What Happened on February 20

Historical Events

1953 – August A. Busch buys St. Louis Cardinals MLB club from Fred Saigh for $3.75 million; pledges not to move the team from St. Louis, Missouri
1975 – USSR performs nuclear test at Eastern Kazakh/Semipalitinsk USSR
1980 – Soviet cross-country skier Nikolay Zimyatov wins his 2nd gold medal of the Lake Placid Winter Olympics as part of the 4 x 10k relay; also wins 30k and 50k gold
1981 – James Sanford equals 50m indoor world record (5.61 sec)
2010 – On the Portuguese Atlantic island of Madeira heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, leaving at least 32 deaths in the worst disaster on the history of the archipelago.
2013 – Estonia becomes the first country to establish a national system of fast chargers for electric cars

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Famous Birthdays

1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet, British Poet Laureate (1790-1813), born in London (d. 1813)
1896 – Henri de Lubac, French Jesuit cardinal and theologist (“new theology” movement that influenced Second Vatican Council), born in Cambrai, France (d. 1991)
1926 – Cameron Rusby, British Vice-Admiral
1927 – Sidney Poitier, Bahamian-American actor, first black actor to win Oscar for Best Actor (‘Lillies in the Field’ – 1963; To Sir With Love”; “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner”), director (Stir Crazy), civil rights advocate, and diplomat, born in Miami, Florida (d. 2022)
1928 – Donald Longmore, British cardiac surgeon
1954 – Anthony Stewart Head, actor (Buffy the Vampire Slayer)

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Famous Deaths

1810 – Johann Friedrich Kranz, German composer, dies at 57
1937 – Barlow Carkeek, Australian cricket wicket-keeper (6 Tests, 6 dismissals; Victoria), dies when struck by a car at 58
1980 – Joseph Banks Rhine, American parapsychologist (Extra-Sensory Perception), dies at 84
2002 – Stephen Longstreet, American writer (All or Nothing), dies at 94
2007 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist, dies at 76
2013 – Antonio Roma, Argentinian footballer, dies at 80

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