May 20th, 1916

Born on May 20th, 1916

Age in days, weeks and months
Wow, over 39,000 days old!

Why not celebrate an alternative birthday? In 583 days, exactly on November 24th, 2025, people who were born on May 20th, 1916 will be 40,000 days old!

... in seconds, minutes and hours

What happened on May 20th?

May 20th, 2013

A tornado struck Moore, Oklahoma, United States, killing 24 people and causing an estimated $2 billion of damage.

May 20th, 2012

The first of two major earthquakes struck Northern Italy, resulting in seven deaths.

May 20th, 1983

uMkhonto we Sizwe, the paramilitary wing of the African National Congress, detonated a car bomb in Pretoria, resulting in 19 deaths and 217.

May 20th, 1965

While attempting to land at Cairo International Airport, Pakistan International Airlines Flight 705 crashed for unknown reasons, killing all but 6 of the 121 people on board.

May 20th, 1947

The first session of the National Diet opened in Tokyo, Japan.

May 20th, 1943

The Luttra Woman (skull pictured), a bog body from the Early Neolithic period, was discovered near Luttra, Sweden.

May 20th, 1941

World War II: German paratroopers began the Battle of Heraklion on the island of Crete, capturing the airfield and port in Heraklion ten days later.

May 20th, 1927

By the Treaty of Jeddah, the United Kingdom recognized the sovereignty of King Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia (pictured) over Hejaz and Nejd, which later merged to become Saudi Arabia.

May 20th, 1875

Representatives from seventeen countries signed the Metre Convention, which set up an institute for the purpose of coordinating international metrology and for coordinating the development of the metric system.

May 20th, 1609

Thomas Thorpe published the first copies of Shakespeare's sonnets, possibly without William Shakespeare's consent.

May 20th, 0794

According to the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, King Æthelberht II of East Anglia was beheaded on the orders of King Offa of Mercia.

May 20th, 0685

The Picts defeated the Northumbrians at the Battle of Dun Nechtain, severely weakening the latter's power in northern Great Britain.

May 20th, 2022

Russo-Ukrainian War: Russia claims full control of the Ukrainian city of Mariupol after a nearly three-month siege.

May 20th, 2019

The International System of Units (SI): The base units are redefined, making the international prototype of the kilogram obsolete.

May 20th, 2016

The government of Singapore authorised the controversial execution of convicted murderer Kho Jabing for the murder of a Chinese construction worker despite the international pleas for clemency, notably from Amnesty International and the United Nations.

Birthdays
... of famous people, actors, celebrities and stars on May 20th

Born on May 20th, 1916

85

Carl Malsch

German pastor (1916-2001)

*May 20th, 1916, Hamburg †September 13th, 2001, Hamburg

90

Ondina Valla

Italian athletics competitor

*May 20th, 1916, Bologna †October 16th, 2006, L'Aquila

84

Luise Ermisch

German politician (1916-2001)

*May 20th, 1916, Halle (Saale) †January 17th, 2001, Mühlhausen

99

Owen Chadwick

English academic, priest and rugby union player (1916-2015)

*May 20th, 1916, Bromley †July 17th, 2015, Cambridge

53

Patricia Ellis

American actress (1916–1970)

*May 20th, 1916, Birmingham †March 26th, 1970, Kansas City

87

Bill Carey

American songwriter

*May 20th, 1916, Hollister †January 27th, 2004, Laguna Beach

Same Day
Who's birthday is on May 20th?

65

Jane Wiedlin

American musician

*May 20th, 1958, Oconomowoc

36

Shendy Puspa Irawati

Indonesian badminton player

*May 20th, 1987, Nganjuk

26

Dechapol Puavaranukroh

Thai badminton player

*May 20th, 1997, Chonburi

75

Jon Amiel

English film director

*May 20th, 1948, London

84

Annie M.G. Schmidt

Dutch writer (1911-1995)

*May 20th, 1911, Kapelle †May 21st, 1995, Amsterdam

66

Moshe Dayan

Israeli military leader and politician (1915–1981)

*May 20th, 1915, Degania Alef †October 16th, 1981, Tel Aviv

89

James Stewart

American actor (1908–1997)

*May 20th, 1908, Indiana †July 2nd, 1997, Beverly Hills

40

Anastasia Russkikh

Russian badminton player

*May 20th, 1983, Gatchina

92

David Hedison

American actor (1927-2019)

