On This Day November 20th

 OTD

November 20th is the three hundredth twenty-fourth day of the year, and there are 41 days remaining until the end of the year.

 

Events

 1407 – John the Fearless, Duke of Burgundy, and Louis of Valois, Duke of Orléans, agree to a truce, but Burgundy would kill Orléans three days later.

1441 – The Peace of Cremona ends the war between the Republic of Venice and the Duchy of Milan after the victorious Venetian enterprise of military engineering of the Galeas per montes.

1695 – Zumbi, the last of the leaders of Quilombo dos Palmares in early Brazil, is executed by the forces of Portuguese Bandeirante Domingos Jorge Velho.

1789 – New Jersey becomes the first U.S. state to ratify the Bill of Rights.

1805 – Beethoven's only opera, Fidelio, premieres in Vienna.

1917—World War I: The Battle of Cambrai begins. British forces made early progress in attacking German positions but were later pushed back.

1945 – Nuremberg trials: Trials against 24 Nazi war criminals start at the Palace of Justice at Nuremberg.

1968 – A total of 78 miners were killed in an explosion at the Consolidated Coal Company's No. 9 mine in Farmington, West Virginia, in the Farmington Mine disaster.

1977—Egyptian President Anwar Sadat became the first Arab leader to visit Israel officially when he met Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin and spoke before the Knesset in Jerusalem, seeking a permanent peace settlement.

1985 – Microsoft Windows 1.0, the first graphical personal computer operating environment developed by Microsoft, is released.

1992—In England, a fire breaks out in Windsor Castle, damaging the castle and causing over £50 million.

2016 – Jimmie Johnson wins his seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time.

 

Birthdays

270 – Maximinus II, Roman emperor (d. 313)

1602 – Otto von Guericke, German physicist and politician (d. 1686)

1715 – Pierre Charles Le Monnier, French astronomer (d. 1799)

1733 – Philip Schuyler, American general and senator (d. 1804)

1750 – Tipu Sultan, Indian ruler (d. 1799)

1801 – Mungo Ponton, Scottish inventor (d. 1880)

1851 – John Merle Coulter, American botanist (d. 1928)

1866 – Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American lawyer and judge (d. 1944)

1886 – Karl von Frisch, Austrian-German ethnologist and zoologist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1982)

1908 – Alistair Cooke, British-American journalist and author (d. 2004)

1916 – Donald T. Campbell, American social scientist (d. 1996)

1939 – Jerry Colangelo, American businessman

1946 – Duane Allman, American singer-songwriter and guitarist (d. 1971)

1975 – Dierks Bentley, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

  

 

Holiday Highlight

 National Absurdity Day

Absurdism began in the 19th century with Danish philosopher Kierkegaard, who explored the quest for meaning in a meaningless universe. This philosophy influenced the rise of movements such as the Theater of the Absurd and Surrealism during the 1950s and 1960s, leading to works like “Waiting for Godot,” where characters wait for someone they never meet.

National Absurdity Day is an opportunity to embrace a philosophy that rejects traditional order and norms, allowing people to experience life unconventionally. While it can be difficult to define absurdism, celebrating this day often takes place in elementary schools, where individuals can explore its meaning without facing severe consequences, unlike in the adult world.

 

Holidays And Observance

Africa Industrialization Day

Beautiful Day

Future Teachers of America Day

Globally Organized Hug a Runner Day (G.O.H.A.R.D.)

Name Your PC Day

National Absurdity Day

National Educational Support Professionals Day  

National Peanut Butter Fudge Day

Universal Children's Day