May 20 in history — What Happened Today in History

First publications of the discovery of the HIV virus that causes AIDS in the journal Science by a team of French scientists including Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Jean-Claude Chermann, and Luc Montagnier.

Church Street bombing: A car bomb planted by UMkhonto we Sizwe explodes on Church Street in South Africa's capital, Pretoria, killing 19 people and injuring 217 others.

In a referendum in Quebec, the population rejects, with 60% of the vote, a government proposal to move towards independence from Canada.

In the Chuknagar massacre, Pakistani forces massacre thousands, mostly Bengali Hindus.

The Battle of Hamburger Hill in Vietnam ends.

The Popular Movement of the Revolution political party is established in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

One hundred twenty-one people are killed when Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 crashes at Cairo International Airport.

Discovery of the cosmic microwave background radiation by Robert Woodrow Wilson and Arno Penzias.

Capital Airlines Flight 300 collides in mid-air with a United States Air Force Lockheed T-33 over Brunswick, Maryland, killing 12.

In Operation Redwing, the first United States airborne hydrogen bomb is dropped over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean.

In the United States, the Armed Forces Security Agency, the predecessor to the National Security Agency, is established.

Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek wins the 1948 Republic of China presidential election and is sworn in as the first President of the Republic of China at Nanjing.

The Luttra Woman, a bog body from the Early Neolithic period (radiocarbon-dated c. 3928–3651 BC), is discovered near Luttra, Sweden.

World War II: Battle of Crete: German paratroops invade Crete.

The Holocaust: The first prisoners arrive at a new concentration camp at Auschwitz.

Amelia Earhart takes off from Newfoundland to begin the world's first solo nonstop flight across the Atlantic Ocean by a female pilot, landing in Ireland the next day.

The American Friends of Lafayette is founded at Lafayette College in Easton, Pennsylvania

Treaty of Jeddah: The United Kingdom recognizes the sovereignty of King Ibn Saud in the Kingdoms of Hejaz and Nejd, which later merge to become the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Charles Lindbergh takes off for Paris from Roosevelt Field in Long Island, N.Y., aboard the Spirit of St. Louis on the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean, landing 33+1⁄2 hours later.

Cuba gains independence from the United States. Tomás Estrada Palma becomes the country's first President.

History of cinema: The first public display of Thomas Edison's prototype kinetoscope.

Krakatoa begins to erupt; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.

The Triple Alliance between the German Empire, Austria-Hungary and the Kingdom of Italy is formed.

Signing of the Metre Convention by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the International System of Units.

Levi Strauss and Jacob Davis receive a U.S. patent for blue jeans with copper rivets.

American Civil War: Battle of Ware Bottom Church: In the Virginia Bermuda Hundred campaign, 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.

U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signs the Homestead Act into law, opening eighty-four million acres (340,000 km2) of public land to settlers.

American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state.

Emre Çolak, Turkish footballer

Josh O'Connor, British actor

Siosia Vave, Australian-Tongan rugby league player

Joel Moon, Australian rugby league player

Mike Havenaar, Japanese footballer

Julian Wright, American basketball player

Dexter Blackstock, English footballer

Stéphane Mbia, Cameroonian footballer

Jiřina Svobodová, Czech pole vaulter

Chris Froome, Kenyan-English cyclist

Brendon Goddard, Australian footballer

Mauro Rafael da Silva, Brazilian footballer

Patrick Ewing Jr., American basketball player

Arthur Gelb, American journalist, author, and critic (born 1924)

Prince Rupert Loewenstein, Spanish-English businessman (born 1933)

Barbara Murray, English actress (born 1929)

Flavio Costantini, Italian painter and illustrator (born 1926)

Billie Dawe, Canadian ice hockey player and manager (born 1924)

Anders Eliasson, Swedish composer (born 1947)

Miloslav Kříž, Czech basketball player and coach (born 1924)

Ray Manzarek, American singer-songwriter, keyboard player, and producer (born 1939)

Denys Roberts, English judge and politician (born 1923)

Zach Sobiech, American singer-songwriter (born 1995)

Leela Dube, Indian anthropologist and scholar (born 1923)

Robin Gibb, Manx-English singer-songwriter and producer (born 1949)

David Littman, English-Swiss historian, author, and academic (born 1933)