About the day » Tuesday May 20, 1879Calender converter

• Anna Catharina Buijtendijk, Rotterdam (Z.-H.), Neth († 1949)
• Adriaan Jasperse, Sint Maartensdijk, Tholen, Zeeland, Netherlands († 1879)
• Anna Catharina Buijtendijk, Rotterdam, Zuid-Holland, Nederland († 1949)
• Abel Postema, Odoorn Valtherveen
• Alma Jozephs, Neustadgodens, Germany († 1963)
• Alewijn van Asperen, Rotterdam († 1958)
• Adrianus van Kuijen, Wassenaar († 1945)
• Adriaan Weststrate († 1968)
• Ankje Jans JELTEMA, Oenkerk (Tytsjerksteradiel) Friesland Netherlands († 1932)
• Adriaan Jasperse, Sint Maartensdijk, Zeeland, Nederland († 1879)

• (6), Nieuw-Amsterdam, Drenthe, Holland
• Adriana van Bragt (78), Oosterhout, Nederland
• Abraham Johannes Kooper (2), Utrecht (match my heritage)
• Antje Houtkoper (67), Broek op L'dijk
• Antje Houtkoper (67), Broek op Langedijk
• Abraham Hendrik Sol (0), Rotterdam
• Angelus Andries (75), Moorslede, West-Vlaanderen (B)
• Andries Andries Posthumus (71), Dronrijp, Menaldumadeel, Friesland, Nederland
• Aimée Jeanne THOMAS (92), (La Jumellière) Chemillé-en-Anjou, Maine-et-Loire, Pays de la Loire, France
• Antonia Geertruida Torenent (22), Schiedam

• 1875 » Hendrik Offerhaus, Dutch rower († 1953)
• 1877 » Pat Leahy, Irish-American jumper († 1927)
• 1879 » Hans Meerwein, German chemist († 1965)
• 1882 » Sigrid Undset, Danish-Norwegian novelist, essayist, and translator, Nobel Prize laureate († 1949)
• 1883 » Faisal I of Iraq († 1933)
• 1886 » Ali Sami Yen, Turkish footballer and manager, founded the Galatasaray Sports Club († 1951)
• 1894 » Chandrashekarendra Saraswati, Indian guru and scholar († 1994)
• 1895 » R. J. Mitchell, English engineer, designed the Supermarine Spitfire and Supermarine S.6B († 1937)
• 1897 » Diego Abad de Santillán, Spanish economist and author († 1983)
• 1897 » Malcolm Nokes, English hammer and discus thrower († 1986)

• 1834 » Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette, French general (b. 1757)
• 1841 » Joseph Blanco White, Spanish poet and theologian (b. 1775)
• 1864 » John Clare, English poet (b. 1793)
• 1873 » George-Étienne Cartier, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 9th Premier of East Canada (b. 1814)
• 1880 » Ana Néri, Brazilian nurse and philanthropist (b. 1814)
• 1896 » Clara Schumann, German pianist and composer (b. 1819)
• 1909 » Ernest Hogan, American actor and composer (b. 1859)
• 1917 » Philipp von Ferrary, Italian stamp collector (b. 1850)
• 1917 » Valentine Fleming, Scottish soldier and politician (b. 1887)
• 1924 » Bogd Khan, Mongolian ruler (c. 1869)

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• In The Netherlands , there was from November 3, 1877 to August 20, 1879 the cabinet Kappeijne van de Coppello, with Mr. J. Kappeijne van de Coppello (liberaal) as prime minister.
• In The Netherlands , there was from August 20, 1879 to April 23, 1883 the cabinet Van Lijnden van Sandenburg, with Mr. C.Th. baron Van Lijnden van Sandenburg (conservatief-AR) as prime minister.
• The Netherlands had about 4.0 million citizens.
• April 5 » Chile declares war on Bolivia and Peru, starting the War of the Pacific.
• April 23 » Fire burns down the second main building and dome of the University of Notre Dame, which prompts the construction of the third, and current, Main Building with its golden dome.
• July 4 » Anglo-Zulu War: The Zululand capital of Ulundi is captured by British troops and burned to the ground, ending the war and forcing King Cetshwayo to flee.
• September 3 » Siege of the British Residency in Kabul: British envoy Sir Louis Cavagnari and 72 men of the Guides are massacred by Afghan troops while defending the British Residency in Kabul. Their heroism and loyalty became famous and revered throughout the British Empire.
• October 15 » The Segura river in southeastern Spain floods, killing 1077 people.
• October 22 » Using a filament of carbonized thread, Thomas Edison tests the first practical electric incandescent light bulb (it lasts 13​⁄₂ hours before burning out).

The temperature on May 20, 1879 was about 17.3 °C. There was 0.1 mm of rain. The air pressure was 2 kgf/m² and came mainly from the east-southeast. The airpressure was 76 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 47%.