Robert Shaw In A Scene From 'Jaws'

1975

“Jaws” released in theaters

Born on This Day

Paramount+ "Special Ops: Lioness" - European Launch Screening

Nicole Kidman

1967 -

Oscar-winning actress known for her roles in "Moulin Rouge!" "The Hours" and "To Die For."

LIONEL RICHIE

Lionel Richie

1949 -

Singer-songwriter who has sold over 100 million records with hits like "Easy," "All Night Long," "Hello" and "We Are the World."

War Hero and Actor Audie Murphy

Audie Murphy

1925 - 1971

One of the most decorated American soldiers of WWII, who later starred in films including "The Red Badge of Courage."

Nicole Kidman

Mike Marsland/WireImage

Lionel Richie

ABC via Getty Images

Audie Murphy

Bettmann Archive

1893

JUN

20

After a sensationaized trial, a New Bedford, Massachusetts, jury acquits Lizzie Borden of murdering her father and stepmother with a hatchet. The house where the killings took place lives on as a spooky bed and breakfast.

Timeline

Also on This Day in History

Discover more of the major events, famous births, notable deaths and everything else history-making that happened on June 20th

1782

Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States

On June 20, 1782, Congress adopts the Great Seal of the United States after six years of discussion. The front of the seal depicts a bald eagle clutching an olive branch in its right talon and arrows in its left. On its breast appears a shield marked with 13 vertical red and white stripes topped […]

1:52m read

1789

Third Estate makes Tennis Court Oath

In Versailles, France, the deputies of the Third Estate, which represent commoners and the lower clergy, meet on the Jeu de Paume, an indoor tennis court, in defiance of King Louis XVI’s order to disperse. In these modest surroundings, they took the historic Tennis Court Oath, with which they agreed not to disband until a […]

1:16m read

1863

West Virginia enters the Union

During the Civil War, West Virginia is admitted into the Union as the 35th U.S. state, or the 24th state if the secession of the 11 Southern states were taken into account. The same day, Arthur Boreman was inaugurated as West Virginia’s first state governor. Settlement of the western lands of Virginia came gradually in […]

1:16m read

1875

Mountain man Joe Meek dies

A skilled practitioner of the frontier art of the tall tale, the mountain man Joe Meek dies on his farm in Oregon. His life was nearly as adventurous as his stories claimed. Born in Virginia in 1810, Meek was a friendly and relentlessly good-humored young man, but he had too much rambunctious energy to do […]

2:40m read

1900

Boxer Rebellion reaches Peking’s diplomatic quarter

On June 20, 1900, Chinese nationalists behind the so-called Boxer Rebellion occupy the capital city of Peking (later Beijing), kill several Westerners—including German ambassador Baron von Ketteler—and besiege the foreign legations in the diplomatic quarter of the city. The occupation would last 55 days. In response to widespread foreign encroachment upon China’s national affairs, the […]

1919

German cabinet resigns over Versailles deadlock

On June 20, 1919, during the final days of the Versailles Peace Conference held in Paris, France, the German cabinet deadlocks over whether to accept the peace terms presented to its delegation by the other nations at the peace conference–most notably the Council of Four: France, Britain, the United States and Italy–and ratify the Versailles […]

2:22m read

1941

Ford signs first contract with autoworkers’ union

After a long and bitter struggle on the part of Henry Ford against cooperation with organized labor unions, Ford Motor Company signs its first contract with the United Automobile Workers of America and Congress of Industrial Organizations (UAW-CIO) on June 20, 1941. In 1935, President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s allies in Congress passed the landmark […]

1947

Bugsy Siegel, organized crime leader, is killed

Benjamin “Bugsy” Siegel, the man who brought organized crime to the West Coast, is shot and killed at his mistress Virginia Hill’s home in Beverly Hills, California. Siegel had been talking to his associate Allen Smiley when three bullets were fired through the window and into his head, killing him instantly. Siegel’s childhood had been […]

2:02m read

1963

United States and Soviet Union agree to establish a nuclear “hot line”

To lessen the threat of an accidental nuclear war, the United States and the Soviet Union agree to establish a “hot line” communication system between the two nations. The agreement was a small step in reducing tensions between the United States and the USSR following the October 1962 Missile Crisis in Cuba, which had brought […]

1981

Stars on 45 single reaches the top of the pop charts

Not so much a band as an audacious business plan, a group called Stars on 45 climbs all the way to the top of the U.S. pop charts on June 20, 1981, with a single whose impossibly long title takes almost as long to read as the song itself takes to play: “Medley: Intro ‘Venus’/Sugar […]

2:00m read

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