This is a list of selected February 20 anniversaries that appear in the "On this day" section of the
Main Page. To suggest a new item, in most cases, you can be bold and edit this page. Please read the
selected anniversaries guidelines before making your edit. However, if your addition might be controversial or on a day that is or will soon be on the Main Page, please post your suggestion on the
talk page instead.
Please note that the events listed on the Main Page are chosen based more on relative
article quality and to maintain a mix of topics, not based solely on
how important or significant their subjects are. Only four to five events are posted at a time and thus not everything that is "most important and significant" can be listed. In addition, an event is generally not posted this year if it is also the subject of the scheduled
featured article or
picture of the day.
To report an error when this appears on the Main Page, see
Main Page errors. Please remember that this list defers to the supporting articles, so it is best to achieve consensus and make any necessary changes there first.
1944 –
Second World War:
Allied forces began a bombing campaign that became known as Big Week, launching massive attacks on the German aircraft industry in an attempt to lure the
Luftwaffe into a decisive battle.
unreferenced section
1962 – Aboard Friendship 7,
John Glenn became the first American to orbit the Earth, circling the planet three times in 4 hours, 55 minutes.
refimprove section, John Glenn featured on
October 29
1872 – The Metropolitan Museum of Art , today the largest art museum in the United States with a collection of more than two million works, opened in New York.
1965 – The NASA spacecraft Ranger 8 spacecraft transmitted 7,137 photographs of the Moon in the final 23 minutes of its mission before crashing as planned in
Mare Tranquillitatis.