August 20 - Today in History | Pages of History

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All Events

1968

Prague Spring Ends

Soviet-led Warsaw Pact troops invaded Czechoslovakia to crush the liberal reforms of Alexander Dubček's government. This event ended the period of political liberalization known as the Prague Spring and reasserted Soviet control over the Eastern Bloc.

🏛️ Politics & Government

1977

Voyager 2 Launch

NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft from Cape Canaveral on a mission to explore the outer planets. It became one of humanity's most productive interstellar probes, providing the first detailed images of Uranus and Neptune.

🔬 Science & Discovery

1940

Assassination of Leon Trotsky

Exiled Soviet revolutionary Leon Trotsky was fatally wounded in Mexico City by an agent of the Soviet secret police, Ramón Mercader. He died the following day, eliminating one of Joseph Stalin's most prominent critics.

🏛️ Politics & Government

1914

German Forces Occupy Brussels

During World War I, German troops marched into and occupied the Belgian capital of Brussels. This was a key event in the early German advance through neutral Belgium as part of the Schlieffen Plan.

⚔️ Wars & Conflicts

1920

First Commercial Radio Broadcast

Station 8MK in Detroit (which later became WWJ) began daily programmed broadcasts, making it one of the first radio stations in the world to offer a regular schedule of news and entertainment to the public.

💻 Technology

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Did You Know?

On August 20, 1975, NASA launched the Viking 1 spacecraft, which would later take the first-ever photograph from the surface of Mars. The image, a black-and-white shot of the rocky terrain, was a monumental step in humanity's direct exploration of another planet.

August 20, 1940, is the date when exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky was assassinated in Mexico City by an ice axe-wielding agent of Stalin. His study, where the attack occurred, remains preserved exactly as it was at the time of his death.