On Sept. 20, 1973, Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 in a $100,000 winner-take-all tennis match.
On Sept. 20, 1878, Upton Sinclair, author of "The Jungle" and passionate crusader for social reform, was born. Following his death on Nov. 25, 1968, his obituary appeared in The Times.
Go to obituary » | Other birthdays »
On Sept. 20, 1962, James Meredith, a black man, was blocked from enrolling at the University of Mississippi by Gov. Ross R. Barnett.
On This Date
| 1519 | Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan set out from Spain on a voyage to find a western passage to the Spice Islands in Indonesia. |
|---|---|
| 1870 | Italian troops took control of the Papal States, leading to the unification of Italy. |
| 1873 | Panic swept the New York Stock Exchange in the wake of railroad bond defaults and bank failures. |
| 1881 | Chester A. Arthur was sworn in as the 21st president of the United States, succeeding James A. Garfield, who had been assassinated. |
| 1973 | In their so-called "battle of the sexes" on the tennis court, Billie Jean King beat Bobby Riggs 6-4, 6-3, 6-3 at the Houston Astrodome. |
| 1977 | The first wave of Southeast Asian "boat people" arrived in San Francisco under a U.S. resettlement program. |
| 1984 | A suicide car bomber attacked the U.S. Embassy annex in north Beirut, killing a dozen people. |
| 1998 | After playing in a record 2,632 consecutive games over 16 seasons, Cal Ripken Jr. of the Baltimore Orioles sat out a game against the New York Yankees. |
| 2005 | Holocaust survivor and Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal died at age 96. |
| 2011 | Repeal of the U.S. military's 18-year-old "don't ask, don't tell" compromise took effect, allowing gay and lesbian service members to serve openly. |
Historic Birthdays
Upton Sinclair
9/20/1878 - 11/25/1968
American novelist and activist.Go to obituary »
| 94 |
Sir Richard Griffith 9/20/1784 - 9/22/1878 Irish geologist and civil engineer |
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| 58 |
Sterling Price 9/20/1809 - 9/29/1867 American governor of Missouri and Confederate general |
| 80 |
Sir James Dewar 9/20/1842 - 3/27/1923 English chemist and physicist |
| 93 |
Herbert Putnam 9/20/1861 - 8/14/1955 American librarian; led the Library of Congress (1899-1939) |
| 62 |
Maxwell Perkins 9/20/1884 - 6/17/1947 American editor |
| 83 |
Sue Sophia Dauser 9/20/1888 - 3/8/1972 American nurse; oversaw the Navy Nurse Corps in World War II |
| 74 |
Leo Strauss 9/20/1899 - 10/18/1973 German-born American political philosopher |
| 68 |
Stevie Smith 9/20/1902 - 3/7/1971 English poet, novelist and short story writer |
| 69 |
Sid Chaplin 9/20/1916 - 1/11/1986 English novelist and short story writer |