Thursday 20th of May 1277

187th Pope Ioannes XXI dies of injuries suffered when the roof of his bedroom collapsed on 14 May at the age of 62 in Viterbo, Lazio, Italy.

Thursday 20th of May 1509

Explorer, navigator, cartographer and captain Christophorus Columbus dies of Reiter's syndrome at the age of 58 in Valladolid, Castile and León, Spain.

Friday 20th of May 1521

30-year-old Founder of the Jesuits Ignatius de Loyola is severely injured when a French cannonball shatters his leg while storming the fortress in Pamplona, Navarre, Spain.

Monday 20th of May 1793

Professor of chemistry and geology and murderer John White Webster is born in Boston, Massachusetts, United States.

Monday 20th of May 1799

Writer and playwright Honoré de Balzac known for La Comédie Humaine is born in Tours, Centre, France.

Tuesday 20th of May 1851

Inventor Emile Berliner known for developing the disc record gramophone is born in Hannover, Niedersachsen, Germany.

Saturday 20th of May 1882

Writer Sigrid Undset is born in Kalundborg, Sjælland, Denmark.

Wednesday 20th of May 1908

Actor James Maitland Stewart is born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, United States.

Thursday 20th of May 1915

Israeli military leader and politician Moshe Kitaigorodsky Dayan is born in Degania Alef, Emek Hayarden, Israel.

Sunday 20th of May 1917

20-year-old Doctor and serial killer Marcel André Henri Félix Petiot aka The Triangular Chamber of Death Murderer has his left foot ripped open by a German hand-grenade during a bitter fight in Aisne, Picardie, France.

Wednesday 20th of May 1925

Aircraft designer Alexei Andreyevich Tupolev is born in Moscow, Central Federal District, Russia.

Friday 20th of May 1927

Murderer Charles J. Blackburn is executed by hanging at the age of 35 in Arizona State Prison Complex, 1305 E Butte Avenue, Florence, Arizona, United States.

Wednesday 20th of May 1936

31-year-old Geisha, prostitute, actress and murderess Sada Abe is arrested walking around the street with the cut off penis and testicles of her lover Kichizo Ishida in her handbag in Tokyo, Shinagawa, Kantō, Japan.

"I felt attached to Ishida's penis and thought that only after taking leave from it quietly could I then die. I unwrapped the paper holding them and gazed at his penis and scrotum. I put his penis in my mouth and even tried to insert it inside me... It didn't work however though I kept trying and trying." After her arrest, Ishida's penis and testicles were moved to Tokyo University Medical School's pathology museum. They were put on public display not long after the end of World War II, but they have since disappeared.

Monday 20th of May 1940

Leader of the Verdinaso Joris Edmond Eduard Van Severen is brutally murdered by drunken French partizans at the age of 46 in Kiosque d'Abbeville, Abbeville, Nord-Pas-de-Calais, France.

Twenty one suspects of varying political stripe were selected and executed without trial.

Saturday 20th of May 1944

Singer and musician Joe John Robert Cocker is born in 38 Tasker Road, Sheffield, Crookes, South Yorkshire, United Kingdom.

Monday 20th of May 1946

Singer and actress Cher aka The Goddess of Pop is born as Cherilyn Sarkisian in El Centro, California, United States.

Tuesday 20th of May 1952

Member of the Rote Armee Fraktion Christian Klar is born in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany.

Friday 20th of May 1955

Triple murderer James Demouchette aka Doom is born in San Antonio, Texas, United States.

Wednesday 20th of May 1964

Spree killer Reuben Rolle commits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 31 in Nassau, Over-the-Hill, New Providence, Bahamas.

Earlier that day Rolle killed six people including his wife Eloise and his nephew Carlton Sweeting, and wounded six others.

Thursday 20th of May 1965

121 die in Pakistan International Airlines Boeing 720-040B Flight 705 crash in Cairo International Airport, Caïro, Al Qahirah, Egypt.

There were 6 survivors.

Thursday 20th of May 1965

Mass murderer Roger Girard commits suicide by a shot in the head at the age of 34 in Chavagneux, Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, France.

Girard first killed his 34-year-old wife Jeannette, his 58-year-old mother Angèle, his 40-year-old brother Robert and 10-year-old Eliane, 8-year-old Jacqueline, 7-year-old Bernard, 4-year-old Yves, 2-year-old Daniel, 16-months-old Sylvianne and 6-months-old Pierre. Girard also shot his dog.

Monday 20th of May 1968

26-year-old Serial killer John Wayne Gacy aka The Killer Clown is sentenced for sodomy and sent to the Iowa Men Reformatory in Anamosa, Iowa, United States.

Monday 20th of May 1991

25-year-old Sabine Moitzi is found strangled by serial killer Jack Unterweger aka Jack the Writer aka Der Häfenpoet aka The Pug Dumper in Wien, Wien, Austria.

Moitzi was strangled on 16 April 1991.

Wednesday 20th of May 1992

Murderer Roger Keith Coleman is executed by Old Sparky at the age of 34 in Greensville Correctional Center, Jarratt, Virginia, United States.

Coleman's last meal request was for cold pepperoni pizza, with chocolate marshmallow cookies and 7UP.

Wednesday 20th of May 1992

Murderer Jesus Romero is executed by lethal injection at the age of 27 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Tuesday 20th of May 1997

Rapist and murderer Clarence Allen Lackey is executed by lethal injection at the age of 43 in Huntsville Prison, 815 12th Street, Huntsville, Texas, United States.

Lackey's last meal request was for t-bone steak, a large salad, french fries and chocolate ice cream. His request for a pack of Camel cigarettes was denied because of prison tobacco policy.

Sunday 20th of May 2007

One of several lakes on the way from Pori for a performance in Tampere, Pirkanmaa, Finland.

Monday 20th of May 2019

Formula One racer Niki Andreas Nikolaus Lauda dies of a long illness at the age of 70 in Wien, Wien, Austria.