September 20 - This Day in History

September 20: General Interest
1973: King triumphs in Battle of Sexes

On this day in 1973, in a highly publicized "Battle of the Sexes" tennis match, top women's player Billie Jean King, 29, beats Bobby Riggs, 55, a former No. 1 ranked men's player. Riggs (1918-1995), a self-proclaimed male chauvinist, had boasted that women were inferior, that they couldn't handle the pressure of the game and that even at his age he could beat any female player... read more


American Revolution
1777 : Redcoats kill sleeping Americans in Paoli Massacre
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/redcoats-kill-sleeping-americans-in-paoli-massacre


Automotive
1960 : Mickey Thompson tries again to become the fastest driver in history
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mickey-thompson-tries-again-to-become-the-fastest-driver-in-history


Civil War
1863 : Confederates score a victory at the Battle of Chickamauga
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/second-day-of-the-battle-of-chickamauga


Cold War
1963 : Kennedy proposes joint mission to the moon
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kennedy-proposes-joint-mission-to-the-moon


Crime
2012 : Amish convicted in beard cutting attacks
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/amish-convicted-in-beard-cutting-attacks


Disaster
2002 : Avalanche thunders into Russian village
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/avalanche-thunders-into-russian-village


General Interest
1519 : Magellan sets out
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/magellan-sets-out

1565 : First European battle on American soil
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-european-battle-on-american-soil

1946 : First Cannes Film Festival
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-cannes-film-festival


Hollywood
1934 : Actress and international sex symbol Sophia Loren born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/actress-and-international-sex-symbol-sophia-loren-born


Literary
1878 : Upton Sinclair is born
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/upton-sinclair-is-born


Music
1975 : The Bay City Rollers make their U.S. debut on Saturday Night Live with Howard Cosell
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-bay-city-rollers-make-their-us-debut-on-saturday-night-live-with-howard-cosell


Old West
1806 : The returning Lewis and Clark reach the first white settlement on the Missouri
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-returning-lewis-and-clark-reach-the-first-white-settlement-on-the-missouri


Presidential
1881 : Chester Arthur becomes third president to serve in one year
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chester-arthur-becomes-third-president-to-serve-in-one-year


Sports
1973 : King defeats Riggs in Battle of the Sexes II
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/king-defeats-riggs-in-battle-of-the-sexes-ii


Vietnam War
1968 : U.S. officials defend use of defoliants
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-officials-defend-use-of-defoliants

1972 : U.S. planes mine waters in northern Quang Tri
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-planes-mine-waters-in-northern-quang-tri


World War I
1918 : U.S. officer George S. Patton writes home after Saint-Mihiel offensive
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-officer-george-s-patton-writes-home-after-saint-mihiel-offensive


World War II
1943 : British launch Operation Source
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/british-launch-operation-source