May 20 is the 140nd day of the year (141rd in leap years) according to the Gregorian calendar. There are 225 days left until the end of the year.

Railways

20 May 1882 The Ottoman Na-fia Ministry, who approved the proposal of Mehmet Nahid Bey and Kostaki Theodoridi Efendi, submitted the contract and specifications to the Applicant.
20 May 1933 The Law No. 2200 on the construction of the connection line connecting Sivas-Erzurum line from Malatya to Divriğ will be united.

Events

325 - Roman Emperor II. Constantine organized the first Ecumenical Council in Nicaea.
1481 – II. Beyazıt became the Ottoman Sultan.
1622 – The rebels in the Ottoman Empire, the supporter of innovation in the army and administration, Sultan II. He dethroned Osman and killed him. Mustafa I was enthroned for the second time, replacing Young Osman, who was the first sultan to be killed.
1795 - Women's clubs are banned in France.
1861 – American Civil War: The state of Kentucky declares its neutrality in the civil war. This neutrality will end on September 3 when the Armies of the South enter the state, and Kentucky will join the North.
1873 - Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis patented the first blue jeans with copper rivets in the USA.
1878 – II. Journalist Ali Suavi, who organized the Çırağan Raid with the aim of overthrowing Abdülhamit and enthroning Murat V, who was held in Çırağan Palace, was killed.
1883 – The Krakatoa volcano in Indonesia became active. The last and largest eruption of the volcano will occur on August 26.
1891 – History of cinema: A prototype of Thomas Edison's “kinetoscope” film display device is introduced.
1896 – The 6-ton chandelier of the Paris Opera (Palais Garnier) fell over the crowd and one person died. Author Gaston Leroux, gothic novel 'The Phantom of the Opera'He wrote i inspired by this event in 1909.
1902 – Cuba gains independence from the United States, with Tomás Estrada Palma becoming the country's first President.
1919 - The Society of British Fighters was founded.
1920 – The first nursery school, Admiral Bristol Nursing School, opened.
1928 – International figures accepted in Turkey.
1928 – King of Afghanistan Emanullah Khan and Queen Sureyya came to Turkey. This visit was the first official visit of a monarch to Turkey and was greeted with unprecedented ceremonies.
1932 - Amelia Earhart begins her solo, non-stop flight across the Atlantic Ocean from Newfoundland. When She landed in Ireland the next day, she became the first female pilot to do so.
1932 – Christian Socialist leader Engelbert Dollfuss was elected Chancellor of Austria.
1933 – Turkish Airlines was founded.
1941 – II. World War II: German paratroopers invade the island of Crete.
1946 – Turkey ratified the UNESCO Treaty.
1948 – The Parliamentary Group of the Republican People's Party decided to open imam-hatip courses under the supervision of the Ministry of National Education.
1953 - American Jacqueline Cochran became the first woman in the world to fly at supersonic speed by flying the North American F-86 Saber.
1955 – Karadeniz Technical University was established in Trabzon with the law numbered 6594. KTU is the first university in Turkey to be established outside of Istanbul and Ankara.
1956 - The USA conducted the first hydrogen bomb test, which was dropped from an airplane, in Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.
1963 – May 20, 1963 uprising: Some army units revolted in Ankara under Talat Aydemir. After the events, martial law was declared in three major cities.
1971 – The Constitutional Court decided to dissolve the National Order Party.
1971 – Turkish Industrialists' and Businessmen's Association, whose short name is TÜSİAD, was established.
1980 – In a popular vote in Quebec, 60% of the people rejected the proposal to the Assembly that the province should secede from Canada and remain independent.
1983 - First articles on the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS, Science Published separately by Luc Montagnier and Robert Gallo.
1983 – The Motherland Party (ANAP) was founded under the chairmanship of Turgut Özal.
1990 – In Romania, Ion Iliescu is elected President.
2000 – 38 people drowned and 15 people were injured as a result of two boats capsized due to the traditional May festivities in Trabzon's Beşikdüzü district.
2003 – Writer Orhan Pamuk, “My Name Is RedHe was awarded the International IMPAC Dublin Literary Award, one of the world's largest literary awards, for his novel ”.
2013 – Ray Manzarek, keyboardist and founder of The Doors, died of bile duct cancer.

