Friday 20th of August 0984

136th Pope Ioannes XIV dies of starvation or poisoning in Castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Wednesday 20th of August 1823

251st Pope Pius VII dies from complications of a hip fracture on 6 July 1823 at the age of 81 in Vatican City, Rome, Lazio, Italy.

Tuesday 20th of August 1833

23rd President of the United States Benjamin Harrison is born in North Bend, Ohio, United States.

Wednesday 20th of August 1890

Horror fiction writer H. P. Howard Philips Lovecraft is born in Providence, Rhode Island, United States.

Monday 20th of August 1900

Mass murderer Theodore Franz Wallert butchers his wife Sophia and four step-children 20-year old Justus Gustave, 16-year old Helene, 12-year old Reinhold and 13-year old Annie Steinborne in Arlington, Minnesota, United States.

A third son, 11-year-old Otto Steinborn had a miraculous escape from the carnival of death.

Tuesday 20th of August 1912

Founder of the Salvation Army William Booth dies of natural causes at the age of 83 in London, Hadley Wood, Greater London, United Kingdom.

Thursday 20th of August 1914

257th Pope Pius X dies of complications of a heart attack at the age of 79 in Palazzo Apostolico, Rome, Vatican City, Lazio, Italy.

Wednesday 20th of August 1919

26-year-old Serial killer Friedrich Schumann aka Der Massenmörder vom Falkenhager See is arrested in Arztpraxis Dr. Georg Tepling, Potsdamer Straße 42/43, Berlin, Spandau, Berlin, Germany.

Schumann came to see Dr. Tepling because of a wound in his shoulder when shot two days before by 52-year-old forester Wilhelm Nielbock. The doctor had read about the warrant for a wounded man in the newspaper.

Monday 20th of August 1923

Singer-songwriter Jim James Travis Reeves is born in Galloway, Texas, United States.

Tuesday 20th of August 1929

Victim of Paul John Knowles aka Killing Time Carswell Carr is born in Wilkinson County, Georgia, United States.

Friday 20th of August 1937

Victim of Michel Bellen aka The Strangler of the Left Bank Lucienne Verhoeven-Bourlard is born in Antwerpen, Antwerpen, Belgium.

Friday 20th of August 1937

37-year-old Reichsführer of the Schutzstaffel (SS) Heinrich Luitpold Himmler inaugurates the Konzentrationslager in KZ Buchenwald, Weimar, Thüringen, Germany.

The camp was to be named K. L. Ettersberg but this was changed to Buchenwald since Ettersberg carried too many associations with Goethe.

Tuesday 20th of August 1946

An unidentified woman is beaten, raped and stabbed to death by serial killer Rudolf Pleil aka Der Großten Todmacher in Güterbahnhof, Hof, Bayern, Germany.

Friday 20th of August 1948

Musician Robert Anthony Plant known from the band Led Zeppelin is born in West Bromwich, Staffordshire, United Kingdom.

Sunday 20th of August 1950

Serial killer William Lester Suff aka The Lake Elsinore Killer is born as Bill Lee Suff in Torrance, California, United States.

Saturday 20th of August 1955

Victim of Ted Bundy aka The Only Living Witness Georgann Hawkins is born in Tacoma, Washington, United States.

Monday 20th of August 1962

Double murderer LeRoy Sanford McGahuey is executed by the gas chamber at the age of 42 in Oregon State Penitentiary, Salem, Oregon, United States.

McGahuey was the last person to be executed in the Gas Chamber in Oregon.

Monday 20th of August 1962

67-year-old Jane Sullivan is sexually assaulted and strangled by serial killer Albert DeSalvo aka The Boston Strangler aka The Measuring Man aka The Green Man in 435 Columbia Road, Boston, Dorchester, Massachusetts, United States.

Saturday 20th of August 1966

Guitarist and songwriter Darrell Lance Abbott aka Dimebag Darrell known from the heavy metal bands Pantera and Damageplan is born in Ennis, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 20th of August 1975

126 die in ČSA Flight 540 Ilyushin Il-62 crash in Damascus International Airport, Damascus, Damascus Governorate, Syria.

Two people survived the crash.

Wednesday 20th of August 1980

Singer-songwriter Joe Joseph Ira Dassin dies of myocardial infarction at the age of 42 in Chez Michel et Éliane, Front de Mer, Papeete, Tahiti, French Polynesia.

Wednesday 20th of August 1980

21-year-old Performance artist Danny Devos aka DDV performs 'Untitled Series - 5' in Prinsenhof 03, Gent, Oost-Vlaanderen, Belgium.

With a ‘Lucky Strike’ cigarette I burned the so-called ‘vital line’ in my hand several times. Afterwards I was not satisfied with the result and I cut across it with a razorblade.

Thursday 20th of August 1981

17-year-old Christopher Allen Williams is choked to death by serial killer Randy Kraft aka The Scorecard Killer in San Bernardino, California, United States.

