October 20
1803
The Senate ratified the Louisiana Purchase.
1944
Gen. Douglas MacArthur returned to the Philippines, 30 months after he said “I shall return.”
1947
The U.S. House Un-American Activities Committee opened meetings about alleged Communist infiltration in the Hollywood film industry.
1964
The 31st president of the United States, Herbert Hoover, died in New York at age 90.
1968
Jacqueline Kennedy married Aristotle Onassis.
1973
During the Watergate scandal, Attorney General Elliot L. Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William B. Ruckelshaus resigned and special prosecutor Archibald Cox was dismissed by President Nixon in what came to be known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.”
2011
Col. Muammar el-Qaddafi is killed by rebel troops in Surt, Libya, his hometown.
Birthdays
Sir Christopher Wren
1632–1723, English architect.
Arthur Rimbaud
poet (1854)
John Dewey
philosopher, educator (1859)
Charles Ives
composer (1874)
Bela Lugosi
actor (1882)
Jelly Roll Morton
musician (1890)
Arlene Francis
actor, TV personality (1907)
Art Buchwald
humorist (1925)
Mickey Mantle
baseball player (1931)
Elfriede Jelinek
novelist and playwright (1946)
Tom Petty
musician (1950)
Viggo Mortensen
actor (1958)
Snoop Doggy Dogg
rap artist (1972)