February 20 is the 51st day of the year in the Gregorian calendar. There are 314 days remaining until the end of the year (315 in leap years).

Events[link]

• 1339 – The Milanese army and the St. George's (San Giorgio) Mercenaries of Lodrisio Visconti clashed in the Battle of Parabiago.
• 1472 – Orkney and Shetland are pawned by Norway to Scotland in lieu of a dowry for Margaret of Denmark.
• 1547 – Edward VI of England is crowned King of England at Westminster Abbey.
• 1685 – René-Robert Cavelier establishes Fort St. Louis at Matagorda Bay thus forming the basis for France's claim to Texas.
• 1792 – The Postal Service Act, establishing the United States Post Office Department, is signed by President George Washington.
• 1798 – Louis Alexandre Berthier removes Pope Pius VI from power.
• 1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tirolean patriot and leader of rebellion against Napoleon's forces, is executed.
• 1813 – Manuel Belgrano defeats the royalist army of Pío de Tristán during the Battle of Salta.
• 1816 – Rossini's opera The Barber of Seville premieres at the Teatro Argentina in Rome.
• 1835 – Concepción, Chile is destroyed by an earthquake.
• 1864 – American Civil War: Battle of Olustee occurs – the largest battle fought in Florida during the war.
• 1872 – In New York City the Metropolitan Museum of Art opens.
• 1873 – The University of California opens its first medical school in San Francisco, California.
• 1877 – Tchaikovsky's ballet Swan Lake receives its première performance at the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
• 1901 – The legislature of Hawaii Territory convenes for the first time.
• 1909 – Publication of the Futurist Manifesto in the French journal Le Figaro.
• 1913 – King O'Malley drives in the first survey peg to mark commencement of work on the construction of Canberra.
• 1931 – The Congress of the United States approves the construction of the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge by the state of California.
• 1933 – The Congress of the United States proposes the Twenty-first Amendment to the United States Constitution that will end Prohibition in the United States.
• 1933 – Adolf Hitler secretly meets with German industrialists to arrange for financing of the Nazi Party's upcoming election campaign.
• 1935 – Caroline Mikkelsen becomes the first woman to set foot in Antarctica.
• 1942 – Lieutenant Edward O'Hare becomes America's first World War II flying ace.
• 1943 – American movie studio executives agree to allow the Office of War Information to censor movies.
• 1943 – The Parícutin volcano begins to form in Parícutin, Mexico.
• 1943 – The Saturday Evening Post publishes the first of Norman Rockwell's Four Freedoms in support of United States President Franklin Roosevelt's 1941 State of the Union address theme of Four Freedoms.
• 1944 – World War II: The "Big Week" began with American bomber raids on German aircraft manufacturing centers.
• 1944 – World War II: The United States takes Eniwetok Island.
• 1952 – Emmett Ashford becomes the first African-American umpire in organized baseball by being authorized to be a substitute umpire in the Southwestern International League.
• 1959 – The Avro Arrow program to design and manufacture supersonic jet fighters in Canada is cancelled by the Diefenbaker government amid much political debate.
• 1962 – Mercury program: While aboard Friendship 7, John Glenn becomes the first American to orbit the earth, making three orbits in 4 hours, 55 minutes.
• 1965 – Ranger 8 crashes into the moon after a successful mission of photographing possible landing sites for the Apollo program astronauts.
• 1971 – The United States Emergency Broadcast System is accidentally activated in an erroneous national alert.
• 1978 – The last Order of Victory is bestowed upon Leonid Brezhnev.
• 1987 – Unabomber: In Salt Lake City, a bomb explodes in a computer store.
• 1988 – The Nagorno-Karabakh Autonomous Oblast votes to secede from Azerbaijan and join Armenia, triggering the Nagorno-Karabakh War.
• 1989 – An IRA bomb destroys a section of a British Army barracks in Ternhill, England
• 1991 – A gigantic statue of Albania's long-time leader, Enver Hoxha, is brought down in the Albanian capital Tirana, by mobs of angry protesters.
• 1998 – American figure skater Tara Lipinski becomes the youngest gold-medalist at the Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.
• 2003 – During a Great White concert in West Warwick, Rhode Island, a pyrotechnics display sets the club ablaze, killing 100 and injuring over 200 others.
• 2005 – Spain becomes the first country to vote in a referendum on ratification of the proposed Constitution of the European Union, passing it by a substantial margin, but on a low turnout.
• 2009 – Two Tamil Tigers aircraft packed with C4 explosives en-route to the national airforce headquarters are shot down by the Sri Lankan military before reaching their target, in a kamikaze style attack.
• 2010 – In Madeira Island, Portugal, heavy rain causes floods and mudslides, resulting in at least 43 deaths, in the worst disaster in the history of the archipelago.

