On This Day — February 20
4260 noted people were born and 2039 died on February 20 in our archive, including Feng Depei, Ludwig Boltzmann and Abraham Alikhanov.
Lists people with a recorded full birth or death date; people known only by year are not included.
Born on February 20
Feng Depei
1907 – 1995
Ludwig Boltzmann
1844 – 1906
Abraham Alikhanov
1904 – 1970
Alexey Favorsky
1860 – 1945
Andrew C. Fabian
b. 1948
Christoph Steinbeck
b. 1966
Cristovam Buarque
b. 1944
Denis Wirtz
b. 1965
Duncan J. Watts
b. 1971
Ernst Rudolf von Trautvetter
1809 – 1889
Ezra Levant
b. 1972
Frederick Crews
1933 – 2024
Friedrich Wetter
b. 1928
George F. Smoot
1945 – 2025
Helen Murray Free
1923 – 2021
Henry Eyring
1901 – 1981
Inge Lønning
1938 – 2013
Jiří Drahoš
b. 1949
John Browne, Baron Browne of Madingley
b. 1948
John Milnor
b. 1931
Ken Olsen
1926 – 2011
Madan Lal Puri
b. 1929
Marius Roustan
1870 – 1942
Marjan Schwegman
b. 1951
Mikhail Vladimirsky
1874 – 1951
Mitch McConnell
b. 1942
Odo Russell, 1st Baron Ampthill
1829 – 1884
Pedr Ap Llwyd
b. 1957
Rafael Escuredo Rodríguez
b. 1944
René Dubos
1901 – 1982
Richard Lynn
1930 – 2023
Robert Huber
b. 1937
Robert Plomin
b. 1948
Roberto Ampuero Espinoza
b. 1953
Samuel Siegmund Rosenstein
1832 – 1906
Sharpe James
1936 – 2025
Thomas Barclay
1853 – 1941
Thomas F. Rosenbaum
b. 1955
Tony Wilson
1950 – 2007
Trevor Noah
b. 1984
Walter Curran Mendenhall
1871 – 1957
Éleuthère Mascart
1837 – 1908
Adam Black
1784 – 1874
Adolf Tachezy
1814 – 1892
Aleksandr Pavlovich Aleksandrov
b. 1943
Aleksandra Natalli-Świat
1959 – 2010
Alessandro Mattei
1744 – 1820
Alessandro d'Ancona
1835 – 1914
Alexander Abramov
b. 1959
Alexander Gauland
b. 1941
Alexander Vedyakhin
b. 1977
Alfredo Pizzoni
1894 – 1958
Amram Mitzna
b. 1945
Andrei Shleifer
b. 1961
Andrew Delbanco
b. 1952
Anthony Costello
b. 1953
Antonio Guzmán Blanco
1829 – 1899
Arbo Valdma
b. 1942
Arif Babayev
1938 – 2025
Armin Thurnher
b. 1949
Ayman Hazza' al-Majali
b. 1949
Babill Stray-Pedersen
1943 – 2019
Boris Pankin
b. 1931
Boris Trakhtenbrot
1921 – 2016
Carles Ensenyat Reig
b. 1985
Carmen Giménez
b. 1971
Catherine Z. Elgin
b. 1948
Charles Hubbard Judd
1873 – 1946
Christopher A. Pissarides
b. 1948
Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney
1899 – 1992
Cui Yongyuan
b. 1963
Damyan Velchev
1883 – 1954
David Corn
b. 1959
David Kertzer
b. 1948
Deborah Berke
b. 1954
Dionisio Anzilotti
1867 – 1950
Edward Conradi
1869 – 1944
Elizaveta Glinka
1962 – 2016
Ellen Gilchrist
1935 – 2024
Enrique Múgica
1932 – 2020
Eugen Barbu
1924 – 1993
Forbes Burnham
1923 – 1985
George Ciamba
1966 – 2021
Gerhart Eisler
1897 – 1968
Gijs Bakker
b. 1942
Gintaras Rinkevičius
b. 1960
Guy-Victor Duperré
1775 – 1846
Gérard Araud
b. 1953
Hans Pischner
1914 – 2016
Hans Zeiger
b. 1985
Hennadii Balashov
1961 – 2025
Henri Martin
1810 – 1883
Henrik Dahl
b. 1960
Henry Rawlinson, 1st Baron Rawlinson
1864 – 1925
Hitoshi Motoshima
1922 – 2014
Hugh Lyon Playfair
1787 – 1861
Hugh Macmillan, Baron Macmillan
1873 – 1952
