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October 20
in history

Liz Truss resigns as British Prime Minister (2022), and Belgrade is liberated by Red Army and Yugoslav Partisan forces (1944). Born on this day: Kamala Harris, Arthur Rimbaud and Elfriede Jelinek. Died: Herbert Hoover, P.A.M. Dirac and Burt Lancaster.

29 events, 76 births and 62 deaths on this date.

2022

Liz Truss resigns as British Prime Minister

Amid a growing government crisis, Truss gave up the premiership and Conservative leadership after just 49 days, the briefest tenure of any British prime minister. She had taken over from Boris Johnson only weeks earlier, in September.

Prime Minister's Office · OGL 3

Events

  1. 1944

    Belgrade is liberated by Red Army and Yugoslav Partisan forces

    After fierce street fighting, Soviet troops and Tito's Yugoslav Partisans took the Serbian capital from German control. The city's recapture opened the way for Allied forces to push further into the Balkans.

  2. 1973

    Queen Elizabeth II formally opens the Sydney Opera House

    The Danish-designed harbourside landmark was officially opened by the Queen, sixteen years after Jørn Utzon won the international design competition. Its sail-like roofs have made it one of the most recognised buildings in the world.

    W. Bulach · CC BY-SA 4.0
  3. 1944

    Douglas MacArthur comes ashore on Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return

    American forces landed on Leyte in the Philippines, and General Douglas MacArthur waded ashore with them, making good on his vow to come back after the 1942 retreat. The landing opened the campaign to retake the islands from Japanese control.

    Photographer not credited. · Public domain
  4. 2024

    Prabowo Subianto and Gibran Rakabuming Raka sworn in as Indonesia's president and vice president

    Prabowo Subianto, a former general, took office as Indonesia's president alongside Gibran Rakabuming Raka, who became the youngest vice president in the country's history. Prabowo, at 72, was the oldest person to assume the office.

  5. 1882

    Bela Lugosi is born in Hungary

    Born in Hungary, Lugosi became the screen Count Dracula in the 1931 film. He went on to a long run of horror pictures, though his thick accent and that role narrowed the parts offered to him.

    Fortepan adományozó SALY NOÉMI · Public domain
  6. 1740

    Maria Theresa ascends the Habsburg throne under the Pragmatic Sanction

    In the app
  7. 1827

    Allied fleet destroys Ottoman and Egyptian ships at Navarino

    In the app
  8. 1944

    US forces land on Leyte, starting the Philippines campaign

    In the app

23 more events on October 20

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Born on October 20

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  • Kamala Harris
    1964 · Politician

    Kamala Harris

    Kamala Harris is an American lawyer and Democrat who became the first woman, first Black American and first Asian American vice president, serving under Joe Biden. She was earlier California's attorney general and a US senator, and was the 2024 Democratic nominee for president.

    Lawrence Jackson · Public domain
  • Arthur Rimbaud
    1854 – 1891 · Poet

    Arthur Rimbaud

    Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet who wrote his most important work before turning twenty, then left literature behind. He is remembered for Illuminations and A Season in Hell, which shaped modern poetry, and for his stormy friendship with fellow poet Paul Verlaine.

    Étienne Carjat · Public domain

Died on October 20

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  • Herbert Hoover
    1874 – 1964 · Politician

    Herbert Hoover

    Hoover was the 31st US president, whose term was overshadowed by the Great Depression. Before politics he was a mining engineer who later fed millions across war-torn Europe.

    Underwood & Underwood · Public domain
  • P.A.M. Dirac
    1902 – 1984 · Mathematician

    P.A.M. Dirac

    Dirac was a theoretical physicist whose work helped lay the groundwork for quantum theory. His 1928 equation united quantum mechanics with special relativity and predicted antimatter, and he shared the 1933 Nobel Prize in Physics.

    Nobel Foundation · Public domain
  • Burt Lancaster
    1913 – 1994 · Film producer

    Burt Lancaster

    Burt Lancaster was an American actor who started as a circus acrobat and became a Hollywood leading man. He is remembered for From Here to Eternity, The Killers and Elmer Gantry, which earned him an Academy Award for Best Actor.

    Hal Wallis Productions · Public domain

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