1248 The University of Oxford is first mentioned in 12th century records. King Henry III granted the university a royal charter on June 20, 1248. In the university's early days, students found their own lodgings and sought out individual teachers. The first residential colleges were established in the second half of the thirteenth century beginning with Merton in 1264.
1545 The Spaniard Íñigo Ortíz de Retes sailed along the north coast of New Guinea as far as the Mamberamo River, near which he landed on June 20, 1545, naming the island 'Nueva Guinea'.
The first European contact with New Guinea was by Portuguese and Spanish sailors in the 16th century. In 1526-27, the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Meneses saw the western tip of New Guinea and named it ilhas dos Papuas.
1632 George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore sought a charter from Charles I of England for the territory between Pennsylvania and Virginia in the early 1630s. Calvert, a Catholic in a time of religious persecution of Catholics in England, envisioned a new colony where people of all faiths could live in freedom, tolerance and safety. After George Calvert died the charter was granted to his son, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore on June 20, 1632. The new "Maryland Colony" was named in honor of Charles I's queen Henrietta Maria.
1756 When regular fights with French forces started, the British began to upgrade their fortifications. When this was protested, the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah attacked and captured Fort William in Calcutta. This led to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta incident where 146 British and Anglo-Indian soldiers and civilians were held overnight on June 20, 1756 in conditions so cramped that 123 of them died from suffocation, heat exhaustion and crush injuries.
1775 Thomas Jefferson studied law in colonial Virginia and after being admitted to the bar of the General Court of Virginia in 1767, he lived with his mother at the Shadwell family home. His practice took him up and down the Valley from Staunton to Winchester. Besides practicing law, Jefferson began his political career when he represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Burgesses beginning on May 11, 1769 and ending June 20, 1775.
1819 When The SS Savannah holds the distinction of being the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It embarked on its historic journey on May 22, 1819, from Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. The vessel was a hybrid, meaning it had both steam power and sails. While steam propulsion was utilized during certain parts of the voyage, the majority of the journey was still made using traditional sailing methods.
1837 King William IV of the UK and Hanover died in the early hours of the morning of June 20, 1837 at Windsor Castle. He was succeeded in the UK by his niece, Queen Victoria as all his eight surviving children were illegitimate. William was the last Englishman to be King of Hanover where he was succeeded by his brother Ernest Augustus, as Hanoverian law did not allow rule by a woman.
1837 Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle William IV on the English throne on June 20, 1837, She wrote in her diary, On Victoria's succession to the throne Hanover became separated from England as female succession was not allowed in the German state. After her first Privy Council meeting officials presented documents naming her Alexandrina Victoria. She told them to cross out the Alexandrina.
1837 Queen Victoria wrote wrote in her diary on June 20, 1837, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen."
1863 West Virginia was once a part of the Confederate state of Virginia, but the majority of the residents were yeomen farmers, so it was an area of Union support. In 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed an act that admitted West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the thirty-fifth state of the United States. It thus became the only US State to have seceded from a Confederate state.
1863 After the loss of his son and daughter, the composer Franz Liszt announced that he would retreat to a solitary living. He found it at the monastery Madonna del Rosario, just outside Rome, where on June 20, 1863, he took up quarters in a small, spartan apartment.
1877 On June 20, 1877 Hugh Cossart Baker Jr. started the first commercial telephone service in Canada in Hamilton, Ontario, so he and his friends T. C. Mewburn and C. D. Cory could contact each other directly about their chess moves. Telegraph linemen string the single line from house to house across roofs, attached to trees and a few handily located telegraph poles.
1887 The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on June 20 and 21, 1887. She began the first day with breakfast under the trees at Frogmore, the resting place of her husband, Prince Albert, near Windsor Castle, before a banquet at Buckingham Palace. On the second day, she led a procession and, in the evening, put on a gown embroidered with silver roses, thistles and shamrocks for a banquet and was then wheeled into the garden to watch the fireworks.
1894 Plague is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The Yersinia murine toxin allows the bacteria to infect fleas, which can then transmit bubonic plague. It is named after French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin, who announced his isolation on June 20, 1894 of the bacterium responsible for the plague.
1895 The 98 kilometer (61 mile) Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea to the Baltic Sea across the base of the Jutland peninsula in Germany and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, was officially opened on June 20, 1895. An average of 460 kilometers (250 nautical miles) is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula.
1908 After growing tired of ground coffee leftovers in her coffee cup, German housewife Melitta Bentz invented the paper coffee filter brewing system. Bentz experimented with different items but ended up using blotting paper from her son Willy's school exercise book and a brass pot punctured using a nail. Bentz was granted a patent on June 20, 1908, and set up a company with her husband and two sons as its first employees.
1925 Audie Leon Murphy, one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, was born on June 20, 1925.. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor, the USA's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration, for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for holding off an entire German company alone.
