Historical Events - September 20

1633: Galileo was tried for claiming that the earth revolves around the sun.

1857: Indian Rebellion of 1857 – British (East India Company) troops retook Delhi.

1878: G. Subramania Iyer founded ‘The Hindu’ English newspaper.

1928: In Rome, the supreme legislative body, the Chamber of Deputies, was taken over by the Fascists.

1946: The first Cannes Film Festival opened.

1977: Vietnam joined the United Nations.

1979: Africa’s most bizarre dictator, self-styled Emperor Jean-Bedel Bokassa of the Central African Empire, was overthrown today in a coup by his cousin, David Dacko.

2001: The US declared ‘war on terror’.

 

Famous Birthdays – September 20

1911: Shriram Sharma, Indian philosopher, and activist.

1909: Gulabdas Harjivandas Broker, Indian-Gujarati writer, and critic. 

1923: Akkineni Nageshwar Rao, Indian actor, and producer.

1925: Ananda Mahidol, King Rama VIII of Thialand.

1934: Rajinder Puri, Indian cartoonist, journalist, and activist.

1934: Sophia Loren, the Italian actress who married to the man who groomed her for stardom, Carlo Ponti, won an Oscar for ‘Two Women’ and proved her abilities as a comedienne in ‘The millionairess.’

1943: Jayant Hazarika, Indian singer.

1946: Markandey Katju, Indian lawyer and Justice.

1946: Sant Rajinder Singh Ji Maharaj, Spiritual Master, Head of Science of Spirituality.

1948: Mahesh Bhatt, Indian film director, producer, and screenwriter.

1952: Shekhar Basu, Indian nuclear scientist.

 

Death Anniversaries – September 20

1810:  Mir Muhammad Taqi Mir, an Urdu poet of the 18th century Mughal India, and one of the pioneers who gave shape to the Urdu language itself.

1863: Jacob Ludwig Karl Grimm, a German philologist, jurist, and mythologist. He is known as the discoverer of Grimm’s Law of linguistics.

1928: Narayana Guru, also known as Shree Narayana Guru Swami, was a spiritual leader, saint and social reformer from Kerala, India.

1933:  Annie Besant, a British socialist, theosophist, women’s rights activist, writer, orator, educationist, and philanthropist. Regarded as a champion of human freedom, she was an ardent supporter of both Irish and Indian self-rule.

1942: Kanaklata Barua, an Indian independence activist and AISF leader.

1979: Ludwig Svoboda, Czechoslovakian President.

2015: Jagmohan Dalmiya, Indian entrepreneur. He had served as president of BCCI and ICC.