiologia e Medicina (1915)
Adolf von Baeyer, Chimico tedesco, premio Nobel (1917)
Percy Williams Bridgman, Fisico americano, premio Nobel (1961)
Joe Dassin, Cantante americano (1980)
George Adamson, Ambientalista di fauna selvatica inglese (1989)
Hugo Pratt, Vignettista italiano (Corto Maltese) (1995)
Joe Rosenthal, Fotografo americano (2006)
Vue mer : crédit photo Aseed