Friday 20th of August 1982

Mass murderer Carl Robert Brown is shot dead by Mark Kram while cycling away from the crime scene where he shot and killed eight people with an Ithaca 37 12 gauge pump-action shotgun at the age of 52 in Bob Moore's Welding & Machine Service Inc., 3147 Northwest North River Drive, Miami, Florida, United States.

The day before the shooting Brown had a heated argument with employee Jorge Castalleda about a $20 bill for repairing a lawnmower engine he wanted to use to power his bicycle, saying the work was poorly done. Brown was also angry because his traveler's check was refused. Realizing that his complaints were of no avail Brown left the shop, stating that he would come in and kill everybody. No one took him seriously. The dead were 46-year-old welder Nelson Barrios, 53-year-old crane operator Lonie Jeffries, 47-year-old manager Carl Lee, 67-year-old machine shop owner's mother Ernestine Moore, 78-year-old machine shop owner's uncle Magnum Moore, 29-year-old secretary Martha Steelman, 38-year-old machinist Juan Ramon Trespalacios and 44-year-old shop foreman Pedro Vasques.

Wednesday 20th of August 1986

Mass murderer Patrick Henry Sherrill known for the Edmond Post Office shooting commits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 45 in United States Post Office, 200 N Broadway, Edmond, Oklahoma, United States.

The day before supervisors Esser and Bland verbally disciplined Sherrill for his behavior. Shortly after 7 a.m. Sherrill entered the building with two M1911 semi-automatic pistols and a Ruger semi-automatic pistol and shot twenty-two co-workers, killing fourteen. The dead were 41-year-old part-time clerk Patricia Ann Chambers, 41-year-old part-time clerk Judy Stephens Denney, 38-year-old supervisor Richard C. Esser, 47-year-old clerk Patricia A. Gabbard, 30-year-old clerk Jonna Gragert Hamilton, 48-year-old supervisor Patty Jean Husband, 34-year-old clerk Betty Ann Jarred, 30-year-old rural carrier William F. Miller, 49-year-old rural carrier Kenneth W. Morey, 42-year-old rural carrier Leroy Orrin Phillips, 51-year-old rural carrier Jerry Ralph Pyle, 33-year-old letter carrier Paul Michael Rockne, 31-year-old part-time clerk Thomas Wade Shader and 27-year-old clerk Patti Lou Welch. Sherrill's attack inspired the American phrase 'going postal'.

Wednesday 20th of August 1986

Murderer Randy Lynn Woolls is executed by lethal injection at the age of 37 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

As an experienced drug addict Woolls helped the executioner to find a good vein.

Friday 20th of August 1993

Double murderer Carl Eugene Kelly is executed by lethal injection at the age of 34 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Kelly's last words were “I’m an African warrior, born to breathe, and born to die.”

Tuesday 20th of August 1996

Musician Rio Reiser known for his band Ton Steine Scherben dies of a circulatory collapse after internal bleeding at the age of 46 in Fresenhagen 11, Fresenhagen, Schleswig-Holstein, Germany.

Reiser was buried on his own property under an apple tree. His grave was moved to Berlin in March 2011 because Reiser's heirs sold the Fresenhagen property.

Friday 20th of August 1999

A sleeping dog on the pavement in Bangkok, Central Thailand, Thailand.

Tuesday 20th of August 2002

Murderer Gary Wayne Etheridge is executed by lethal injection at the age of 38 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Etheridge's last meal request was for nachos with cheese and peppers, crispy French fries, one cheeseburger, one fried chicken patty, one cinnamon roll, cheese, ketchup, and pickles.

Friday 20th of August 2004

60-year-old Serial killer Charles Gurmukh Sobhraj aka Bad Blood is sentenced to life imprisonment for the 1975 murders of 29-year-old Connie Bronzich and 26-year-old Laurent Ormond Carrière in Kathmandu, Bagmati, Nepal.

Sobhraj was recognised in a street of Kathmandu by a journalist on 17 September 2003 and arrested two days later.

Sunday 20th of August 2006

Serial killer Frans Hooijmaijers aka Dikke Frans De Spuitreus dies of natural causes at the age of 70 in Kerkrade, Limburg, Netherlands.

Wednesday 20th of August 2008

154 die in Spanair Flight 5022 McDonnell Douglas MD-82 crash in Madrid–Barajas Airport runway 36L, Madrid, Área metropolitana de Madrid, Spain.

18 people survived the crash.

Tuesday 20th of August 2013

Several members of the Wangjaesan Light Music Band are presumably executed by the firing squad for pornography charges by 30-year-old Supreme leader of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea Jong-un Kim in Pyongyang, P'yŏngan, North Korea.

Sunday 20th of August 2017

Actor, comedian, singer and film director Jerry Lewis dies of unknown causes at the age of 91 in Las Vegas, Nevada, United States.