On October 20, 1774, the First Continental Congress creates the Continental Association, which calls for a complete ban on all trade between America and Great Britain of all goods, wares or merchandise. The creation of the association was in response to the Coercive Acts—or “Intolerable Acts” as they were known to the colonists—which were established […]

On October 20, 1854, Arthur Rimbaud is born in Charleville, France. His father, an army officer, deserted the family when Rimbaud was six. Rimbaud was a brilliant student, and his first poem was published in a French review when he was 16. The following year, he rebelled and ran away to Paris. He joined the […]

After advancing island by island across the Pacific Ocean, U.S. General Douglas MacArthur wades ashore onto the Philippine island of Leyte, fulfilling his promise to return to the area he was forced to flee in 1942. The son of an American Civil War hero, MacArthur served as chief U.S. military adviser to the Philippines before […]

The notorious Red Scare kicks into high gear in Washington, D.C. when the House Un-American Activities Committee begins investigated alleged Communists in Hollywood.

On October 20, 1962, the quirky and spooky song “Monster Mash” hits No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart, just in time for Halloween. The self-described “graveyard smash” becomes a literal smash hit, spending the last two weeks of October at the top of the charts—and remaining a beloved Halloween classic decades later. The […]

On October 20, 1973, solicitor General Robert Bork dismisses Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox; Attorney General Richardson and Deputy Attorney General Ruckelshaus resign in protest. Collectively, the dismissals and resignations become known as the “Saturday Night Massacre.” Cox had conducted a detailed investigation of the Watergate break-in that revealed that the burglary was just one of […]

On October 20, 1977, during a flight from Greenville, South Carolina, to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, the tour plane for Southern rock band Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in a heavily wooded area of southwestern Mississippi during a failed emergency landing attempt. The accident killed band-members Ronnie Van Zant, Steve Gaines and Cassie Gaines as well as the band’s […]

On October 20, 2011, Muammar al-Qaddafi, the longest-serving leader in Africa and the Arab world, is captured and killed by rebel forces near his hometown of Sirte. The eccentric 69-year-old dictator, who came to power in a 1969 coup, headed a government that was accused of numerous human rights violations against its own people and was […]