Here’s a chronological timetable of events that occurred on this day in history. Let’s find out what happened today in history.

February 20

1792       The U.S. Postal Service is created.

1906       Russian troops seize large portions of Mongolia.

1918       The Soviet Red Army seizes Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.

1938       Hitler demands self-determination for Germans in Austria and Czechoslovakia.

1941       The United States sends war planes to the Pacific.

1943       German troops of the Afrika Korps break through the Kasserine Pass, defeating the U.S. forces.

1954       The Ford Foundation gives a $25 million grant to the Fund for Advancement of Education.

1959       The FCC applies the equal time rule to TV newscasts of political candidates.

1962       Mercury astronaut John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the Earth.

1963       Moscow offers to allow on-site inspections of nuclear testing.

1965       Ranger 8 hits the moon and sends back 7,000 photos to the United States.

1968       The North Vietnamese army chief in Hue orders all looters to be shot on sight.

1982       Carnegie Hall in New York begins $20 million in renovations.

Born on February 20

1844       Ludwig Boltzmann, atomic physics engineer

1888       Marie Rambert, ballet dancer and director.

1894       Curt Richter, biologist.

1898       Jimmy Yancey, American blues pianist.

1901       Rene Dubos, microbiologist; he developed the first commercial antibiotic.

1901       Louis I. Kahn, architect.

1904       Alexei Nikolayevich Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (1964-1980).

1924       Gloria Vanderbilt, fashion designer

1925       Robert Altman, film director (Nashville, The Player).

 

Source: History Net