On the 20th of June…

1627 – Ottoman pirates begin raids on Icelandic villages, eventually capturing over 400 people to sell to slavery.

1756 – Black Hole of Calcutta: 146 British soldiers, Anglo-Indian soldiers and Indian civilians are imprisoned in a small dungeon in Calcutta in India, where most of them die of suffocation and heat exhaustion.

1837 – Queen Victoria at 18 years-of-age ascends to the British throne following the death of her uncle, King William IV. She rules for 63 years until 1901.

1840 – Samuel Morse patents his telegraph.

1866 – Italy declares war on Austria, which starts the Third Italian War of Independence.

1893 – Lizzie Borden acquitted of the 1892 axe murders of her mother and father in Massachusetts.

1909 – Errol Flynn, Australian actor (Captain Blood, Robin Hood) born in Hobart, Tasmania.

1915 – Dick Reynolds, AFL footballer and coach is born.

1936 – Jesse Owens of the US sets the 100-metre record at 10.2 seconds.

1942 – Brian Wilson, singer, songwriter and founder of the Beach Boys was born in Inglewood, California.

1944 – The Nazis begin a mass extermination of Jews at Auschwitz.

1949 – Tennis star, Gussie Moran (Gorgeous Gussie) shocks Wimbledon by wearing a short dress to ‘look good’ and ‘move more freely on the court’.

1960 – ‘The Huckleberry Hound Show’ by Hanna-Barbera becomes the first animated programme to win an Emmy.

1966 – Sheila Scott becomes the first woman to complete a round-the-world solo flight.

1967 – Mohammed Ali is sentenced to 5 years by a jury (after 21 minutes of deliberation) for refusing to be inducted into the armed forces during the Vietnam War.

1967 – Australian actress, Nicole Kidman, was born in Honolulu, Hawaii.

1968 – Jim Hines becomes the first person to run 100 metres in under 10 seconds.

1975 – ‘Jaws’, based on the book by Peter Benchley, and directed by Steven Spielberg is released.

1976 UEFA European Championship Final, Red Star Stadium, Belgrade, Yugoslavia: Czechoslovakia upsets West Germany, winning 5-3 on penalties following a 2-2 draw after extra time.

1978 – English footballer, Frank Lampard is born.

1980 – The film ‘Blues Brothers’ with Dan Ackroyd and John Belushi opens.

1980 – Panamanian legend Roberto Duran wins the WBC Welterweight boxing title, beating Sugar Ray Leonard at Olympic Stadium in Montreal.

1987 – The first Rugby World Cup Final, Eden Park, Auckland – All Blacks beat France 29-9.

1999 – Cricket World Cup, Lord’s London: Shane Warne takes 4/33 as Australia beat Pakistan by 8 wickets.

2018 – FIFA World Cup: Cristiano Ronaldo heads a goal against Morocco to become the all-time leading European goal-scorer (85) in international competition.

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