Aug. 20
Today in history
Today is Aug. 20. On this date in:
1619: On or about this day, “20 and odd” kidnapped Angolans arrived on a Dutch ship at the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, to be forced into servitude. It was widely regarded as the beginning of African slavery in the United States. The voyage started with 350 captives; almost all died or were kidnapped a second time by pirates.
1858: Charles Darwin co-published the first outline of a theory of evolution. Published along with fellow scientist Alfred Russel Wallace, who had shared with Darwin his own independent work on the subject, it was met with little fanfare. Darwin developed the theory further and the following year published the landmark book “On the Origin of Species.”
1866:
The National Labor Union was founded in Baltimore and called on Congress to mandate an eight-hour workday, the first such demand. Although the group did not succeed – and folded only seven years later – it raised public awareness and birthed the American Federation of Labor.
1911: The first commercial telegram was sent around the world. The message left The New York Times building in New York City at 7 p.m. and was received 16 minutes later after traveling through 16 relays via the Azores, Gibraltar, India, Hawaii and San Francisco. It read: “This message sent around the world.”
1940: Leon Trotsky was fatally attacked in his Mexico City home by a Spanish communist wielding an ice ax. He died the next day. The Russian Revolution leader had been living in exile for 11 years. The Soviet government said it was not responsible, though that was widely doubted.
1954: President Dwight D. Eisenhower approved a National Security Council paper throwing support behind Ngo Dinh Diem, who had been appointed prime minister of Vietnam, soon South Vietnam. The goal of the support was to restore U.S. “prestige” in Southeast Asia and “prevent further losses to Communism.”
1960: The first live animals returned to Earth from a trip to space. The Soviet Sputnik 5 carried mutts Belka and Strelka, 40 mice and two rats. Soviet Premier Nikita Khrushchev later sent one of Strelka’s puppies to first lady Jackie Kennedy. Though a propaganda hero, Laika, the first dog in space, had been sent on a one-way mission.
1968: Approximately 200,000 Soviet-led troops and 5,000 tanks invaded Czechoslovakia and crushed the “Prague Spring,” the communist country’s brief period of liberalization. Protesters confronted tanks with flowers and took down street signs to confuse the soldiers, who killed more than 100 people.
1975: NASA launched the Viking 1 orbiter and lander to explore Mars. Almost one year later, it became the first spacecraft to successfully land on Mars. Viking 1 remained on Chryse Planitia for six years, taking photos and the first Martian soil samples.
1982: President Ronald Reagan ordered 800 Marines to Beirut to oversee the Palestinian and Syrian withdrawal during the Lebanese Civil War. Expected to be brief, the mission ended up lasting 17 months and resulting in the deaths of 262 U.S. servicemembers.
1989: The bullet-ridden bodies of Jose and Mary Louise “Kitty” Menendez were found in their Beverly Hills mansion. After seven years and three trials, a jury found their sons Lyle and Erik, sole beneficiaries of the multimillion-dollar estate, guilty. In 2024, Los Angeles prosecutors announced they were reviewing new evidence of alleged sexual abuse brought forth by the brothers’ attorneys.
– USA TODAY Network
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Today in history, August 20