Ibrahim Maygaag Samatar
1942 – 2011
Ida Bagus Putu Dunia
b. 1957
Ihor Miroshnychenko
b. 1976
Ivan Bokyi
1942 – 2020
Ivan Evstratiev Geshov
1849 – 1924
Ivano Dionigi
b. 1948
J. William Stanton
1924 – 2002
Jaap Renaud
1911 – 2007
Jacob Perry
b. 1944
James Devereux
1903 – 1988
Jason Blum
b. 1969
Jay Johnson Morrow
1870 – 1937
Jean Erdman
1916 – 2020
Jean Kennedy Smith
1928 – 2020
Jean-Marie Beaudet
1908 – 1971
Jesús Cardenal Fernández
1930 – 2018
Joanna Roper
b. 1969
Johann Heinrich Voss
1751 – 1826
John Gieve
b. 1950
John Pakington, 1st Baron Hampton
1799 – 1880
Jonny Löhr
1899 – 1967
José Medeiros Ferreira
1942 – 2014
Jānis Balodis
1881 – 1965
K. M. Chandrasekhar
b. 1948
K. M. Phadke
1936 – 2022
Kanwal Singh Bakshi
b. 1964
Klas Östergren
b. 1955
Laureano Gómez
1889 – 1965
Leanne Armand
1968 – 2022
Lev Shcherba
1880 – 1944
Lim Kit Siang
b. 1941
Lisa Singh
b. 1972
Loes Ypma
b. 1980
Lord Claud Hamilton
1843 – 1925
Louis Kahn
1901 – 1974
Louis Le Chatelier
1815 – 1873
Lucie Höflich
1883 – 1956
Luigi Marattin
b. 1979
Luis Bedoya Reyes
1919 – 2021
Madhur Mittal
b. 1991
Mansukh C. Wani
1925 – 2020
Marina Denikina
1919 – 2005
Mark Surman
b. 1969
Mary Abukutsa-Onyango
b. 1959
Mathias Lerch
1860 – 1922
Mau-Chung Frank Chang
b. 1951
Mehdi Kouchakzadeh
b. 1959
Melissa Benn
b. 1957
Michelle Lensink
b. 1970
Mohamed Naguib
1901 – 1984
Natalia Zabila
1903 – 1985
Nathaniel Shaler
1841 – 1906
Neus Ballús i Montserrat
b. 1980
Osita Iheme
b. 1982
Paolo Romeo
b. 1938
Patricia A. Thiel
1953 – 2020
Paweł Wypych
1968 – 2010
Per Mollerup
b. 1942
Peter Freuchen
1886 – 1957
Philip Kitcher
b. 1947
Pierre Antoine Favre
1813 – 1880
Pompeu Fabra
1868 – 1948
Ravindra K. Ahuja
b. 1956
Renato Sabbatini
b. 1947
Riccardo Chailly
b. 1953
Robin Weiss
1940 – 2026
Roy H. McVicker
1924 – 1973
Samuel Swett Green
1837 – 1918
Sean Wilentz
b. 1951
Shōji Kawamori
b. 1960
Sidney Herbert, 14th Earl of Pembroke
1853 – 1913
Sim Sang-jung
b. 1959
Siobhain McDonagh
b. 1960
Sir Robert Hart, 1st Baronet
1835 – 1911
Sone Arasuke
1849 – 1910
Steve Jurczyk
1962 – 2023
Susan Dowdell Myrick
1893 – 1978
Tamara Adrián
b. 1954
Tania De Rozario
b. 1982
Thomas Cajetan
1469 – 1534
Thomas J. McIntyre
1915 – 1992
Valentin Belousov
1925 – 1988
Vincent Massey
1887 – 1967
Vittorio Bachelet
1926 – 1980
Vladimir Martynov
b. 1946
William Lygon, 7th Earl Beauchamp
1872 – 1938
William McDonough
b. 1951
William R. Roush
b. 1952
Yoshifu Arita
b. 1952
Yukhym Zvyahilskyi
1933 – 2021
Zlata Bartl
1920 – 2008
A. L. Bennett
1924 – 2008
Abd ar-Rahman al-Bazzaz
1913 – 1973
Abraham Quintanilla
1939 – 2025
Adam Rogacki
b. 1976
Adrian Lamo
1981 – 2018
Akofa Edjeani Asiedu
b. 1969
Alain Zenner
b. 1946
Alan Isaac
b. 1952
Albertus Jacobus Duymaer van Twist
1809 – 1887
Albin Rogelj
1929 – 2023
Aleksandr Pavlovich Bubnov
1908 – 1964
Aleksei Aleksandrovich Kozlov
1831 – 1901
… and 4,060 more
Died on February 20
Zigmas Zinkevičius
1925 – 2018
Charles Rockwell Lanman
1850 – 1941
Dmitry Manuilsky
1883 – 1959
Donella Meadows
