This Day In History : April 20

1967 United States

US Surveyor 3 Successfully Lands on the Moon

On April 20, 1967, the US Surveyor 3 spacecraft successfully landed on the Moon. It became the second US spacecraft to achieve this feat, following its predecessor, Surveyor 1. Surveyor 3 conducted crucial experiments and sent back valuable images of the lunar surface.

Also on This Day in History April 20

Discover what happened on April 20 with HISTORY's summaries of major events, anniversaries,
famous births and notable deaths.

Births on This Day, April 20
  • 1928 Gerald S. Hawkins

    English-American radio astronomer and mathematician who used a computer to show that Stonehenge was a prehistoric astronomical observatory. 

  • 1860 Charles Gordon Curtis

    U.S. inventor who devised a steam turbine widely used in electric power plants and in marine propulsion.

  • 1786 Marc Séguin the Elder

    French engineer and inventor of the wire-cable suspension bridge and the tubular steam-engine boiler.

  • 1798 William Edmond Logan

    Canadian geologist, known as the “Father of Canadian Geology.”

  • 1913 Willi Hennig

    German zoologist who proposed cladistics (Greek=branch) for the hierarchical classification of species, based on phylogeny - the evolutionary history - of the ancestors.

Deaths on This Day, April 20
  • 1940 Alfred Cort Haddon

    English anthropologist who is recognized as one the founders of modern British anthropology as an observational science.

  • 1932 Giuseppe Peano

    Italian mathematician who founded symbolic logic.

  • 1856 Robert Livingston Stevens

    U.S. engineer and ship designer who invented the inverted-T railroad rail and the railroad spike.

  • 1918 Ferdinand Braun

    German physicist who shared the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909 with Guglielmo Marconi for the development of wireless telegraphy.

  • 1786 John Goodricke

    English astronomer who was the first to notice that some variable stars were periodic.

1964

Picturephone

In 1964, the first picturephone transcontinental call was made between New York City and Anaheim, California. The device consisted of a telephone handset and a small, matching TV.
2023

SpaceX's Starship Rocket Explodes Shortly After Launch

On April 20, 2023, the largest and most powerful rocket, SpaceX's Starship, exploded four minutes into its flight. Despite the explosion, the launch provided valuable data for future missions. SpaceX remains committed to advancing space exploration with continued development and testing.
2010

The Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig Explodes

On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in the Gulf of Mexico, causing a massive oil spill. The explosion resulted in the deaths of 11 workers and led to one of the worst environmental disasters in U.S. history. The spill released millions of barrels of oil into the ocean, severely impacting marine life and coastal communities.
1871

US Civil Rights Act of 1871 Becomes Law

On April 20, 1871, the Civil Rights Act of 1871 was enacted in the United States. This landmark legislation aimed to protect the civil rights of African Americans, particularly in the South. It allowed the federal government to intervene against the Ku Klux Klan and other groups violating these rights.
Holiday
Special day
Discover invention