Births[link]

• 1631 – Thomas Osborne, 1st Duke of Leeds, English statesman (d. 1712)
• 1633 – Jan de Baen, Dutch portrait painter (d. 1702)
• 1705 – Nicolas Chédeville, French composer, musette player and musette maker (d. 1782)
• 1726 – William Prescott, American Revolutionary War colonel (Battle of Bunker Hill) (d. 1795)
• 1743 – Anna Laetitia Barbauld, English poet (d. 1825)
• 1745 – Henry James Pye, English poet (d. 1813)
• 1751 – Johann Heinrich Voß, German poet (d. 1826)
• 1753 – Louis Alexandre Berthier, French marshal (d. 1815)
• 1757 – John 'Mad Jack' Fuller, English philanthropist (d. 1834)
• 1759 – Johann Christian Reil, German physician, founder of psychiatry (d. 1813)
• 1761 – Ludwig Abeille, German pianist and composer (d. 1838)
• 1763 – Adalbert Gyrowetz, Bohemian composer (d. 1850)
• 1794 – William Carleton, Irish novelist (d. 1869)
• 1802 – Charles de Bériot, Belgian violinist (d. 1870)
• 1819 – Alfred Escher, Swiss politician, railroad entrepreneur (d. 1882)
• 1839 – Benjamin Waugh, social reformer; founder of the NSPCC (d. 1908)
• 1844 – Ludwig Boltzmann, Austrian physicist (d. 1906)
• 1844 – Joshua Slocum, Canadian seaman and adventurer (d. 1909)
• 1848 – Edward Henry Harriman, American railroad executive (d. 1909)
• 1850 – Nérée Beauchemin, Canadian physician and poet (d. 1931)
• 1866 – Carl Westman, Swedish architect and designer (d. 1936)
• 1879 – Hod Stuart, Canadian hockey player (d. 1907)
• 1867 – Louise, Princess Royal and Duchess of Fife (d. 1931)
• 1880 – Jacques d'Adelswärd-Fersen, French aristocrat and novelist (d. 1923)
• 1887 – Vincent Massey, Governor-General of Canada (d. 1967)
• 1888 – Georges Bernanos, French writer (d. 1948)
• 1893 – Russel Crouse, American playwright (d. 1966)
• 1893 – Elizabeth Holloway Marston, American psychologist (d. 1993)
• 1898 – Jimmy Yancey, American pianist (d. 1951)
• 1899 – Cornelius Vanderbilt Whitney, American businessman (d. 1992)
• 1901 – Cecil Harmsworth King, English newspaper owner (d. 1987)
• 1901 – Muhammad Naguib, President of Egypt (d. 1984)
• 1901 – Ramakrishna Ranga Rao of Bobbili, Chief Minister of Madras Presidency (d. 1978)
• 1902 – Ansel Adams, American photographer (d. 1984)
• 1904 – Alexei Kosygin, Premier of the Soviet Union (d. 1980)
• 1906 – Gale Gordon, American television and radio actor (d. 1995)
• 1907 – Malcolm Atterbury, American actor (d. 1992)
• 1912 – Pierre Boulle, French author (d. 1994)
• 1913 – Tommy Henrich, American baseball player (d. 2009)
• 1914 – John Daly, South African–born broadcaster (d. 2001)
• 1916 – Jean Erdman, American dancer
• 1917 – Juan Vicente Torrealba, Venezuelan harpist and composer
• 1918 – Leonore Annenberg, American billionaire (d. 2009)
• 1919 – James O'Meara, British Battle of Britain Spitfire Flying Ace (d. 1974)
• 1920 – Evgeny Dragunov, Russian weapons designer (d. 1991)
• 1920 – Carl Schwende, Canadian Olympic fencer (d. 2002)
• 1923 – Forbes Burnham, President of Guyana (d. 1985)
• 1924 – Gloria Vanderbilt, American socialite and clothing designer
• 1925 – Robert Altman, American film director (d. 2006)
• 1925 – Tochinishiki Kiyotaka, Japanese sumo wrestler, the 44th Yokozuna (d. 1990)
• 1925 – Heinz Kluncker, German trade union leader (d. 2005)
• 1926 – Richard Matheson, American author
• 1927 – Roy Cohn, American lawyer (d. 1986)
