So you want to have a drink but you aren't sure why? Here are some GREAT reasons to call your friends over and have a party.

October 20th


- Birth of the Báb (Bahá'í Faith)
- Christian Feast Day:
- Kenyatta Day (Kenya)
- Revolution Day, one of the two Patriotic Days (Guatemala)

October 20th


- 1991 - The Oakland Hills firestorm kills 25 and destroys 3,469 homes and apartments, causing more than $2 billion in damage.
- 1982 - During the UEFA Cup match between FC Spartak Moscow and HFC Haarlem, 66 people are crushed to death in the Luzhniki disaster.
- 1977 - A plane carrying Lynyrd Skynyrd crashes in Mississippi, killing lead singer Ronnie Van Zant and guitarist Steve Gaines along with backup singer Cassie Gaines, the road manager, pilot, and co-pilot.
- 1976 - The ferry George Prince is struck by a ship while crossing the Mississippi River between Destrehan and Luling, Louisiana. Seventy-eight passengers and crew die and only 18 people aboard the ferry survive.
- 1973 - "Saturday Night Massacre": President Richard Nixon fires U.S. Attorney General Elliot Richardson and Deputy Attorney General William Ruckelshaus after they refuse to fire Watergate special prosecutor Archibald Cox, who is finally fired by Robert Bork.
- 1973 - The Sydney Opera House opens.
- 1971 - The Nepal Stock Exchange collapses.
- 1970 - Siad Barre declares Somalia a socialist state.
- 1968 - Former First Lady Jacqueline Kennedy marries Greek shipping tycoon Aristotle Onassis.
- 1967 - A purported bigfoot is filmed by Patterson and Gimlin.
- 1952 - Governor Evelyn Baring declares a state of emergency in Kenya and begins arresting hundreds of suspected leaders of the Mau Mau Uprising, including Jomo Kenyatta, the future first President of Kenya.
- 1951 - The "Johnny Bright Incident" occurs in Stillwater, Oklahoma
- 1947 - The House Un-American Activities Committee begins its investigation into Communist infiltration of Hollywood, resulting in a blacklist that prevents some from working in the industry for years.
- 1947 - United States of America and Pakistan establish diplomatic relations for the first time.
- 1944 - The Soviet Army and Yugoslav Partisans liberate Belgrade, the capital of Yugoslavia
- 1944 - Liquid natural gas leaks from storage tanks in Cleveland, then explodes; the explosion and resulting fire level 30 blocks and kill 130.
- 1944 - General Douglas MacArthur fulfills his promise to return to the Philippines when he commands an Allied assault on the islands, reclaiming them from the Japanese during the Second World War.
- 1941 - World War II: Thousands of civilians in Kragujevac in German-occupied Serbia are killed in the Kragujevac massacre.
- 1935 - The Long March ends.
- 1910 - The hull of the RMS Olympic, sister-ship to the ill-fated RMS Titanic, is launched from the Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
- 1883 - Peru and Chile signed the Treaty of Ancón, by which the Tarapacá province is ceded to the latter, bringing an end to Peru's involvement in the War of the Pacific.
- 1827 - Battle of Navarino – a combined Turkish and Egyptian armada is defeated by British, French, and Russian naval force in the port of Navarino in Pylos, Greece.
- 1818 - The Convention of 1818 signed between the United States and the United Kingdom which, among other things, settled the Canada – United States border on the 49th parallel for most of its length.
- 1803 - The United States Senate ratifies the Louisiana Purchase.
- 1781 - Patent of Toleration, providing limited freedom of worship, is approved in Habsburg Monarchy.
- 1740 - Maria Theresa takes the throne of Austria. France, Prussia, Bavaria and Saxony refuse to honour the Pragmatic Sanction and the War of the Austrian Succession begins.
- 1548 - The city of Nuestra Señora de La Paz (Our Lady of Peace) was founded by Alonso de Mendoza by appointment of the king of Spain and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V.