1941 – 2001
Ernst Schmutzer
1930 – 2022
Eugene Forsey
1904 – 1991
Francesco Saverio Nitti
1868 – 1953
Gerhard Meyer-Schwickerath
1920 – 1992
Gilbert Kaenel
1949 – 2020
Heinrich Barkhausen
1881 – 1956
Henri Moissan
1852 – 1907
Horace Davey, Baron Davey
1833 – 1907
Imrich Karvaš
1903 – 1981
Jean-Claude Pecker
1923 – 2020
Joaquim Pina Moura
1952 – 2020
Maria Göppert Mayer
1906 – 1972
Mikishi Abe
1883 – 1965
Mildred Dresselhaus
1930 – 2017
Osmo Antero Wiio
1928 – 2013
René Dubos
1901 – 1982
René Jeannel
1879 – 1965
Sadri Maksudi Arsal
1878 – 1957
Thomas George Roddick
1846 – 1923
Thomas Willmore
1919 – 2005
Yevgeny Kozlovsky
1929 – 2022
A. J. Casson
1898 – 1992
Adone Zoli
1887 – 1960
Alexander Dmitrievich Zinoviev
1854 – 1931
Alexander Haig
1924 – 2010
Alfred Maximilien Bonnet
1841 – 1917
Anthony Whitaker
1944 – 2014
Arthur Lee Dixon
1867 – 1955
Auguste Vallet de Viriville
1815 – 1868
Carroll Davidson Wright
1840 – 1909
Chester W. Nimitz
1885 – 1966
Claude François Chauveau-Lagarde
1756 – 1841
David Boren
1941 – 2025
David Emrys Evans
1891 – 1965
Derek Jackson
1906 – 1982
Dimitar Peshev
1894 – 1973
Dominick Argento
1927 – 2019
Donat Wentzel
1934 – 2013
Dorothy Runk Mennen
1915 – 2011
Edwin "Pa" Watson
1883 – 1945
Eliab Harvey
1758 – 1830
Eljas Erkko
1895 – 1965
Ernest J. Harris
1928 – 2018
Eugene R. Black, Sr.
1898 – 1992
Eugène Scribe
1791 – 1861
Eustachy Sapieha
1881 – 1963
F. Albert Cotton
1930 – 2007
Ferenc Fricsay
1914 – 1963
Francesco Grazioli
1869 – 1951
Francis Channing, 1st Baron Channing of Wellingborough
1841 – 1926
Frank Martin Williams
1873 – 1930
François Perrier
1833 – 1888
Georg Friedrich Knapp
1842 – 1926
Gyulli Mubaryakova
1936 – 2019
Harry Klinefelter
1912 – 1990
Henri de Saussure
1829 – 1905
Henry Bruce, 2nd Baron Aberdare
1851 – 1929
Henry Drummond
1786 – 1860
Henry Harrison
1867 – 1954
Herbert Ehrenberg
1926 – 2018
Hermann Franz Moritz Kopp
1817 – 1892
Hormidas Laporte
1850 – 1934
Iosif Gusakovsky
1904 – 1995
Jacques Dumoulin
1898 – 1988
Jan Aleksander Lipski
1690 – 1746
Jan Bystrek
1934 – 2020
Jean Cabanis
1816 – 1906
Jean Jacques Dortous de Mayran
1678 – 1771
Jerzy Passendorfer
1923 – 2003
Joan Huber
1925 – 2026
Johanna Dohnal
1939 – 2010
John Hitt
1940 – 2023
John White Brockenbrough
1806 – 1877
Joseph Hume
1777 – 1855
José Ramón Rodil, 1st Marquis of Rodil
1789 – 1853
Juliusz Bursche
1862 – 1942
Józef Michał Chomiński
1906 – 1994
Kaneko Tōta
1919 – 2018
Ken Young
1943 – 2019
Kenneth F. Cramer
1894 – 1954
Kiran Shankar Roy
1891 – 1949
Koos Rietkerk
1927 – 1986
Leonard Woolley
1880 – 1960
Louis Adolphe le Doulcet, comte de Pontécoulant
1795 – 1882
Mani Shankar Mukherjee
1933 – 2026
Mihai Ciucă
1883 – 1969
Mikhail Stepanovich Voronin
1838 – 1903
Nicholas Bacon
1510 – 1579
Orville Freeman
1918 – 2003
Paul Marquard Schlegel
1605 – 1653
Percy Cox
1864 – 1937
Percy Grainger
1882 – 1961
Philip William, Prince of Orange
1554 – 1618
Pierre Dervaux
1917 – 1992
Rex Scouten
1924 – 2013
Robert Grier Stephens, Jr.