• 1927 – Ibrahim Ferrer, Cuban musician (Buena Vista Social Club) (d. 2005)
• 1927 – Sidney Poitier, American actor
• 1928 – Roy Face, American baseball relief pitcher
• 1928 – Jean Kennedy Smith, American diplomat
• 1929 – Amanda Blake, American actress (d. 1989)
• 1930 – Willie Cunningham, Northern Irish footballer (d. 2007)
• 1932 – Adrian Cristobal, Filipino writer (d. 2007)
• 1934 – Bobby Unser, American racing driver
• 1936 – Marj Dusay, American actress
• 1936 – Larry Hovis, American actor (d. 2003)
• 1936 – Shigeo Nagashima, Japanese baseball player and coach
• 1937 – Robert Huber, German chemist, Nobel laureate
• 1937 – Roger Penske, American racing driver, race team owner and entrepreneur
• 1937 – Nancy Wilson, American Jazz singer
• 1938 – Richard Beymer, American actor
• 1939 – Frank Arundel, English footballer (d.1994)
• 1940 – Jimmy Greaves, English footballer
• 1941 – Lim Kit Siang, Democratic Socialist opposition party in Malaysia
• 1941 – Buffy Sainte-Marie, Canadian singer
• 1942 – Phil Esposito, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1942 – Charlie Gillett, British radio DJ
• 1942 – Mitch McConnell, American politician, senior senator of Kentucky
• 1942 – Claude Miller, French film director and screenwriter
• 1943 – Moshe Cotel, American composer and pianist
• 1943 – Antonio Inoki, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1943 – Mike Leigh, British film director
• 1944 – Robert de Cotret, Canadian politician (d. 1999)
• 1944 – Willem van Hanegem, Dutch footballer and coach
• 1945 – Andrew Bergman, American screenwriter and film director
• 1945 – Brion James, American actor (d. 1999)
• 1945 – Alan Hull, English singer-songwriter (Lindisfarne) (d. 1995)
• 1945 – Annu Kapoor, Indian actor
• 1946 – Brenda Blethyn, English actress
• 1946 – Richard Cocciante, French-Italian singer and songwriter
• 1946 – Sandy Duncan, American singer and actress
• 1946 – J. Geils, American guitarist (The J. Geils Band)
• 1947 – André van Duin, Dutch comedian
• 1947 – Eggert Magnusson, Icelandic football executive
• 1947 – Peter Osgood, English footballer (d. 2006)
• 1947 – Peter Strauss, American actor
• 1948 – Pierre Bouchard, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1948 – Jennifer O'Neill, Brazilian-born actress
• 1949 – Mab Segrest, American writer and activist
• 1949 – Ivana Trump, Czech-born American socialite
• 1950 – Walter Becker, American guitarist (Steely Dan)
• 1950 – Ken Shimura, Japanese performer and actor
• 1950 – Tony Wilson, British journalist and impresario (d. 2007)
• 1951 – Edward Albert, American actor (d. 2006)
• 1951 – Gordon Brown, British Member of Parliament, Prime Minister (2007–2010)
• 1951 – Randy California, American guitarist (Spirit) (d. 1997)
• 1951 – Phil Neal, English footballer
• 1953 – Riccardo Chailly, Italian conductor
• 1953 – Poison Ivy, American musician (The Cramps)
• 1954 – Jon Brant, American musician (Cheap Trick)
• 1954 – Anthony Head, English actor
• 1954 – Patty Hearst, American socialite
• 1954 – Billy Pontoni, Colombian musician
• 1956 – Charlie Adler, American voice actor
• 1956 – Rick Green, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1957 – Glen Hanlon, Canadian ice hockey coach
• 1958 – James Wilby, English actor
• 1959 – Scott Brayton, American race car driver (d. 1996)
