What Happened on August 20

Foreign Desk

1968 — Warsaw Pact Tanks Roll Into Prague, Crush Reform Drive

Soviet-led forces occupy Czechoslovakia — Dubcek's liberal course is ended; Romania and Albania alone refuse to join the intervention

Communist Party chief Alexander Dubcek, the architect of Czechoslovakia's brief liberal spring, was seized by invading Warsaw Pact forces early this morning as Soviet tanks and infantry poured across the border in a massive occupation of the country.

Armored columns, supported by aircraft, moved into Prague and other major cities before dawn, meeting scattered resistance from citizens who harangued the soldiers and erected barricades of overturned trams. The Kremlin has justified the action as necessary to defend socialism against counter-revolution, a charge Dubcek's government has denied.

Participating contingents came from the Soviet Union, Poland, Hungary, and Bulgaria. East Germany, mindful of the bitter memories its soldiers would stir among Czechs, has limited its contribution to a handful of specialists. Only Albania and Romania among the Warsaw Pact states have refused to take part.

The fate of Dubcek and his fellow reformers remains uncertain, though reports reaching this office suggest they were taken to Moscow for talks. The broad outlines of the Prague Spring — press freedom, political liberalization, and greater autonomy within the bloc — now hang in the balance as the occupiers consolidate their grip.

• Cold War: Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring. East German participation is limited to a few specialists due to memories of the recent war. Only Albania and Romania refuse to participate.

Source: Wikipedia — Cold War

Scientific Intelligence

1858 — Darwin and Wallace Publish Theory of Natural Selection

Joint paper in Linnean Society journal lays out evolution by natural selection — a revolutionary idea for the scientific world

The first public statement of the theory of evolution through natural selection has appeared in the Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society, jointly authored by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace.

Darwin, the eminent naturalist who has spent two decades assembling evidence aboard HMS Beagle, and Wallace, a younger collector working in the Malay Archipelago, have independently arrived at the same conclusion: that species change over time through a process of variation and survival of the fittest.

• Charles Darwin first publishes his theory of evolution through natural selection in The Journal of the Proceedings of the Linnean Society of London, alongside Alfred Russel Wallace's same theory.

Source: Wikipedia — Charles Darwin

Politics Desk

2020 — Biden Accepts Democratic Nomination in Virtual Address

Former vice president delivers convention speech from Delaware amid pandemic, pledging to restore the soul of the nation

WILMINGTON, Del. — Joe Biden formally accepted the Democratic presidential nomination Thursday night, delivering his acceptance speech virtually from Delaware to a pandemic-scattered convention audience.

• Joe Biden gives his acceptance speech virtually for the 2020 Democratic presidential nomination at the 2020 Democratic National Convention.

Source: Wikipedia — Joe Biden

Soviet Watch

1991 — More Than 100,000 Rally in Moscow Against Coup

A sea of protesters filled the square before the Russian parliament building, waving tricolors and chanting for democracy.

A sea of protesters filled the square before the Russian parliament building, waving tricolors and chanting for democracy.

• Dissolution of the Soviet Union, August Coup: More than 100,000 people rally outside the Soviet Union's parliament building protesting the coup aiming to depose President Mikhail Gorbachev.

Source: Wikipedia — Dissolution of the Soviet Union

Sporting News

1920 — Pro Football League Organized at Canton Auto Showroom

Gridiron magnates assemble in Ohio — Akron, Canton, Cleveland and Dayton clubs join in new body of 14 teams

Professional football was given a national charter today when representatives of the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, and Dayton Triangles met at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio, to found the American Professional Football Association. The new body, a predecessor of what may yet become the country's leading autumn pastime, opened with 14 teams, the Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, and Detroit Heralds among them. Only the Decatur Staleys, now the Chicago Bears, and the Chicago Cardinals remain of that original company in the game's top rank. The championship for the season was awarded to the Akron Pros on their 8–0–3 record, and a second meeting is expected to name a president in September.