October 20th


- 1994 - Morgan Featherstone, Australian model
- 1992 - Ksenia Semenova, Russian Olympic gymnast
- 1988 - Candice Swanepoel, South African model
- 1988 - Risa Niigaki, Japanese singer (Morning Musume)
- 1987 - Raphael Hackl, German rugby player
- 1986 - Priyanka Sharma, Indian actress
- 1985 - Jennifer Nicole Freeman, American actress
- 1985 - Alphonso Smith, American football player
- 1985 - Dominic McGuire, American basketball player
- 1985 - James Sutton, British racing driver
- 1984 - Florent Sinama-Pongolle, French footballer
- 1984 - Andrew Trimble, Northern Irish rugby player
- 1983 - Takayuki Yamada, Japanese actor
- 1983 - Luis Saritama, Ecuadorian footballer
- 1982 - Yasser Al-Qahtani, Saudi footballer
- 1982 - Becky Brewerton, Welsh golfer
- 1981 - Willis McGahee, American football player
- 1981 - Dimitrios Papadopoulos, Greek footballer
- 1981 - Francisco Javier Rodríguez, Mexican footballer
- 1980 - Gary Jarman, English musician
- 1980 - Niall Matter, Canadian actor
- 1980 - Jose Veras, Dominican baseball player
- 1979 - Paul Ifill, Barbadian footballer
- 1979 - John Krasinski, American actor
- 1979 - Paul O'Connell, Irish rugby player
- 1978 - Virender Sehwag, Indian cricketer
- 1978 - Paul Wilson, Scottish bass player (Snow Patrol)
- 1977 - Matt Jansen, English footballer
- 1977 - Leila Josefowicz, Canadian classical violinist
- 1977 - Sam Witwer, American actor
- 1976 - Tom Wisniewski, American guitarist (MxPx)
- 1972 - Will Greenwood, England rugby union player
- 1971 - Dannii Minogue, Australian singer
- 1971 - Matt Norman, Australian director/producer
- 1971 - Eddie Jones, American basketball player
- 1971 - Snoop Dogg, American rapper
- 1970 - Chavo Guerrero, Jr., American professional wrestler
- 1970 - Michelle Malkin, American political commentator and author
- 1970 - Sander Boschker, Dutch footballer
- 1969 - Juan González, Puerto Rican baseball player
- 1969 - Laurie Daley, Australian rugby league footballer
- 1969 - Lambros Papakostas, Greek high jumper
- 1968 - Susan Tully, English actress (Eastenders)
- 1967 - Luck Mervil, Québécois actor and singer
- 1967 - Marco Ngai, Hong Kong actor
- 1967 - Luigi Lo Cascio, Italian actor
- 1967 - Elizabeth Carling, English actress and singer
- 1966 - Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, Al-Qaeda leader in Iraq (d. 2006)
- 1966 - Allan Donald, former South African cricketer
- 1966 - Fred Coury, American drummer (Cinderella)
- 1966 - Stefan Raab, German entertainer
- 1966 - Patrick J. Volkerding, Founder and maintainer of the Slackware Linux distribution
- 1965 - Norman Blake, Scottish musician
- 1965 - Jil Caplan, French singer and songwriter
- 1965 - Mikhail Shtalenkov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1965 - William Zabka, American actor
- 1963 - Julie Payette, Canadian astronaut
- 1963 - Nikos Tsiantakis, Greek footballer
- 1962 - David M. Evans, American screenwriter and film director
- 1962 - Dave Wong, Hong Kong/Taiwanese singer-songwriter
- 1961 - Ian Rush, Welsh footballer
- 1961 - Michie Tomizawa, Japanese voice actress
- 1960 - Konstantin Aseev, Russian chess player (d. 2004)
- 1960 - Lepa Brena, Yugoslav singer
- 1959 - Mark Little, Australian actor and comedian
- 1958 - Valerie Faris, American film director
- 1958 - Lynn Flewelling, American fantasy author
- 1958 - Scott Hall, American professional wrestler
- 1958 - Mark King, English musician and singer (Level 42)
- 1958 - Dave Krieg, American football player
- 1958 - Viggo Mortensen, American actor
- 1958 - Ivo Pogorelic, Croatian pianist
- 1958 - Dave Finlay, Irish professional wrestler
- 1957 - Susanna Haavisto, Finnish actress and singer
- 1957 - Hilda Solis, American politician
- 1957 - Chris Cowdrey, English Cricketer
- 1956 - Danny Boyle, English film director
- 1955 - Thomas Newman, American composer
- 1955 - David Profumo, English novelist
- 1955 - Aaron Pryor, American boxer
- 1955 - Robert ten Brink, Dutch TV personality
- 1954 - Steve Orich, orchestrator
- 1954 - Günter Müller, German sound artist, improvisor and percussionist
- 1953 - Keith Hernandez, American baseball player
- 1953 - Bill Nunn, American actor
- 1951 - Patrick Hall, British politician
- 1951 - Leif Pagrotsky, Swedish politician
- 1951 - Claudio Ranieri, Italian football player and manager
- 1951 - Ken Ham, Australian evangelist and businessman
- 1951 - Al Greenwood, American rock musician (Foreigner)
- 1950 - Tom Petty, American musician
- 1949 - Valeri Borzov, Ukrainian athlete
- 1948 - Melih Gökçek, Turkish politician