• 1959 – Bill Gullickson, American baseball player
• 1960 – Joel Hodgson, American comedian (Mystery Science Theater 3000)
• 1960 – Kee Marcello, Swedish guitarist (Europe)
• 1961 – Imogen Stubbs, British actress
• 1962 – Kenn Nesbitt, American children's author
• 1962 – Dwayne McDuffie, American writer of comic books and television (d. 2011)
• 1963 – Charles Barkley, American basketball player
• 1963 – Ian Brown, English singer (The Stone Roses)
• 1963 – Jon Lynn Christensen, former Nebraska Congressman
• 1963 – Marilisa Xenogiannakopoulou, Greek politician
• 1964 – Rodney Rowland, American actor
• 1964 – French Stewart, American actor
• 1965 – Ron Eldard, American actor
• 1966 – Cindy Crawford, American model
• 1967 – Paul Accola, Swiss alpine skier
• 1967 – Kurt Cobain, American musician (Nirvana) (d. 1994)
• 1967 – David Herman, American comedian
• 1967 – Katherine Soucie, American voice actress
• 1967 – Andrew Shue, American television actor
• 1967 – Lili Taylor, American actress
• 1968 – Ted Hankey, English darts player
• 1969 – Vaginal Davis, American drag queen and performance artist
• 1969 – Siniša Mihajlović, Serbian footballer
• 1969 – Gedo, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1969 – Danis Tanovic, Bosnian film director and screenwriter
• 1969 – Tommy Vardell, American football player
• 1971 – Calpernia Addams, transgender activist
• 1971 – Jari Litmanen, Finnish footballer
• 1971 – Shawn McKenzie, American programmer
• 1972 – Brent Gretzky, Canadian ice hockey player
• 1972 – K-OS, Canadian musician/rapper
• 1973 – Kimberley Davies, Australian actress
• 1973 – Rohan Alexander, Jamaican-born cricketer
• 1974 – Kateřina Šišková, Czech tennis player
• 1974 – Ophelie Winter, French actress
• 1975 – Liván Hernández, Cuban baseball player
• 1975 – Brian Littrell, American singer (Backstreet Boys)
• 1975 – Niclas Wallin, Swedish hockey player
• 1976 – Rohan Gavaskar, Indian cricketer
• 1976 – Ed Graham, English drummer (The Darkness and Stone Gods)
• 1976 – Gail Kim, Canadian professional wrestler
• 1977 – Bartosz Kizierowski, Polish swimmer
• 1977 – Stephon Marbury, American basketball player
• 1977 – T.J. Slaughter, American football player
• 1977 – Amal Hijazi, Lebanese singer and model
• 1978 – Lauren Ambrose, American actress
• 1978 – Jakki Degg, English glamour model/actress
• 1978 – Jay Hernandez, American actor
• 1978 – Julia Jentsch, German actress
• 1980 – Artur Boruc, Polish footballer
• 1980 – Imanol Harinordoquy, French rugby union footballer
• 1981 – Tony Hibbert, English footballer
• 1981 – Fred Jackson, American football player
• 1981 – Chris Thile, American musician (Nickel Creek and Punch Brothers)
• 1982 – Fait-Florian Banser, German footballer
• 1982 – Jason Hirsh, American baseball player
• 1983 – Jose Morales, Puerto Rican baseball player
• 1983 – Justin Verlander, American baseball player
• 1984 – Brian McCann, American baseball player
• 1984 – Gilles Pagnon, French-German rugby player
• 1984 – Ramzee Robinson, American football player
• 1985 – Ryan Sweeney, American baseball player
• 1985 – Yulia Volkova, Russian singer (t.A.T.u.)
• 1986 – Diego Reis, Brazilian footballer
• 1988 – Rihanna, Barbadian singer
• 1988 – Jiah Khan, Indian actress
• 1989 – Iga Wyrwal, Polish glamour model
• 1991 – Giovanni Kyeremateng Italian footballer

