Today in History, November 20th
On November 20, 1945, the Nuremberg trials of top Nazi leaders began. Plus the whaleship Essex, a royal wedding, and more.
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November 20 is best known as the opening day of the Nuremberg trials in 1945, when Allied judges began trying top Nazi leaders. It is also the day a sperm whale sank the whaleship Essex in 1820 and the day Princess Elizabeth married Philip Mountbatten in 1947.
The big story: The Nuremberg trials begin (1945)
Six months after Germany surrendered, an international tribunal opened in Nuremberg, Germany, to try 24 high-ranking Nazis. Judges came from the United States, the Soviet Union, Great Britain, and France, with Britain’s Lord Geoffrey Lawrence presiding. The charges included crimes against peace, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, a category that put a name to the systematic murder of civilians. Nothing like it had been tried before. The proceedings ran about 10 months and 216 sessions. On October 1, 1946, the court sentenced 12 defendants to death, gave seven prison terms ranging from 10 years to life, and acquitted three. Hermann Göring avoided the gallows by taking poison the night before his scheduled hanging. Later trials of lesser officials continued into the 1950s. The larger legacy was the principle itself: that leaders can be held personally responsible under international law, and that following orders is not a complete defense.
More events on November 20
| Year | What happened |
|---|---|
| 1820 | A sperm whale rammed and sank the Nantucket whaleship Essex in the Pacific. The disaster helped inspire the climax of Moby-Dick. |
| 1866 | Pierre Lallement received a U.S. patent for a pedal-driven bicycle, an early ancestor of the modern bike. |
| 1910 | Francisco Madero called for a revolt against Mexico’s longtime ruler. The uprising helped ignite the Mexican Revolution. |
| 1917 | British forces opened the Battle of Cambrai, the first truly effective use of massed tanks in war. |
| 1923 | Inventor Garrett Morgan received a patent for a three-position traffic signal. |
| 1947 | Princess Elizabeth, the future Queen Elizabeth II, married Philip Mountbatten at Westminster Abbey. |
| 1969 | Native American activists began an occupation of Alcatraz Island that lasted until June 1971. |
| 1975 | Francisco Franco, Spain’s dictator since the end of its civil war, died in Madrid. |
| 1992 | Fire tore through Windsor Castle, destroying 115 rooms. Most of the royal art collection was saved. |
| 2022 | The first soccer World Cup held in the Middle East kicked off in Qatar, with Ecuador beating the hosts. |
| 2024 | UConn’s Geno Auriemma won his 1,217th game, the most coaching wins in NCAA basketball history. |
Born on November 20
- 1858: Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish novelist and the first woman to win the Nobel Prize in Literature.
- 1889: Edwin Hubble, American astronomer who showed the universe is expanding, born in Marshfield, Missouri.
- 1908: Alistair Cooke, British-American journalist and broadcaster.
- 1925: Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. attorney general and senator.
- 1942: Joe Biden, 46th president of the United States, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania.
Keep reading
Sources
- Nuremberg trials begin, History.com
- On This Day: November 20, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- This Day in History: November 20, History.com
- Edwin Hubble, Encyclopaedia Britannica
- Joe Biden, Encyclopaedia Britannica