- 1946 - Lewis Grizzard, American writer and humorist (d. 1994)
- 1946 - Elfriede Jelinek, Austrian writer, Nobel Prize laureate
- 1946 - Richard Loncraine, British film director
- 1946 - Lucien Van Impe, Belgian cyclist
- 1944 - David Mancuso, American disc jockey
- 1944 - Nalin de Silva, Sri Lankan theoretical physicist, philosopher and a political analyst
- 1943 - Dunja Vejzovic, Croatian soprano
- 1942 - Earl Hindman, American actor (d. 2003)
- 1942 - Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard, German biologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
- 1940 - Kathy Kirby, British singer
- 1940 - Robert Pinsky, American poet and Poet Laureate of the United States
- 1938 - Iain Macmillan, Abbey Road photographer (d. 2006)
- 1937 - Juan Marichal, Dominican baseball player
- 1937 - Wanda Jackson, American rock and rockabilly singer
- 1935 - Jerry Orbach, American actor (d. 2004)
- 1935 - Barrie Chase, American dancer
- 1934 - Bill Chase, American trumpet player (d. 1974)
- 1934 - Eddie Harris, American jazz saxophonist (d. 1996)
- 1934 - Michiko, empress of Japan
- 1932 - Rosey Brown, American football player (d. 2004)
- 1932 - William Christopher, American actor (M*A*S*H)
- 1931 - Richard Caliguiri, American politician (d. 1988)
- 1931 - Mickey Mantle, American baseball player (d. 1995)
- 1927 - Gunturu Seshendra Sarma, Indian poet (d. 2007)
- 1927 - Joyce Brothers, American psychologist and advice columnist
- 1925 - Art Buchwald, American humorist (d. 2007)
- 1925 - Tom Dowd, American recording engineer (d. 2002)
- 1925 - Roger Hanin, French actor
- 1923 - Robert Craft, American conductor
- 1922 - John Anderson, American actor (d. 1992)
- 1919 - Tracy Hall, American inventor (d. 2008)
- 1918 - Robert Lochner, German journalist (d. 2003)
- 1917 - Jean-Pierre Melville, French director (d. 1973)
- 1914 - Fayard Nicholas, American dancer (d. 2006)
- 1913 - Grandpa Jones, American banjo player and singer (d. 1998)
- 1910 - Bob Sheppard, New York Yankees press announcer (d. 2010)
- 1909 - Sugiyama Yasushi, Japanese painter (d. 1993)
- 1909 - Carla Laemmle, American actress
- 1907 - Arlene Francis, American television personality (d. 2001)
- 1905 - Arnold Luhaäär, Estonian weightlifter and Olympic medalist (d. 1965)
- 1905 - Ellery Queen, pseudonym of two American writers (d. 1982)
- 1904 - Anna Neagle, English actress (d. 1986)
- 1904 - Tommy Clement Douglas, Canadian politician (d. 1986)
- 1900 - Wayne Morse, U.S. Senator from Oregon (d. 1974)
- 1897 - Crown Prince Eun of Korea (d. 1970)
- 1895 - Rex Ingram, American actor (d. 1969)
- 1894 - Olive Thomas, American actress (d. 1920)
- 1893 - Charley Chase, American comedian (d. 1940)
- 1891 - James Chadwick, English physicist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1974)
- 1891 - Jomo Kenyatta, President of Kenya (d. 1978)
- 1889 - Margaret Dumont, American actress (d. 1965)
- 1882 - Bela Lugosi, Hungarian-born actor (d. 1956)
- 1874 - Charles Ives, American composer (d. 1954)
- 1873 - Nellie McClung, Canadian feminist (d. 1951)
- 1864 - James F. Hinkle, American politician, sixth Governor of New Mexico (d. 1951)
- 1859 - John Dewey, American philosopher (d. 1952)
- 1858 - John Burns, English politician (d. 1943)
- 1854 - Arthur Rimbaud, French poet (d. 1891)
- 1832 - Constantin Lipsius, German architect (d. 1894)
- 1822 - Thomas Hughes, English novelist (d. 1896)
- 1819 - The Báb, Persian founder of the Bábí Faith (d. 1850)
- 1819 - Carl Mikuli, Polish pianist (d. 1897)
- 1808 - Karl Andree, German geographer (d. 1875)
- 1801 - Melchior Berri, Swiss architect (d. 1854)
- 1785 - George Ormerod, English historian and antiquarian (d. 1873)
- 1784 - Henry Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 1865)
- 1780 - Pauline Bonaparte, princess Borghese, sister of Napoleon Bonaparte (d. 1825)
- 1759 - Chauncey Goodrich, U.S. Senator from Connecticut (d. 1815)
- 1719 - Gottfried Achenwall, German statistician (d. 1772)
- 1711 - Timothy Ruggles, American-born Tory politician (d. 1795)
- 1700 - Charlotte Aglaé of Orléans, Duchess of Modena (d. 1761)
- 1677 - Stanislaus I Leszczy?ski, King of Poland (d. 1766)
- 1660 - Robert Bertie, 1st Duke of Ancaster and Kesteven, English statesman (d. 1723)
- 1656 - Nicolas de Largillière, French painter (d. 1746)
- 1632 - Sir Christopher Wren, English architect (d. 1723)
- 1620 - Aelbert Cuyp, Dutch painter (d. 1691)
- 1616 - Thomas Bartholin, Danish physician, mathematician, and theologian (d. 1680)
- 1496 - Claude, Duke of Guise, French soldier (d. 1550)
- 1463 - Alessandro Achillini, Italian philosopher (d. 1512)