Deaths[link]

• 702 – K'inich Kan B'alam II, king of the Maya state of Palenque (b. 635)
• 1154 – Saint Wulfric of Haselbury Plucknett
• 1171 – Conan IV, Duke of Brittany (b. 1138)
• 1194 – King Tancred of Sicily (b. 1138)
• 1258 – Al-Musta'sim, last Abbasid Caliph of Baghdad (b. 1213)
• 1408 – Henry Percy, 1st Earl of Northumberland, English statesman (b. 1342)
• 1431 – Pope Martin V (b. 1368)
• 1524 – Tecún Umán, last leader of the K'iche' (Quiché) Maya people
• 1579 – Nicholas Bacon, English politician (b. 1509)
• 1618 – Philip William, Prince of Orange (b. 1554)
• 1626 – John Dowland, English composer and lutenist (b. 1563)
• 1762 – Tobias Mayer, German astronomer (b. 1723)
• 1771 – Jean Jacques d'Ortous de Mairan, French geophysicist (b. 1678)
• 1773 – King Charles Emmanuel III of Sardinia (b. 1701)
• 1778 – Laura Bassi, Italian scholar (b. 1711)
• 1790 – Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor (b. 1741)
• 1803 – Marie Dumesnil, French actress (b. 1713)
• 1806 – Lachlan McIntosh, Scottish-born American military and political leader (b. 1725)
• 1810 – Andreas Hofer, Tyrolean national hero (executed) (b. 1767)
• 1862 – William Wallace Lincoln, son of U.S. president Abraham Lincoln (b. 1850)
• 1871 – Paul Kane, Irish-born painter (b. 1810)
• 1893 – P.G.T. Beauregard, American Confederate general (b. 1818)
• 1895 – Frederick Douglass, American abolitionist writer (b. 1818)
• 1905 – Jeremiah W. Farnham, American merchant captain
• 1907 – Henri Moissan, French chemist, Nobel laureate (b. 1852)
• 1910 – Boutros Ghali, the Prime Minister of Egypt from (b. 1846)
• 1916 – Klas Pontus Arnoldson, Swedish writer, pacifist, Nobel laureate (b. 1844)
• 1917 – Leone Sextus Tollemache, British Army captain (b. 1884)
• 1920 – Jacinta Marto, Portuguese saint (b. 1910)
• 1920 – Robert Peary, American explorer (b. 1856)
• 1936 – Max Schreck, German actor (b. 1879)
• 1941 – Madame Bolduc, Canadian singer and songwriter (b. 1894)
• 1961 – Percy Grainger, Australian composer (b. 1882)
• 1963 – Ferenc Fricsay, Hungarian conductor (b. 1914)
• 1963 – Jacob Gade, Danish composer(b. 1879)
• 1965 – Fred Immler, German actor (b. 1880)
• 1966 – Chester Nimitz, American admiral (b. 1885)
• 1968 – Anthony Asquith, British film director and writer (b. 1902)
• 1969 – Ernest Ansermet, Swiss conductor (b. 1883)
• 1970 – Sophie Treadwell, American playwright and journalist (b. 1885)
• 1972 – Maria Goeppert-Mayer, German physicist, Nobel laureate (b. 1906)
• 1972 – Walter Winchell, American journalist (b. 1897)
• 1974 – David Monrad Johansen, Norwegian composer (b. 1888)
• 1976 – René Cassin, French judge, Nobel laureate (b. 1887)
• 1976 – Kathryn Kuhlman, American evangelist (b. 1907)
• 1981 – Baron Nicolas de Gunzburg, magazine editor, socialite (b. 1904)
• 1983 – Fritz Köberle, Austrian-Brazilian physician (b. 1910)
• 1985 – Clarence "Ducky" Nash, American voice actor (b. 1904)
• 1992 – A. J. Casson, Canadian painter (b. 1898)
• 1992 – Roberto D'Aubuisson, Salvadoran politician (b. 1944)
• 1992 – Pierre Dervaux, French conductor, composer and pedagogue (b. 1917)
• 1992 – Dick York, American actor (b. 1928)
• 1993 – Ferruccio Lamborghini, Italian automobile manufacturer (b. 1916)
• 1993 – Ernest L. Massad, U.S. Army general (b. 1908)
• 1996 – Solomon Asch, American psychologist (b. 1907)
• 1996 – Tōru Takemitsu, Japanese composer (b. 1930)
