The Old Farmer's Almanac daily calendar gives you quick reference for the significant events on any day throughout the year.

Eclipse Dates for 2020

Summer Solstice

The summer solstice heralds the beginning of summer. In 2020, the solstice falls on June 20 at 5:44 P.M. (EDT). The timing of the solstice depends on when the Sun reaches its farthest point north of the equator. The word solstice is from the Latin solstitium, from sol (sun) and stitium (to stop), reflecting the fact that the Sun appears to stop at this time (and again at the winter solstice). In temperate regions, we notice that the Sun is higher in the sky throughout the day, and its rays strike Earth at a more direct angle, causing the efficient warming we call summer. In the winter, just the opposite occurs: The Sun is at its southernmost point and is low in the sky. Its rays hit the Northern Hemisphere at an oblique angle, creating the feeble winter sunlight.

Every Year

• West Virginia Day

• World Refugee Day

1780s

• 1782: Congress adopted the Great Seal of the United States

1830s

• 1837: Queen Victoria gained the British throne

1840s

• 1840: A patent for the telegraph was granted to Samuel Morse

1860s

• 1863: West Virginia was admitted to the Union as the 35th state

1880s

• 1887: Queen Victoria’s 2-day Golden Jubilee celebration began

1900s

• Born 1909: Errol Flynn (actor)

1920s

• Born 1928: Martin Landau (actor)

1940s

• Born 1942: Brian Wilson (singer)

• Born 1945: Anne Murray (singer)

• 1945: First "Baby Bonus" checks were sent to Canadian families

• Born 1946: Bob Vila (handyman)

• Died 1947: Bugsy Siegel (gangster)

• 1948: The microgroove, long-playing, Vinylite record, called the LP, was formally introduced at the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City by CBS (Columbia Records)

• Born 1949: Lionel Richie (singer)

1950s

• 1950: Fred H. Howard received a patent for a hybrid tea rose with "clear rose red color which does not fade or turn blue"

• Born 1952: John Goodman (actor)

1960s

• 1963: The U.S. and the Soviet Union signed an agreement in Geneva to establish a so-called "hot line" emergency communication system, linking Washington and Moscow

• Born 1967: Nicole Kidman (actress)

• 1967: New National Library of Canada building officially opened in Ottawa, Ontario

1970s

• Born 1971: Josh Lucas (actor)

• 1977: The first oil from Alaska's frozen north slope began flowing into the trans-Alaska pipeline system (TAPS)

1980s

• Born 1988: Shefali Chowdhury (actress; plays Parvati Patil in the Harry Potter movies)

2000s

• 2004: In Russia, Sir Paul McCartney performed his 3,000th gig

• Died 2005: Jack Kilby (the man who pioneered the development of the microchip and helped to create the first hand-held calculator)

• 2007: A minor earthquake (magnitude 1.0) shook the New Hampshire seacoast