Notable Birthdays for November 20
Oliver Wolcott (1726-1797) - Signer of the Declaration of Independence.
Philip Schuyler (1733-1804) - Revolutionary War General.
Lewis Waterman (1837-1901) - Inventor of an improved fountain pen.
William Painter (1838-1906) - Inventor of the crown cork bottle cap and opener.
James Murray Spangler (1848-1915) - Inventor of the Hoover portable vacuum cleaner.
Josiah Royce (1855-1916) - Philosopher and founder of American Idealism.
Kenesaw Mountain Landis (1866-1944) - The first Baseball Commissioner.
William Heard Kilpatrick (1871-1965) - Pedagogue and major contributor to the progressive education movement.
Norman Thomas (1884-1968) - Politician known as a socialist and pacifist.
Edwin Hubble (1889-1953) - Astronomer who discovered galaxies (red shift).
Robert Armstrong (1890-1973) - Actor known for his role as Carl Denham in the King Kong (1933).
Chester Gould (1900-1985) - Cartoonist who created Dick Tracy.
Pauli Murray (1910-1985) - Civil rights activist who fought for expanded legal protection for gender equality.
Evelyn Keyes (1916-2008) - Actress known for her role as Suellen O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (1939).
Robert Byrd (1917-2010) - Pioneer of exercise cardiology.
Robert F. Kennedy (1925-1968) - Politician.
Leonard Jimmie Savage (1917-1971) - Mathematician who was considered a genius.
Ed Freeman (1927-2008) - Helicopter pilot and Medal of Honor recipient for his heroic actions during Vietnam.
Franklin Cover (1928-2006) - Actor known for his role as Tom in the sitcom The Jeffersons.
Dick Smothers (1939-Still Living - Actor, comedian and half of the duo The Smothers Brothers.
Joe Biden (1942-Still Living) - The 46th President of the U.S.
Norman Greenbaum (1942-Still Living) - Singer of the hit song Spirit in the Sky.
Veronica Hamel (1943-Still Living) - Actress known for her role as Joyce Davenport in the series Hill Street Blues.
Duane Allman (1946-1971) - Guitarist for the band The Allman Brothers Band.
Samuel E. Wright (1946-2021) - Actor remembered for his voice as Sebastian in The Little Mermaid.
Joe Walsh (1947-Still Living) - Guitarist and member of the band the Eagles.
Richard Masur (1948-Still Living) - Actor known for his role as David in the sitcom One Day at a Time.
Greg Gibson (1953-Still Living) - The only American to win World medals in all three styles of wrestling--Freestyle, Greco-Roman and Sambo.
Ray Ozzie (1955-Still Living) - Software engineer who created Lotus Notes.
Bo Derek (1956-Still Living) - Actress who gained fame in role in 10 (1979).
Beezie Madden (1963-Still Living) - Olympic champion equestrian jumper.
Memorable Events for November 20
1776 - The Continental Army starts to retreat across NJ.
1789 - New Jersey becomes the first state to ratify the Bill of Rights.
1861 - A Secession ordinance is filed by Kentucky's Confederate government.
1866 - The first national convention of a veterans' organization is held.
1866 - Howard University is founded (Washington, DC).
1914 - The State Department starts requiring photos for passports.
1923 - Garrett Morgan patents his traffic signal design that added a caution light between stop (red) and go (green).
1938 - Anti-semitic remarks are made by Father Coughlin on U.S. radio.
1943 - Operation Galvanic begins between Japan and the U.S. Marines.
1945 - Trials begin agains 24 Nazi war criminals at Nuremberg.
1958 - Jim and Jane Henson establish the Muppets, Inc.
1962 - President Kennedy ends the quarantine of the Caribbean nation.
1968 - 78 miners are killed in an explosion at Farmington, WV.
1969 - The Plain Dealer (Cleveland, Ohio) publishes photos of the dead villagers from the My Lai Massacre in Vietnam.
1969 - Native American activists seize control of Alcatraz Island.
1974 - The Department of Justice files an antitrust suit against AT&T to break the company up.
1979 - The first artificial blood transfusion occurs at the University of Minnesota Hospital.
1983 - Over 100 million watch The Day After, a movie nuclear war.
1984 - McDonald's makes its 50 billionth hamburger.
1985 - Microsoft releases the first graphical personal computer operating environment (Windows 1.0).
1998 - A Taliban court declares Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the '98 U.S. Embassy bombings.
2016 - Jimmie Johnson wins his seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship.
2022 - The National Guard is activated to to assist with the snow emergency in NY.
2022 - President Biden turns 80 years old and becomes the first octogenarian to serve as President.