On This Day

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Important events of history that took place in India and elsewhere on today’s date.

20 May

20 May

In India

1498

Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama became the first European to reach India via the Atlantic Ocean when he arrived at Calicut (Kozhikode) on the Malabar Coast.

1900 Sumitranandan Pant, one of the most celebrated 20th century poets of the Hindi language, was born. He was known for romanticism in his poems which were inspired by nature, people and beauty within.

1932 Bipin Chandra Pal, Indian nationalist, writer, orator, social reformer and Indian independence movement freedom fighter, died in Kolkata. He was one third of the "Lal Bal Pal" triumvirate. Pal was one of the main architects of the Swadeshi movement along with Sri Aurobindo.

1994 Sushmita Sen from India was crowned the 43rd Miss Universe at age 18.

Elsewhere

1506 Christopher Columbus died in poverty in Spain at age 55, still believing he discovered the coast of Asia.

1609 Shakespeare's Sonnets were first published in London by publisher Thomas Thorpe.

1932 Amelia Earhart took off from Newfoundland to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic.

Significance

World Bee Day is celebrated to acknowledge the role of bees and other pollinators for the ecosystem. On this day Anton Janša, the pioneer of beekeeping, was born in 1734.

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