*May 20th, 1927, Providence †July 18th, 2019, Los Angeles

88

José Mujica

40th president of Uruguay from 2010 to 2015

*May 20th, 1935, Montevideo

44

Jonathan Neil Morgan

Badminton player

*May 20th, 1979, Llanelli

78

Dietrich Mateschitz

Austrian businessman

*May 20th, 1944, Sankt Marein im Mürztal †October 22nd, 2022, St. Wolfgang im Salzkammergut

34

Goh V Shem

Malaysian badminton player

*May 20th, 1989, Setapak

23

Rosa Linn

Armenisk singer-songwriter

*May 20th, 2000, Vanadzor

28

Iben Bergstein

Badminton player

*May 20th, 1995, Rødovre

27

Yukino Nakai

Badminton player

*May 20th, 1996, Nerima

37

Kenn Lim

Badminton player

*May 20th, 1986, Alor Setar

61

Alexandra Illmer Forsythe

American computer scientist

*May 20th, 1918, Newton †January 2nd, 1980, Santa Clara County

67

Sigrid Undset

Norwegian writer (1882-1949)

*May 20th, 1882, Kalundborg †June 10th, 1949, Lillehammer Municipality

55

Timothy Olyphant

American actor

*May 20th, 1968, Honolulu

Same year
Born in 1916

89

Phil Brown

American actor (1916–2006)

*April 30th, 1916, Cambridge †February 9th, 2006, Woodland Hills

100

Jean Rouverol

American actress and screenwriter

*July 8th, 1916, St. Louis †March 24th, 2017, Dover

89

Geoffrey Keen

English actor (1916–2005)

*August 21st, 1916, Wallingford †November 3rd, 2005, Northwood

101

Harry Huskey

American computer design pioneer (1916-2017)

*January 19th, 1916, Whittier †April 9th, 2017, Santa Cruz

79

François Mitterrand

21st President of the French Republic from 1981 to 1995

*October 26th, 1916, Jarnac †January 8th, 1996, 7th arrondissement of Paris

71

Jackie Gleason

American comedian and actor (1916-1987)

*February 26th, 1916, Brooklyn †June 24th, 1987, Fort Lauderdale

103

Kirk Douglas

American stage and film actor (1916–2020)

*December 9th, 1916, Amsterdam †February 5th, 2020, Beverly Hills

101

Jacque Fresco

American futurist and self-described social engineer

*March 13th, 1916, Brooklyn †May 18th, 2017, Sebring

88

Francis Crick

British molecular biologist, biophysicist, neuroscientist; co-discoverer of the structure of DNA

*June 8th, 1916, Northampton †July 28th, 2004, La Jolla

107

Friedrich Grade

German engineer and naval officer

*March 29th, 1916, Büdelsdorf †October 13th, 2023, Bornheim

101

Bernard Lewis

British-American historian (1916–2018)

*May 31st, 1916, London †May 19th, 2018, Voorhees Township

79

Harold Wilson

British politician

*March 11th, 1916, Huddersfield †May 24th, 1995, London

104

Olivia de Havilland

English and American actress (1916–2020)

*July 1st, 1916, Tokyo †July 26th, 2020, 16th arrondissement of Paris

93

Vitaly Ginzburg

Russian physicist

*September 21st, 1916, Moscow †November 8th, 2009, Moscow

84

Sirimavo Bandaranaike

Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka) from 1960–65, 1970–77, 1994–2000

*April 17th, 1916, Baḷangoḍa †October 10th, 2000, Colombo

87

Maurice Wilkins

New Zealand-born English physicist and biologist

*December 15th, 1916, Pongaroa †October 5th, 2004, Blackheath

101

Sam Beazley

British actor

*March 29th, 1916, Kensington †June 12th, 2017, London

100

João Havelange

Brazilian businessman and athlete (1916-2016)

*May 8th, 1916, Rio de Janeiro †August 16th, 2016, Rio de Janeiro

89

Edward Heath

Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1974

*July 9th, 1916, Broadstairs †July 17th, 2005, Salisbury

77

Mark Stevens

American actor (1916–1994)

*December 13th, 1916, Cleveland †September 15th, 1994, Spain

Birthdays of famous people

Public holidays on May 20th

Fixed holidays (Christian feast day, National Awakening Day) which are celebrated on May 20th.

Date as a Roman numeral / digit

Leap year

Yes: 1916 is a leap year, therefore has a 29th of February with an additional leap day and a total of 366 days (instead of the usual 365 days in a normal year).

Calendar
May 1916