Washington, United States. A range of political, military, and cultural events have been recorded on May 20 across different years, including changes of government and major international developments.
Political transitions and international developments
In 1902, Cuba was handed over to a republican government and the last U.S. troops left.
In 1996, Iraq, its economy devastated by nearly six years of sanctions, accepted a U.N. plan to sell limited quantities of oil in order to buy food and medicine.
In 2002, East Timor declared its independence as the U.N. transferred power from the mission that had run the country since 1999.
In 2006, Nuri al-Maliki was sworn in as Iraqi prime minister at the head of a national unity government.
In 2007, Nobel peace laureate Jose Ramos-Horta was sworn in as East Timor’s president.
Conflict, justice, and security incidents
In 1999, a German court convicted former Nazi Alfons Goetzfrid of war crimes after what was expected to be the last such trial in the country.
In 1999, Massimo D’Antona, senior consultant to Italy’s labour minister, was shot dead in Rome, and a document purporting to come from the Red Brigades claimed responsibility.
Science and technology
In 1956, the first hydrogen bomb to be dropped from the air was exploded by the Americans over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.
Death
In 2005, French philosopher Paul Ricoeur died aged 92, and was the author of around 30 books including “The Rule of Metaphor,” and was best known for work in the field of phenomenology, studying how conscious experiences shape the view of reality.
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