Births

1664 – Andreas Schlüter, German architect and sculptor (d. 1714)
1743 – François-Dominique Toussaint L'Ouverture, Haitian revolutionary leader and administrator who took part in the Haitian Revolution (d. 1803)
1759 – William Thornton, American physicist, inventor, painter, and architect (d. 1828)
1765 – Andreas Miaoulis, Greek admiral and politician (d. 1835)
1799 – Honore de Balzac, French novelist (d. 1850)
1806 – John Stuart Mill, English thinker, philosopher, and political economist (d. 1873)
1822 – Frédéric Passy, French economist and Nobel Peace Prize laureate (d. 1912)
1838 – Jules Méline, French statesman who served as prime minister from 1896 to 1898 (d. 1925)
1851 – Emile Berliner, German-American inventor (d. 1929)
1860 – Eduard Buchner, German chemist and Nobel Prize laureate in Chemistry (d. 1917)
1882 – Sigrid Undset, Norwegian novelist and 1928 Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1949)
1883 – Faisal I, King of Iraq (d. 1933)
1884 – Leon Schlesinger, American filmmaker (d. 1949)
1886 – Ali Sami Yen, Turkish sportsman (d. 1951)
1887 – Sermet Muhtar Alus, Turkish journalist and writer (d. 1952)
1894 – Sri Chandrasekharendra Saraswathi, Indian religious leader and saint (d. 1994)
1901 – Max Euwe, Dutch world chess champion (d. 1981)
1908 James Stewart, American actor (d. 1997)
1913 – Mualla Gökçay, Turkish singer and Classical Turkish Music interpreter (d. 1991)
1915 – Moshe Dayan, Israeli general and politician (d. 1981)
1921 – Wolfgang Borchert, German writer (d. 1947)
1924 – Cavid Erginsoy, Turkish physicist and scientist (d. 1967)
1929 – James Douglas, American actor (d. 2016)
1938 – Sabih Kanadoğlu, Turkish lawyer
1940 – Rasim Özdenören, Turkish short story and essayist (d. 2022)
1943 – Albano Carrisi, Italian singer, songwriter and actor
1944 – Dietrich Mateschitz, Austrian billionaire businessman (d. 2022)
1944 – Joe Cocker, English rock and blues singer (d. 2014)
1945 – Anton Zeilinger, Austrian physicist and Nobel Prize laureate in Physics
1945 – İnci Gürbüzatik, Turkish writer and producer
1946 – Cher, American singer
1948 – Jaakko Laakso, Finnish politician
1961 – Tilbe Saran, Turkish theater and film actress and voice actor
1966 – Mirkelam, Turkish singer
1966 – Ahmet Ak, Turkish wrestler
1970 – Sabahat Aslan, Turkish folk music artist
1972 – Erkan Aydoğan Oflu, Turkish actor (d. 2011)
1979 – Aysun Kayacı, Turkish model and actress
1979 Andrew Scheer, Canadian politician
1979 – Yoshinari Takagi, Japanese football player
1980 – Juliana Pasha, Albanian singer
1981 – Iker Casillas, Spanish football player
1981 – Silvino João de Carvalho, Brazilian football player
1981 – Omar Anguiano, American actor
1981 – Klæmint Matras, former Faroese international football player
1982 – Ásmundur Sveinsson, Icelandic sculptor
1982 – Petr Čech, Czech football player
1982 – Wes Hoolahan, Irish football player
1982 – Natalya Podolskaya, Belarusian singer
1983 – Óscar Cardozo, Paraguayan football player
1983 – Mehdi Taouil, Moroccan former football player
1984 – Kim Dong-Hyun, former South Korean football player
1984 – Dilara Kazimova, Azerbaijani singer and actress
1984 - Ricardo Lobo, Brazilian football player
1984 – Naturi Naughton, American actress and singer-songwriter
1985 – Raúl Enríquez, Mexican football player
1985 – Christ Froome, British road bike racer
1986 – Ahmed Samir Ferec, Egyptian national football player
1986 – Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian football player
1987 – Desirée van den Berg, Dutch model
1987 – Marcelo Guedes, Brazilian football player
1987 – Mike Havenaar, Japanese international football player
1987 – Luboš Kalouda, Czech former football player
1988 - Magno Cruz, Brazilian football player
1988 - Kim Lamarre, Canadian freestyle skier
1988 – Lana Obad, Croatian model
1989 – Aldo Corzo, Peruvian national football player
1989 – Ahmed es-Salih, Syrian national football player
1990 – Alex, Brazilian football player
1990 - Rafael Cabral, Brazilian football player
1990 – Anderson Carvalho, Brazilian football player
1990 – Miloš Kosanović, Serbian national football player
1990 – Bernardo Vieira de Souza, Brazilian football player
1990 – Lucas Gomes da Silva, Brazilian former football player (d. 2016)
1990 – Josh O'Connor, English actor
1990 – İzzet Türkyılmaz, Turkish basketball player
1991 – Emre Colak, Turkish football player
1991 – Vitor Hugo, Brazilian football player
1991 – Mehmet Taş, Turkish football player
1992 – Damir Džumhur, Bosnian professional tennis player
1992 – Jack Gleeson, Irish television and film actor
1992 – Daniel Haber, Canadian football player
1992 – Enes Kanter, Turkish basketball player
1992 – Gerónimo Rulli, Argentine football player
1993 – Sunny Dhinsa, Canadian professional wrestler and former amateur wrestler
1993 – Juanmi, Spanish national football player
1993 – Václav Kadlec, Czech football player
1994 – Alex Høgh Andersen, Danish actor
1994 – Okan Deniz, Turkish football player
1994 – Piotr Zieliński, Polish national football player
1995 – Damien Inglis, French professional basketball player
1996 – Michael Brown, American teenager (d. 2014)
1997 – Marlon, Brazilian football player

