Menu
May 20
Explore
May 20
CalendarMajor Events
- 1498 Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Calicut, India becoming the first European to reach India by sea
- 1609 William Shakespeare's Sonnets are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by publisher Thomas Thorpe
- 1862 US President Abraham Lincoln signs into law the Homestead Act to provide cheap land for the settlement of the American West (80 million acres by 1900)
May 20 in Film & TV
- 1891 1st public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope to members of the National Federation of Women's Club
May 20 in Music
- 1983 "Every Breath You Take" single released by The Police (Billboard Song of the Year, 1983)
May 20 in Sport
- 1900 Second modern Summer Olympics (Games of the II Olympiad) opens in Paris and continues for 5 months
Did You Know?
The six ton chandelier of the Palais Garnier opera house in Paris falls on the crowd resulting in the death of one and the injury of many others
Articles, Photos and Quiz
May in History
Get Our Daily Email
ncG1vNJzZmivp6x7sLrToaCsnJGue6S7zGibmrFfoq66e5Fp