{"id":24734,"date":"2023-05-20T07:05:00","date_gmt":"2023-05-20T05:05:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.historyextra.com\/?p=208184"},"modified":"2023-05-21T02:11:37","modified_gmt":"2023-05-21T00:11:37","slug":"20-may-on-this-day-in-history","status":"publish","type":"rss_feed","link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbchistory\/rss_feed\/20-may-on-this-day-in-history\/","title":{"rendered":"20 May: On this day in history"},"content":{"rendered":"

What events happened on 20 May in history? We round up the events, births and deaths\u2026 <\/p>

By Elinor Evans\n \t\t<\/p>

Published: Saturday, 20 May 2023 at 12:00 am<\/p>

\n\n

20 May 1498 :\u00a0Vasco da Gama lands in Calicut<\/h3>\n

Portuguese explorer finds coveted trade route to India<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

The Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama had been at sea for almost a year when, peering through the haze, he glimpsed the buildings of Calicut. His mission was to find a trade route from Lisbon to the great ports of India, with their teeming spice markets. And now, on 20 May 1498, his goal was in sight.<\/p>\n

Da Gama\u2019s crew was in poor shape, with two-thirds having succumbed to scurvy and other diseases. But that did not stop them forming a pretty low opinion of the Indians who greeted them when they disembarked.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are of a tawny complexion. Some of them have big beards and long hair, while others clip their hair short or shave the head, merely allowing a tuft to remain,\u201d wrote one Portuguese observer. \u201cThey go naked down to the waist, covering their lower extremities with very fine cotton stuffs. But it is only the most respectable who do this, for the others manage as best they are able.\u201d<\/p>\n

As for the women, the author thought them, \u201cugly and of small stature\u201d. And although the Indians were pleasant enough, they struck him as \u201ccovetous and ignorant\u201d.\nThe Indians did not think much of da Gama and his men, either. The presents from the Portuguese king \u2013 some cloaks, a box, some hats and so on \u2013 fell on very stony ground. And when da Gama left three months later, relations were so embittered that the Portuguese took hostages with them. | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 May 1609<\/h3>\n

William Shakespeare\u2019<\/a>s Sonnets are published by Thomas Thorpe and printed by George Eld. The \u2018Mr WH\u2019, to whom the work is dedicated and who may be the young man addressed by most of the sonnets, continues to cause debate. It may be William Herbert, third earl of Pembroke, but it has been argued that \u2018Mr WH\u2019 are the reversed initials of Henry Wriothesley, Shakespeare\u2019s patron in the 1590s.<\/p>\n

20 May 1722<\/h3>\n

Birth of inventor Sir William Congreve. He is best known for the military rockets that bear his name and which were used in a number of actions during the early 19th century. They are referred to in the American national anthem.<\/p>\n

20 May 1840<\/h3>\n

York Minster was badly damaged after a candle that had been left burning by a workman caused a fire which destroyed the belfry in the south-west tower and the nave roof and ceiling.<\/p>\n

20 May 1867\u00a0<\/span><\/h3>\n

Queen Victoria<\/a> lays the foundation stone of the Royal Albert Hall.<\/p>\n

20 May 1932:\u00a0Pilot Amelia Earhart flies across the Atlantic single-handedly<\/h3>\n

The first woman pilot to attempt the crossing sets off from Newfoundland, landing in Northern Ireland 15 hours later<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

Five years after Charles Lindbergh became the first man to fly solo nonstop across the Atlantic, the young American pilot Amelia Earhart climbed aboard her plane at Harbour Grace on the coast of Newfoundland, Canada, carrying that day\u2019s paper to prove the date of her departure.<\/p>\n

She had crossed the Atlantic before, as part of a three-person crew. Then, as she put it, she had been \u201cjust baggage, like a sack of potatoes\u201d. This was different \u2013 a feat that would capture the imagination of a generation. Never before had a woman flown across the Atlantic on her own.<\/p>\n

By Earhart\u2019s account, the flight was an ordeal. The fuel tank leaked, the wings became heavy with ice, the plane was battered by strong winds, and flames flickered out of the engine casing.\nEarhart had planned to land in Paris,\u00a0a suitably glamorous destination for a record-breaking flight. But bad weather and a spluttering engine put paid to that idea. Instead, after an exhausting journey of just under 15 hours, she bumped down in a field in Northern Ireland. \u201cHave you come far?\u201d asked\u00a0a watching farm labourer. \u201cFrom America,\u201d Earhart replied.<\/p>\n

Earhart\u2019s achievement won honours from governments across the world,\u00a0as well as a ticker-tape parade through New York City. \u201cWithout male or other assistance, but relying on her own ability as a pilot,\u201d opined the Manchester Guardian, \u201cshe has succeeded in proving that the flight is not beyond the knowl- edge and the capacity for sustained endurance which a woman can acquire.\u201d | Written by Dominic Sandbrook<\/strong><\/p>\n

20 May 1941<\/h3>\n

German forces mounted an airborne invasion of Crete. The invasion was successful but the lightly armed German paratroopers suffered such heavy casualties that they were never used in a strategic airborne role again.<\/p>\n

Browse more\u00a0On this day in history<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n