Deaths

794 – Æthelberht, king of East Anglia and a Christian saint (b. ?)
1277 – XXI. John, Portuguese pope born in Lisbon (b. 1215)
1506 – Christopher Columbus, Genoese navigator and explorer (b. 1451)
1550 – Ashikaga Yoshiharu, 12th shogun of the Ashikaga shogunate (b. 1511)
1622 – II. Osman, 16th Sultan of the Ottoman Empire (b. 1604)
1648 – IV. Władysław Waza, king of Poland, tsar of Russia, and king of Sweden (b. 1595)
1793 – Charles Bonnet, Genevan naturalist and philosophical writer (b. 1720)
1834 – Marquis de Lafayette, French aristocrat (fought alongside the Americans against British colonialism in the American War of Independence) (b. 1757)
1878 – Ali Suavi “The Revolutionary with Sarik”, Turkish journalist and writer (b. 1839)
1880 – Károly Alexy, Hungarian sculptor (b. 1823)
1835 – II. Hüseyin Bey, Governor of Tunisia (b. 1784)
1896 – Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
1909 – Ernest Hogan, American vaudeville entertainer, singer, composer, and songwriter (b. 1860)
1924 – Bogd Khan, khan of Mongolia (b. 1869)
1940 – Verner von Heidenstam, Swedish poet and writer (b. 1859)
1942 – Hector Guimard, French architect (b. 1867)
1947 – Philipp Lenard, German physicist who received the Nobel Prize in Physics (b. 1862)
1949 – Damaskinos Papandreou was archbishop of Athens and prime minister of Greece from 1941 until his death (b. 1891)
1956 – Max Beerbohm, English writer, cartoonist, and theater critic (b. 1872)
1958 – Varvara Stepanova, Russian painter and designer (b. 1894)
1958 – Frédéric François-Marsal, French politician (b. 1874)
1970 – Hermann Nunberg, Polish psychiatrist (b. 1884)
1974 – Jean Daniélou, French Jesuit patrolologist proclaimed Cardinal (b. 1905)
1975 – Barbara Hepworth, English sculptor and artist (b. 1903)
1989 – John Hicks, English economist (b. 1904)
1996 – John Pertwee, English actor (b. 1919)
2000 – Jean Pierre Rampal, French flute virtuoso (b. 1922)
2000 – Malik Sealy, American basketball player (b. 1970)
2002 – Stephen Jay Gould, American paleontologist (b. 1941)
2005 – Paul Ricoeur, French philosopher (b. 1913)
2009 – Lucy Gordon, English model and actress (b. 1980)
2009 – Oleg Yankovsky, Russian actor (b. 1944)
2011 – Randy Savage, American professional wrestler (b. 1952)
2012 – Robin Gibb, British-born singer-songwriter (b. 1949)
2012 – Eugene Polley, American scientist and inventor (b. 1915)
2013 – Ray Manzarek, American musician (b. 1939)
2013 – Zach Sobiech, American pop singer (b. 1995)
2014 – Barbara Murray, English actress (b. 1929)
2015 – Mary Ellen Trainor, American actress (b. 1952)
2017 – Recep Adanir, Father Recep nicknamed Turkish football player (b. 1929)
2017 – Albert Bouvet, Former French professional racing cyclist (b. 1930)
2017 – Emile Degelin, Belgian film director and novelist (b. 1926)
2017 – Victor Găureanu, Romanian fencer (b. 1967)
2017 – Syed Abdullah Khalid, Bangladeshi sculptor (b. 1942)
2017 – Nataliya Shahovskaya, Soviet Russian female cellist (b. 1935)
2017 – Aleksandr Volkov, president of Udmurtia of the Russian Federation (b. 1951)
2018 – Jaroslav Brabec, Czech athlete (b. 1949)
2018 – Billy Cannon, Former American football player (b. 1937)
2018 – Patricia Morison, American actress and singer (b. 1915)
2019 – Nanni Balestrini, Italian experimental poet, writer and visual arts artist (b. 1935)
2019 – Sandy D'Alemberte, American lawyer, academic, politician, and educator (b. 1933)
2019 – Andrew Hall, English actor and theater director (b. 1954)
2019 – Niki Lauda, Australian Formula 1 driver (b. 1949)
2020 – Syed Fazal Agha, Pakistani politician (b. 1946)
2020 – Denis Farkasfalvy, Hungarian-American Catholic priest, Cistercian monk, theologian, author, and translator (b. 1936)
2020 – Shaheen Raza, Pakistani politician (b. 1954)
2020 – Gianfranco Terenzi, regent of San Marino (b. 1941)
2021 – Sándor Puhl, Hungarian former football referee (b. 1955)