ON 20 MAY IN ASIAN HISTORY
To see another date, on Internet (Google…), type “On (day + month) in Asian history”
Updated on May 20, 2019
1293: An earthquake strikes Kamakura, Japan, leaving 30,000 killed
http://broom02.revolvy.com/main/index.php?s=1293%20Kamakura%20earthquake
1498: Portuguese explorer Vasco da Gama arrives at Kozhikode (previously known as Calicut), India
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/vasco-da-gama-reaches-india
http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/06374a.htm
1550: Death of Ashikaga Yoshiharu, Japanese shogun, born on 21 April 1511
http://wiki.samurai-archives.com/index.php?title=Ashikaga_Yoshiharu
1619: Coen, backed by a force of nineteen ships, storms the Jayakarta driving out the Banten forces, and from the ashes of Jayakarta, establishes Batavia (now Jakarta) as the VOC headquarters
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Batavia,_Dutch_East_Indies
1645: The Manchurian Qing army occupies the city of Yangzhou. Chinese general Shi Kefa refuses to summit. Start of a for 10 days long massacre. Hundred thousands of people get killed by the Qing troops
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yangzhou_massacre
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shi_Kefa
1784: In a Treaty signed in Paris, Netherlands cedes to Britain the port city of Nagappattinam in India and allows the British free navigation rights in the Duch-held Mollucas
1894: Birth of Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian Hindu sage, who died on January 8, 1994
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paramacharya
https://rlalitha.wordpress.com/2009/06/09/sri-chandrasekharendra-saraswati-swamigal/
1900: Birth of Sumitranandan Pant, Indian poet who died on December 28, 1977
http://www.mapsofindia.com/on-this-day/20-may-1900-sumitranandan-pant-indian-poet-was-born
1908: In Netherlands Indies, Foundation of the Boedi Oetomo (Noble Conduct), organization led by Dr Soetomo. Educational movement which turned to politics
https://www.britannica.com/topic/Budi-Utomo
http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2014/08/28/boedi-oetomo-birth-a-nation.html
1939: Birth of Balu Mahendra, Sri Lankan-Indian director, cinematographer, and screenwriter who died on February 13, 2014
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Balu_Mahendra
http://www.filmibeat.com/celebs/balu-mahendra/biography.html
1941: Birth of Goh Chok Tong, former Singaporian Premier and later Senior Minister
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goh_Chok_Tong
1942: Japan completed the conquest of Burma
1946: Birth of Xanana Gusmao, former president of East-Timor (2002-2007) then Prime Minister up to February 2015
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/342145.stm
1946: In Japan, formation of Yoshida cabinet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shigeru_Yoshida
1947: Ho Chi Minh and Hoang Minh Giam reject France’s stringent cease-fire conditions
1948: Chiang Kai-shek is formally elected President of the Republic of China
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_Republic_of_China
1950: Birth of Wei Jingsheng, the best known Chinese dissident
http://weijingsheng.org/wei/en.html
1954: Chiang Kai-shek is reelected president of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
1957: Birth of Yoshihiko Noda, Prime Minister of Japan (2011-2012)
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoshihiko_Noda
1959: Japanese-Americans regain their citizenship
1963: Sukarno is reelected president of Indonesia
1967: In USA, 10,000 demonstrate against Vietnam War
1967: Birth of Ramzi Yousef, Kuwaiti-born Pakistani terrorist
http://www.fas.org/irp/world/iraq/956-tni.htm
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hDPVMgt1JCE
1969: End of the ten days Battle of Hamburger Hill (Aptia Mountain) one of the bloodiest battles of the Vietnam War (see on May 10)
http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/battle-for-hamburger-hill-ends
http://www.thefinertimes.com/Vietnam-War/the-battle-of-hamburger-hill.html
1970: 100,000 march in New York supporting US policy in Vietnam
1978: Chiang Ching-kuo, son of Chiang Kai-shek, is elected president of the Republic of China (Taiwan), till his death on January 13, 1988
http://www.ee.nthu.edu.tw/~sdyang/BioInfo/Bio_Chiang_CK.htm
1982: In the Afghanistan war, first exchange of prisoners closed of the Pakistani border
1982: Sir Edward Youde takes office as Governor of Hong Kong
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Youde
1983: Birth of Jr. NTR, Indian film actor
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jr._NTR
1986: In a joint communiqué Lisbon and Beijing announce the beginning of talks on Macao
1988: Birth of Carla Humphries, Filipina actress
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carla_Humphries
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-MXdiUPhoo
1989: Chinese Premier Li Peng proclaims the Martial Law in Beijing