• The meeting that founded the APFA was held at the Jordan and Hupmobile auto showroom in Canton, Ohio.
• Representatives from the Akron Pros, Canton Bulldogs, Cleveland Indians, and Dayton Triangles attended the August 20, 1920 meeting.
• The league elected Jim Thorpe as its first president at a second meeting on September 17, 1920.
• The APFA initially consisted of 14 teams, including the Buffalo All-Americans, Chicago Tigers, Columbus Panhandles, and Detroit Heralds.
• Only two original teams, the Decatur Staleys (now Chicago Bears) and Chicago Cardinals (now Arizona Cardinals), remain in the NFL.

Source: Wikipedia — National Football League

Space Desk

1975 — Viking 1 Launched Toward Mars

Unmanned probe begins voyage in new chapter of Mars exploration

The long reconnaissance of the red planet entered a new chapter this summer as NASA sent the Viking 1 planetary probe on its way to Mars. Launched from Cape Canaveral, the unmanned spacecraft carries the instruments of an ambitious search for life on a world that has teased astronomers for centuries.

• Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars.

Source: Wikipedia — Viking program

War Cabinet Report

1940 — Churchill Praises Airmen in Stirring Commons Speech

Prime Minister lauds fighter pilots' valor — 'Never was so much owed by so many to so few'

Prime Minister Winston Churchill, in the fourth of his wartime addresses to the House of Commons, paid tribute to the Royal Air Force fighter pilots now battling the Luftwaffe over Britain, declaring that 'never was so much owed by so many to so few.'

• World War II: British Prime Minister Winston Churchill makes the fourth of his famous wartime speeches, containing the line "Never was so much owed by so many to so few".

Source: Wikipedia — World War II

Foreign Dispatches

1940 — Trotsky Felled by Ice Axe in Mexico City Home

Exiled Russian revolutionary lies gravely wounded after attack by Ramón Mercader

Mexico City — Leon Trotsky, the exiled Russian revolutionary, lies in a grave condition tonight after being struck down with an ice axe at his home. His assailant, Ramón Mercader, struck the fatal blow in the study of the Coyoacán villa.

• In Mexico City, exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded with an ice axe by Ramón Mercader. He dies the next day.

Source: Wikipedia — Leon Trotsky

Space Desk

1977 — Voyager 2 Launched on Grand Tour of Outer Planets

NASA launched Voyager 2 today from Cape Canaveral on a mission expected to last at least 12 years.

NASA launched the Voyager 2 spacecraft this morning from Cape Canaveral, sending it on a grand tour of the solar system's outer planets.

The probe lifted off atop a Titan III-E Centaur rocket, beginning a mission expected to last at least 12 years. Voyager 2 will fly past Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune, returning close-up photographs and scientific data from each world.

Its sister craft, Voyager 1, is scheduled for launch next month on a faster trajectory that will reach Jupiter first. The two spacecraft carry cameras, spectrometers, and other instruments for studying planetary atmospheres and magnetic fields.

• Voyager program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft.

Source: Wikipedia — Voyager program

Baltic Desk

1991 — Estonia Declares Independence From Soviet Rule

Estonian lawmakers vote to restore the pre-war republic, citing legal continuity from before the 1940 Soviet occupation.

The amber flag of the pre-war republic was raised over the parliament building this evening as Estonia's legislators voted to re-establish independence from the Soviet Union.

The decision rests on the legal continuity of the state that existed before the Soviet occupation and incorporation in 1940. Deputies declared the republic restored, a move that sets the stage for full secession from Moscow's grip.

Crowds gathered outside the Toompea castle cheered as the vote was announced.

• Estonia, occupied by and incorporated into the Soviet Union in 1940, issues a decision on the re-establishment of independence on the basis of legal continuity of its pre-occupation statehood.

Source: Wikipedia — Estonia