• 1997 – Zachary Breaux, American jazz guitarist (b. 1960)
• 1999 – Sarah Kane, English playwright (b. 1971)
• 1999 – Gene Siskel, American film critic (b. 1946)
• 2000 – Anatoly Sobchak, Russian politician (b. 1937)
• 2001 – Rosemary DeCamp, American actress (b. 1910)
• 2001 – Donella Meadows, American scientist (b. 1941)
• 2003 – Maurice Blanchot, French author (b. 1907)
• 2003 – Orville L. Freeman, American politician (b. 1918)
• 2003 – Harry Jacunski, American football player (b. 1915)
• 2003 – Ty Longley, American guitarist (Great White and Samantha 7) (b. 1971)
• 2003 – Mushaf Ali Mir, Pakistani Chief of the Air Staff (b. 1947)
• 2005 – Pam Bricker, American jazz singer (b. 1954)
• 2005 – Sandra Dee, American actress (b. 1944)
• 2005 – John Raitt, American actor (b. 1917)
• 2005 – Hunter S. Thompson, American journalist and author (b. 1937)
• 2005 – Tom Willmore, English geometer (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Michael M. Ames, Canadian academic and professor (b. 1933)
• 2006 – Curt Gowdy, American sportscaster (b. 1919)
• 2006 – Lucjan Wolanowski, Polish journalist, writer and traveller (b. 1920)
• 2007 – F. Albert Cotton, American chemist (b. 1930)
• 2007 – Carl-Henning Pedersen, Danish artist, member of the CoBrA movement (b. 1913)
• 2008 – Emily Perry, English actress (b. 1907)
• 2009 – Larry H. Miller, American businessman and owner of the Utah Jazz (b. 1944)
• 2010 – Alexander Haig, American soldier and politician (b. 1924)
• 2010 – Basavaraju Venkata Padmanabha Rao, Tollywood comedian, film producer and director (b. 1931)
• 2012 – Asar Eppel, Russian writer and translator (b. 1935)
• 2012 – Katie Hall, American politician (b. 1938)
• 2012 – S. N. Lakshmi, Indian actress (b. 1927)

Holidays and observances[link]

• Christian Feast Day:
  • Eucherius of Orleans
  • Eleutherius of Tournai
  • Wulfric of Haselbury
  • February 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• World Day of Social Justice (International)

External links[link]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: February 20

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

Mark Cerny
Mark Cerny, 2010
Born	1964
Occupation	Game designer
Spouse	Katsura Cerny

Mark Cerny (born 1964) is a video game industry figure who has worked as a game designer, programmer, producer and business executive. As president of Cerny Games, which he founded in 1998, he now acts as a consultant in the video game industry. In 2004, he was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the International Game Developers Association.^[1]

Career[link]

Cerny, a fan of computer programming and arcade games, started in the game industry at the age of 17 when he joined Atari in 1982. In those earlier days of professional game development, teams were small and each member was responsible for a wider range of roles than today.^[2]

Cerny's first major success is usually cited as Marble Madness in which he, at age 18, acted as the designer. For years he worked with Sega in Japan and the United States, where he worked on Sonic the Hedgehog 2.^[3] He was the vice president and then president of Universal Interactive Studios. He continues to work with Naughty Dog (where he has worked on Crash Bandicoot and later consulted on the Jak and Daxter series), Insomniac Games (Spyro the Dragon and Ratchet and Clank), and Sony.