1913 – 2003
Robert Peary
1856 – 1920
Roderick Stephen Hall
1915 – 1945
Rodolphe Lindt
1855 – 1909
Sandra Dee
1942 – 2005
Sarat Chandra Bose
1889 – 1950
Semyon Gershteyn
1929 – 2023
Serhii Kemskyi
1981 – 2014
Sir Charles Fergusson, 7th Baronet
1865 – 1951
Sofía Ímber
1924 – 2017
Stanhope Bayne-Jones
1888 – 1970
Travers Humphreys
1867 – 1956
Tōru Takemitsu
1930 – 1996
Vasily Lebedev-Kumach
1898 – 1949
Victor Hay, 21st Earl of Erroll
1876 – 1928
Victor von Wahl
1840 – 1915
Vitaly Churkin
1952 – 2017
Vitorino Nemésio
1901 – 1978
Vladimir Druzhnikov
1922 – 1994
Vyacheslav Malyshev
1902 – 1957
Walton Newbold
1888 – 1943
Wilhelm Groth
1904 – 1977
Willem Rudolfs
1886 – 1959
William Wentworth-Fitzwilliam, 6th Earl Fitzwilliam
1815 – 1902
Émile Keller
1828 – 1909
Adele Schreiber
1872 – 1957
Alexander Tamanian
1878 – 1936
Alfhild Hovdan
1904 – 1982
Ameen Sayani
1932 – 2024
Amos L. Allen
1837 – 1911
Anders Wedberg
1913 – 1978
Anfinn Kallsberg
1947 – 2024
Anna Saulowna Lyuboshits
1887 – 1975
Anthony Maas
1858 – 1927
Antoine Blatin
1769 – 1846
Antonio Abetti
1846 – 1928
Arthur A. Schuck
1895 – 1963
Arthur George Klein
1904 – 1968
Arthur Hall Smith
1929 – 2013
Augusto Bartolo
1883 – 1937
Bartle Henry Temple Frere
1862 – 1953
Baruch Uziel
1901 – 1977
Bertrand-Rambaud V de Simiane
1513 – 1578
Bill Mazeroski
1936 – 2026
Bob Beckel
1948 – 2022
Café Filho
1899 – 1970
Carl Lachmund
1853 – 1928
Carlo Emanuele III of Sardinia
1701 – 1773
Charles Egerton
1848 – 1921
Charles Gordon, 11th Marquess of Huntly
1847 – 1937
Charles Knowlton
1800 – 1850
Charles L. Bouton
1869 – 1922
Charles White
1728 – 1813
Claude Goretta
1929 – 2019
Clement E. Stretton
1850 – 1915
Curt Gowdy
1919 – 2006
David Caron
1952 – 2018
David Ford Jones
1818 – 1887
David M. Camp
1788 – 1871
David McClure
1926 – 1998
David Monrad Johansen
1888 – 1974
David Pye
1886 – 1960
Dick Triptow
1922 – 2015
Donald Murray
1923 – 2018
Douglas Turner Ward
1930 – 2021
Dwight H. Green
1897 – 1958
Edmund McNamara
1920 – 2000
Edward L. Atkinson
1881 – 1929
Edward P. Hagan
1846 – 1893
Edward Russell, 1st Baron Russell of Liverpool
1834 – 1920
Edwin H. May, Jr.
1924 – 2002
Ellis L. Johnson
1938 – 2024
Emil Selenka
1842 – 1902
Emilios T. Harlaftis
1965 – 2005
Emmy Andriesse
1914 – 1953
Enrique Martínez
1887 – 1938
Ernest Ansermet
1883 – 1969
Eugen Schmalenbach
1873 – 1955
Eugène-Louis Millet
1819 – 1879
Fang Zhaoling
1914 – 2006
Federico Degetau
1862 – 1914
Felix Salmond
1888 – 1952
Fernando Cardenal
1934 – 2016
Fikret Amirov
1922 – 1984
Francisco Mañosa
1931 – 2019
Francisco Tongio Liongson
1869 – 1919
Frederick Douglass
1817 – 1895
Garrick Utley
1939 – 2014
Gejza Fritz
1880 – 1957
Georg Albert Lücke
1829 – 1894
George Hoadley
1781 – 1857
George L. Blackburn
1936 – 2017
George McClellan
1856 – 1927
George Richard Crooks
1822 – 1897
Georges Vacher de Lapouge
1854 – 1936
Gerald Cardinale
1934 – 2021
Gerard Lake, 1st Viscount Lake
1744 – 1808
Germaine Poinso-Chapuis
1901 – 1981
Gervan McMillan
1904 – 1951
Grantley Berkeley
1800 – 1881
Gérard Calvi
1922 – 2015
… and 1,839 more