History of the Day for:
February 20
- 1547: King Edward VI of England was enthroned following the death of Henry VIII.
- 1792: President Washington signed an act creating the U.S. Post Office.
- 1809: The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the power of the federal government is greater than that of any individual state.
- 1872: The Metropolitan Museum Of Art opened in New York City; Cyrus Baldwin received a patent for a vertical geared hydraulic electric elevator, which was installed in a New York City hotel.
- 1887: The first minor league baseball association was organized in Pittsburgh.
- 1895: Abolitionist Frederick Douglass died in Washington, D.C.
- 1933: The House of Representatives completed congressional action on an amendment to repeal Prohibition.
- 1935: Karoline Mikkelson became the first woman to set foot on Antarctica.
- 1942 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
- 1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
- 1943 – The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico.
- 1944 – World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
- 1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
- 1944: The "Batman and Robin" comic strip premiered in newspapers.
- 1952: Emmett L. Ashford became the first black umpire in organized baseball; John Huston's "The African Queen," starring Humphrey Bogart and Katharine Hepburn, opened in New York City.
- 1962: John Glenn became the first U.S. astronaut in Earth's orbit when the Mercury capsule Friendship VII carried him into space for a five-hour voyage.
- 1965: The "Ranger Eight" spacecraft crashed on the moon after sending back pictures of the lunar surface.
- 1987: A bomb blamed on the Unabomber exploded behind a computer store in Salt Lake City, seriously injuring a store executive; after 11 years on the job, David Hartman exited ABC's "Good Morning America."
- 1991: Quincy Jones became the all-time non-classical Grammy winner when he won six awards at the 33rd annual Grammy Awards.
- 1998: American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
- 2002: In Reqa Al-Gharbiya, Egypt, a fire on a train injures over 65 and kills at least 370.
- 2003: During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the club ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
- 2005: Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.