Daily Calendar for Friday, August 20, 2027

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Daily Calendar

View daily calendar information including holidays, advice, and daily features.

Friday, August 20, 2027

Born

  • Benjamin Harrison (23rd U.S. president) –
  • Edgar Guest (poet) –
  • Don King (boxing promoter) –
  • Isaac Hayes (singer) –
  • Connie Chung (journalist) –
  • Robert Plant (singer) –
  • Al Roker (co-anchor and TV weatherman) –
  • Joan Allen (actress) –
  • Billy Gardell (actor) –
  • Amy Adams (actress) –

Died

  • Pope Pius X (religious leader) –
  • Sir Fred Hoyle (English astronomer; died in Bournemouth, U.K.) –
  • Somporn Saekow (founder of first Thailand monkey-training school) –
  • Joe Rosenthal (photojournalist who won a Pulitzer Prize for the image of World War II servicemen raising an American flag over Iwo Jima. The photo became the model for the Marine Corps War Memorial) –
  • Leona Helmsley (hotel magnate) –
  • Phyllis Diller (comedienne & actress) –
  • Elmore Leonard (author) –
  • Jerry Lewis (American comedian; died in Las Vegas, Nevada) –

Events

  • The 1812 Overture debuted in Moscow –
  • Strowger firm applied for a patent for the first telephone rotary dial –
  • The Plant Quarantine Act came into effect, placing restrictions on the entry of plants into the U.S. –
  • German forces occupied Brussels –
  • Project Manhigh II completed –
  • 563-lb. 8-oz. giant sea bass caught near Anacapa Island, California –
  • The unmanned U.S. planetary probe Viking 1 was launched on a journey to Mars. After nearly a year in space, it became the first vehicle to land on that planet –
  • Jellyfish invaded the beaches of Connecticut, Rhode Island, and Long Island –
  • Talk show host Regis Philbin achieved the Guinness World Record for most hours on camera –
  • Parade of 83 tow trucks set a world record in Wenatchee, Washington –

Weather

  • Salt crystals fell from the sky over Switzerland –
  • The town of Indianola, Texas, was completely destroyed by a hurricane and fire –
  • Deadly tornado hit Sudbury, Ontario –
  • Historic heatwave roasts the central United States, with high temperatures combining with high dewpoints to create Heat Indices as high as 134°F (Lawrenceville, Kansas: Aug. 20, Aug. 21). – , – , – , – , –
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