What happened on November 20 ?

270 - Maximinus, Roman Emperor (d. 313)

1602 - Otto von Guericke, German physicist and inventor (d. 1686)

1620 - Peregrine White, first English child born in the Massachusetts Bay Colony (d. 1704)

1621 - Avvakum, Russian priest and writer (d. 1682)

1625 - Paulus Potter, Dutch painter (d. 1654)

1660 - Daniel Ernst Jablonski, German theologian (d. 1741)

1761 - Pope Pius VIII (d. 1830)

1762 - Pierre André Latreille, French entomologist (d. 1833)

1765 - Sir Thomas Fremantle, British naval captain and politician (d. 1819)

1839 - Christian Wilberg, German painter (d. 1882)

1841 - Victor D'Hondt, Belgian mathematician (d. 1901)

1841 - Wilfrid Laurier, seventh Prime Minister of Canada (d. 1919)

1851 - Queen Margherita of Italy (d. 1926)

1858 - Selma Lagerlöf, Swedish author, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1940)

1864 - Erik Axel Karlfeldt, Swedish writer (d. 1931)

1866 - Kenesaw Mountain Landis, American judge and first baseball commissioner, named for Kenesaw Mountain in Georgia (d. 1944)

1884 - Norman Thomas, American social reformer (d. 1968)

1886 - Karl von Frisch, Austrian zoologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (d. 1982)

1889 - Edwin Hubble, American astronomer (d. 1953)

1896 - Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (d. 1977)

1903 - Alexandra Danilova, Russian ballerina (d. 1997)

1908 - Alistair Cooke, British-born journalist who covered the United States extensively, and who became an American citizen. (d. 2004)

1910 - Willem Jacob van Stockum, Dutch physicist (d. 1944)

1912 - Otto von Habsburg, German head of the Austrian imperial family

1913 - Judy Canova, American actress (d. 1983)

1914 - Emilio Pucci, Italian fashion designer (d. 1992)

1917 - Robert Byrd, U.S. Senator from West Virginia

1917 - Bobby Locke, South African golfer (d. 1987)

1919 - Evelyn Keyes, American actress

1921 - Jim Garrison, American detective, author, and politician (d. 1992)

1923 - Nadine Gordimer, South African writer, Nobel Prize laureate

1924 - Benoît Mandelbrot, Polish-born mathematician who made discoveries in fracals

1925 - Robert F. Kennedy, U.S. Attorney General, Senator from New York State, and brother of President John F. Kennedy (d. 1968)

1925 - Maya Plisetskaya, Russian ballet dancer

1926 - Andrzej W. Schally, Polish-born endocrinologist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

1926 - Kaye Ballard, American comic actress

1927 - Estelle Parsons, American actress

1928 - Aleksey Batalov, Russian actor

1932 - Richard Dawson, British actor and game show host. Played Corporal Newkirk on "Hogan's Heroes"

1936 - Don DeLillo, American author

1937 - René Kollo, German tenor

1937 - Eero Mäntyranta, Finnish cross-country skier

1939 - Dick Smothers, American comedian - member of the Smothers Brothers duo

1940 - Bob Einstein, American actor better known as Super Dave Osborne

1942 - Joseph Biden, U.S. Senator from Delaware

1942 - Norman Greenbaum, American singer

1943 - Veronica Hamel, American actress

1946 - Duane Allman, American guitarist. Member of the "Allman Brothers" band (d. 1971)

1946 - Greg Cook, American football player

1947 - Joe Walsh, American musician

1948 - John R. Bolton, U.S. Ambassador to the UN

1948 - John Panozzo, Drummer of STYX

1948 - Barbara Hendricks, American-born soprano

1948 - Richard Masur, American actor

1949 - Thelma Drake, U.S. Congresswoman from Virginia

1951 - David Walters, Governor of Oklahoma

1956 - Bo Derek, American actress

1956 - Mark Gastineau, former American football player

1957 - Margaret Spellings, U.S. Secretary of Education

1959 - James P. McGovern, U.S. Congressman from Massachusetts

1959 - Sean Young, American actor

1961 - Dave Watson, English footballer

1963 - Timothy Gowers, British mathematician

1963 - Ming-Na Wen, Macau-born actress

1965 - Mike D, American musician (Beastie Boys)

1965 - Yoshiki Hayashi, Japanese musician (X Japan)

1966 - Kevin Gilbert, American musician (d. 1996)

1970 - Matt Blunt, Governor of Missouri

1970 - Delia Gonzalez, American boxer

1971 - Joey Galloway, American football wide receiver

1971 - Joel McHale, American actor

1975 - Dierks Bentley, American singer

1975 - Tímea Vágvölgyi, Hungarian model

1975 - Davey Havok, singer (AFI)

1976 - Dominique Dawes, American gymnast

1981 - Kimberley Walsh, English singer (Girls Aloud)