August 20
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1866: The National Labor Union forms
The National Labor Union (NLU) was founded on this day in Baltimore, Maryland, during a meeting of the Coachmakers, Machinists and Blacksmiths, and Ironmoulders unions. It was the first national labor organization in the country—its members included farmers, laborers, and reformers, and delegates included representatives from local unions and labor bodies. Among the issues they discussed was “the adoption of a law whereby eight hours shall constitute a legal day’s work in every State.”
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Prints and Photographs Division/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ppmsca-10409); Photo Illustration Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
Featured Event
NASA
Viking 1 launched
The robotic U.S. spacecraft Viking 1, built to explore the surface of Mars, was launched this day in 1975 and nearly one year later landed on Chryse Planitia, a flat lowland region in the northern hemisphere of the planet. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about Mars.]
Featured Biography
Featured Biography
© Arnold Newman
Born this day in 1910 in Finland, Eero Saarinen, the son of noted architect Eliel Saarinen, was one of the leaders in a trend toward exploration and experiment in American architectural design in the 1950s.
Famous Birthdays
More on August 20
Catherine Ivill/Getty Images Sport
2023
Spain defeated England, 1–0, to win the country’s first Women’s World Cup. [How much do you know about football (soccer)?]
© Dinodia Photos/Alamy
2014
B.K.S. Iyengar, who helped popularize Yoga (a system of Indian philosophy) in the West, died at the age of 95 in Pune. [What are the different types of Yoga?]
© 2022 AGBO; IAC Films; Ley Line Entertainment; Year of The Rat
Libor Hajsky—CTK/AP Images
1968
The Warsaw Pact nations (except Romania and Albania), led by the Soviet Union, invaded Czechoslovakia to put an end to the Prague Spring.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1960
Senegal seceded from the Mali Federation, declaring its full independence. [Explore the history of colonization and independence in Africa.]
H. Roger-Viollet
1940
Leon Trotsky was assassinated by a Stalinist agent in Mexico. [Learn the answers to five important questions about Leon Trotsky.]
National Photo Company Collection—Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-ds-03743)
1920
At a meeting in Canton, Ohio, the National Football League was formed (as the American Professional Football Conference). [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about American football.]
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1914
The German army captured Brussels during the initial German invasion of World War I. [Sort fact from fiction in our World War I quiz.]
© Smith Archive/Alamy
1889
Labor activists closed the entire Port of London in the London Dock Strike.
Image: Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1865
Austria and Prussia signed the Convention of Gastein, an agreement that temporarily postponed the final struggle between them for hegemony over Germany. [Sort fact from fiction in our quiz about European history.]
C.M. Bell Studio Collection/Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. (LC-DIG-bellcm-24515)
1833
Benjamin Harrison, a Republican who won the 1888 election to become the 23rd president of the United States while losing the popular vote to Democrat Grover Cleveland, was born in North Bend, Ohio. [What other U.S. presidents won an election but lost the popular vote?]
© North Wind Picture Archives
1794
U.S. General “Mad” Anthony Wayne defeated the Northwest Indian Confederation in the Battle of Fallen Timbers near what is now Toledo, Ohio.
Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc.
1741
Danish explorer Vitus Bering, who was working for Russia, encountered Alaska. [Take our discovery and exploration quiz.]
Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.
1619
Enslaved people were first brought to the English colony of Jamestown, Virginia, on or about this date. [What is The 1619 Project, and why is it controversial?]