1944 A V-2 /A4-rocket became the first man-made object to reach space by crossing the Kármán line on June 20, 1944. Launched at Peenemünde, Germany, it reached an altitude of 189 km (117 miles) during its spaceflight.
1960 In January 1959, French colonies Senegal and the French Sudan joined together to form the Mali Federation. The new federation became fully independent on June 20, 1960, as a result of the independence and transfer of power agreement signed with France two months earlier. This did not last long and due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on August 20, when Senegal and French Sudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) each broke apart into separate nations.
1967 The actress Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 20, 1967 while her Australian parents were temporarily in the United States on educational visas. As a result Kidman can claim citizenship in Australia and the United States. At school her nickname was 'Stalk' - at 13 she was already 5.9 inches. At 5'11" Kidman is taller than most actresses. Kidman's first movie was in 1983. It was called BMX Bandits.
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| Merton as seen from Broad Walk. By Tony Hisgett from Birmingham |
1545 The Spaniard Íñigo Ortíz de Retes sailed along the north coast of New Guinea as far as the Mamberamo River, near which he landed on June 20, 1545, naming the island 'Nueva Guinea'.
The first European contact with New Guinea was by Portuguese and Spanish sailors in the 16th century. In 1526-27, the Portuguese explorer Jorge de Meneses saw the western tip of New Guinea and named it ilhas dos Papuas.
1632 George Calvert, 1st Lord Baltimore sought a charter from Charles I of England for the territory between Pennsylvania and Virginia in the early 1630s. Calvert, a Catholic in a time of religious persecution of Catholics in England, envisioned a new colony where people of all faiths could live in freedom, tolerance and safety. After George Calvert died the charter was granted to his son, Cecil Calvert, 2nd Baron Baltimore on June 20, 1632. The new "Maryland Colony" was named in honor of Charles I's queen Henrietta Maria.
1756 When regular fights with French forces started, the British began to upgrade their fortifications. When this was protested, the Nawab of Bengal Siraj-Ud-Daulah attacked and captured Fort William in Calcutta. This led to the infamous Black Hole of Calcutta incident where 146 British and Anglo-Indian soldiers and civilians were held overnight on June 20, 1756 in conditions so cramped that 123 of them died from suffocation, heat exhaustion and crush injuries.
 |
| Black Hole of Calcutta |
1775 Thomas Jefferson studied law in colonial Virginia and after being admitted to the bar of the General Court of Virginia in 1767, he lived with his mother at the Shadwell family home. His practice took him up and down the Valley from Staunton to Winchester. Besides practicing law, Jefferson began his political career when he represented Albemarle County in the Virginia House of Burgesses beginning on May 11, 1769 and ending June 20, 1775.
1819 When The SS Savannah holds the distinction of being the first steamship to cross the Atlantic Ocean. It embarked on its historic journey on May 22, 1819, from Savannah, Georgia, in the United States. The vessel was a hybrid, meaning it had both steam power and sails. While steam propulsion was utilized during certain parts of the voyage, the majority of the journey was still made using traditional sailing methods.
 |
| SS Savannah, the first steam powered ship to cross the Atlantic Ocean—1819 |
1837 King William IV of the UK and Hanover died in the early hours of the morning of June 20, 1837 at Windsor Castle. He was succeeded in the UK by his niece, Queen Victoria as all his eight surviving children were illegitimate. William was the last Englishman to be King of Hanover where he was succeeded by his brother Ernest Augustus, as Hanoverian law did not allow rule by a woman.
1837 Queen Victoria succeeded her uncle William IV on the English throne on June 20, 1837, She wrote in her diary, On Victoria's succession to the throne Hanover became separated from England as female succession was not allowed in the German state. After her first Privy Council meeting officials presented documents naming her Alexandrina Victoria. She told them to cross out the Alexandrina.
1837 Queen Victoria wrote wrote in her diary on June 20, 1837, "I was awoke at 6 o'clock by Mamma, who told me the Archbishop of Canterbury and Lord Conyngham were here and wished to see me. I got out of bed and went into my sitting-room (only in my dressing gown) and alone, and saw them. Lord Conyngham then acquainted me that my poor Uncle, the King, was no more, and had expired at 12 minutes past 2 this morning, and consequently that I am Queen."
 |
| Victoria receives the news of her accession |
1863 West Virginia was once a part of the Confederate state of Virginia, but the majority of the residents were yeomen farmers, so it was an area of Union support. In 1862 Abraham Lincoln signed an act that admitted West Virginia to the Union, thus dividing Virginia in two. On June 20, 1863, West Virginia became the thirty-fifth state of the United States. It thus became the only US State to have seceded from a Confederate state.
1863 After the loss of his son and daughter, the composer Franz Liszt announced that he would retreat to a solitary living. He found it at the monastery Madonna del Rosario, just outside Rome, where on June 20, 1863, he took up quarters in a small, spartan apartment.