https://www.upi.com/Archives/1989/05/20/China-declares-martial-law/8922611640000/
http://www.tsquare.tv/chronology/MartialLaw.html
1990: In Taiwan, Lee Teng-hui, elected on March 21, is sworn in as the eighth president
http://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=4,29,31,45&post=4599
http://history.04007.cn/en.php/HisMain/5310.html
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TmEVuKivY80
1992: India launches its first satellite independently
1992: The king of Thailand ask the Prime minister Suchinda Kraprayoon and opposition leader to put an end to the brutalities in Bangkok
http://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-37650466
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8DeXAwhHko
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qz5nHpznnnc&feature=related
1993: Xanana Gusmao, leader of the East-Timor separatist insurgency (arrested in 1992) is condemned to life sentence, changed later to 20 years in prison
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Xanana_Gusm%C3%A3o
1997: US President Clinton signs an executive order 13047 barring new US investment in Burma (Myanmar), effective May 21 and renewable annually
http://www.cato.org/publications/trade-policy-analysis/us-sanctions-against-burma-failure-all-fronts
2000: In Taiwan, Chen Shui-bian becomes the first non KMT president
http://www.who2.com/chenshuibian.html
https://sites.duke.edu/niou/files/2011/06/41.pdf
2002: East-Timor is officially independent from Indonesia
http://newsweekly.com.au/article.php?id=1024
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7aAnLARXdYY
2002: Mari Alkatiri becomes Prime Minister of East Timor up to June 26, 2006
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/asia-pacific/1989267.stm
2004: Chen Shui-bian starts his second mandate as president of the Republic of China (Taiwan)
2006: In Dhaka, a series of massive wildcat strikes begin, involving nearly 1.8 million garment workers in Bangladesh
https://libcom.org/news/article.php/bangladesh-garment-revolt-140706
2007: In Vietnam, legislative elections. 83 % of the candidates are members of the Vietnam Communist Party. In the final, more than 90 % of the members of the parliament are members of the CPV
2008: Ma Ying-jeou is sworn in as president of Taiwan
http://www.china-briefing.com/news/2008/05/20/ma-ying-jeou-sworn-in-as-taiwans-new-president.html
https://china.usc.edu/ma-ying-jeou-“inaugural-address”-may-20-2008
2008: Tsai Ing-wen is elected chairperson of the Democratic Progressive Party, the main opposition party in Taiwan
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Democratic_Progressive_Party_chairmanship_election,_2008
2008: India and Pakistan resume talks
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/7409672.stm
2009: Sri Lanka celebrates victory over the Tamil Tigers with a national holiday as the army hunt down fugitive rebels
2012: Taiwan’s President Ma Ying-jeou is sworn in for second term
https://taiwantoday.tw/news.php?unit=2&post=2402
2013: Myanmar President Thein Sein becomes the first leader of his country to visit the White House in nearly half a century, as Washington offers a strong symbolic gesture to back his reforms
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/may/20/thein-sein-burma-visit-us-obama
https://www.pri.org/stories/2013-05-20/myanmar-president-thein-sein-makes-historic-visit-white-house
2014: Thailand’s military declares martial law. It will stay in place until peace and order are restored, following months of sometimes deadly anti-government protests
http://www.voanews.com/content/thai-army-declares-martial-law-but-says-its-not-a-coup/1918780.html
http://www.aljazeera.com/news/asia-pacific/2014/05/cloneofthailand-army-declares-martial-law-201451-201452017300819831.html
2016: Vietnam releases prominent Catholic priest dissident Nguyen Van Ly ahead of Obama visit
http://www.vietnamtribune.com/index.php/sid/244261471
2016: Taiwan’s Tsai Ing-wen sworn in as first female president
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/05/20/taiwan-inaugurates-first-female-president-amid-warnings-from-chi/
http://www.euronews.com/2016/05/20/taiwan-s-first-female-president-tsai-ing-wen-sworn-in/
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201605200008.aspx
2017: Former Vice President Wu Den-yih (吳敦義) wins the election for chairman of Taiwan’s main opposition party, the Kuomintang (KMT)
http://focustaiwan.tw/news/aipl/201705200021.aspx
2017: Francisco ‘Lu Olo’ Guterres is formally inaugurated as Timor-Leste’s new president
http://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/2017/05/20/new-president-timor-leste
https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/may/20/much-to-be-done-new-president-brings-timor-leste-hope-for-a-better-future
http://sea-globe.com/francisco-lu-olo-guterres/
Holidays and observances
East Timor: Independence Day (independence of East Timor from Indonesia in 2002)
Cambodia: Day of Remembrance (ex National Day of Hatred)