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| Liszt, photo by Franz Hanfstaengl, June 1867 |
1877 On June 20, 1877 Hugh Cossart Baker Jr. started the first commercial telephone service in Canada in Hamilton, Ontario, so he and his friends T. C. Mewburn and C. D. Cory could contact each other directly about their chess moves. Telegraph linemen string the single line from house to house across roofs, attached to trees and a few handily located telegraph poles.
1887 The Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria was celebrated on June 20 and 21, 1887. She began the first day with breakfast under the trees at Frogmore, the resting place of her husband, Prince Albert, near Windsor Castle, before a banquet at Buckingham Palace. On the second day, she led a procession and, in the evening, put on a gown embroidered with silver roses, thistles and shamrocks for a banquet and was then wheeled into the garden to watch the fireworks.
 |
| Queen Victoria's Golden Jubilee Service, Westminster Abbey, |
1894 Plague is an infectious disease that is caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. The Yersinia murine toxin allows the bacteria to infect fleas, which can then transmit bubonic plague. It is named after French-Swiss bacteriologist Alexandre Yersin, who announced his isolation on June 20, 1894 of the bacterium responsible for the plague.
1895 The 98 kilometer (61 mile) Kiel Canal, connecting the North Sea to the Baltic Sea across the base of the Jutland peninsula in Germany and the busiest artificial waterway in the world, was officially opened on June 20, 1895. An average of 460 kilometers (250 nautical miles) is saved by using the Kiel Canal instead of going around the Jutland Peninsula.
1908 After growing tired of ground coffee leftovers in her coffee cup, German housewife Melitta Bentz invented the paper coffee filter brewing system. Bentz experimented with different items but ended up using blotting paper from her son Willy's school exercise book and a brass pot punctured using a nail. Bentz was granted a patent on June 20, 1908, and set up a company with her husband and two sons as its first employees.
1925 Audie Leon Murphy, one of the most decorated American combat soldiers of World War II, was born on June 20, 1925.. He received every military combat award for valor available from the U.S. Army, as well as French and Belgian awards for heroism. Murphy received the Medal of Honor, the USA's highest and most prestigious personal military decoration, for valor that he demonstrated at the age of 19 for holding off an entire German company alone.
1944 A V-2 /A4-rocket became the first man-made object to reach space by crossing the Kármán line on June 20, 1944. Launched at Peenemünde, Germany, it reached an altitude of 189 km (117 miles) during its spaceflight.
1960 In January 1959, French colonies Senegal and the French Sudan joined together to form the Mali Federation. The new federation became fully independent on June 20, 1960, as a result of the independence and transfer of power agreement signed with France two months earlier. This did not last long and due to internal political difficulties, the Federation broke up on August 20, when Senegal and French Sudan (renamed the Republic of Mali) each broke apart into separate nations.
1967 The actress Nicole Kidman was born in Honolulu, Hawaii on June 20, 1967 while her Australian parents were temporarily in the United States on educational visas. As a result Kidman can claim citizenship in Australia and the United States. At school her nickname was 'Stalk' - at 13 she was already 5.9 inches. At 5'11" Kidman is taller than most actresses. Kidman's first movie was in 1983. It was called BMX Bandits.
1975 The film Jaws was released on June 20, 1975. The movie's release strategy and marketing campaign helped establish the concept of the summer blockbuster. It was one of the first films to receive a wide release in theaters across the United States simultaneously, accompanied by an extensive marketing campaign.
1985 President Ronald Reagan presented Mother Teresa with the Presidential Medal of Freedom at a White House ceremony on June 20, 1985. The Presidential Medal of Freedom is the highest civilian award in the United States, recognizing individuals who have made significant contributions to the nation or to world peace.
2005 Congo the Chimpanzee (1954-1964) was known for his "lyrical abstract impressionist" paintings. On June 20, 2005, Congo's paintings were included in an auction at Bonhams alongside works by Renoir and Warhol. American collector Howard Hong purchased three of Congo's works for over $26,000. One of Congo's paintings is below.
2011 A well-preserved Stradivarius violin was sold on June 20, 2011 in an online auction for £9.8 million ($15.9m) to raise money for disaster relief in Japan. The sale was a major success for the Nippon Foundation's Northeastern Japan Earthquake and Tsunami Relief Fund. The fund has raised over $1 billion to help rebuild the region and support victims of the earthquake and tsunami that struck Japan in March 2011.
2019 The Fender Stratocaster used by David Gilmour on many of Pink Floyd’s biggest hits broke the world record for any guitar sold at auction when it went under the hammer at Christie's on June 20, 2019. Known as "The Black Strat," it fetched a whopping $3,975,000. Gilmour originally purchased the Fender Stratocaster in 1970 at Manny's Music in New York. One year later, Gilmour's record was smashed when the acoustic-electric guitar played by Kurt Cobain for Nirvana's 1993 MTV Unplugged performance sold for just over $6.01 million.
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