Today
Thursday August 20 2026
- Day of the year
- 232/ 365
- Week
- 342,026
- Days left
- 13364%
- Moon
- 56%Waxing gibbous
Today is Thursday, August 20, 2026. It is day 232 of 2026, a year of 365 days: 133 remain, and 64% of the year has gone. Under ISO 8601 this date falls in week 34.
What's celebrated on this date
No United Nations international day falls on this date.
Coming up
- August 21International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism
- August 23International Day for the Remembrance of the Slave Trade and its Abolition
- August 29International Day against Nuclear Tests
Saints and name days
Saints whose feast falls on this date, most widely known first.
- Pius VIIhead of the Catholic Church, ruler of the Papal States from 1800 to 1823 (1742–1823)
- Bernard of ClairvauxBurgundian saint, abbot and theologian (1090–1153)
- Stephen I of Hungary11th-century king of Hungary and saint
- SamuelBiblical prophet and main figure of the First Book of Samuel
- ZacchaeusJewish Christian disciple and apostle (fl. 1. century)
Sources : Wikidata (P841) · CC0 1.0
Astronomy
New York
- Sunrise
- 06:12
- Sunset
- 19:47
- Length of day
- 13h 36m−2 min vs yesterday
- Solar noon
- 12:59
Times shown for America/New_York
Season
Summer
began on June 21, 2026
Next season
Autumn — 33 days, September 22, 2026 (September equinox)
Public holidays — United States
Not a public holiday in the United States.
Next public holiday : Labor Day — September 7, 2026
National holidays only. Regions, provinces and Länder add their own.
Moon
Waxing gibbous
Illumination : 56%
Moon age : 7.9 days
- Next full moon
- August 28, 2026
- Next new moon
- September 11, 2026
Astrology
Today's zodiac sign
Leo
until August 23, 2026 — Virgo
Zodiac dates are an astrological convention, not the Sun's actual position among the constellations. The astronomy above is measured; this is not.
On this day in history
636
Battle of the Yarmuk: Marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests and the rapid advance of Islam outside Arabia, Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid defeat the Byzantine Empire and take control of the Levant. Wikipedia
917
Battle of Acheloos: Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria decisively defeats a Byzantine army. Wikipedia
1794
Northwest Indian War: United States troops force a confederacy of Shawnee, Mingo, Delaware, Wyandot, Miami, Ottawa, Chippewa, and Potawatomi warriors into a disorganized retreat at the Battle of Fallen Timbers. Wikipedia
1882
Tchaikovsky's 1812 Overture debuts in Moscow, Russia. Wikipedia
1940
In Mexico City, exiled Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky is fatally wounded with an ice axe by Ramón Mercader. He dies the next day. Wikipedia
1960
Senegal breaks from the Mali Federation, declaring its independence. Wikipedia
Show more (4)
1968
Cold War: Warsaw Pact troops invade Czechoslovakia, crushing the Prague Spring. East German participation is limited to a few specialists due to memories of the recent war. Only Albania and Romania refuse to participate. Wikipedia
1975
Viking program: NASA launches the Viking 1 planetary probe toward Mars. Wikipedia
1977
Voyager program: NASA launches the Voyager 2 spacecraft. Wikipedia
2008
Spanair Flight 5022, from Madrid, Spain to Gran Canaria, skids off the runway and crashes at Barajas Airport. Of the 172 people on board, 146 die immediately, and eight more later die of injuries sustained in the crash. Wikipedia
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
Births and deaths
Born on this day August 20
- 1625Thomas Corneille, French playwright and philologist (died 1709)
- 1710Thomas Simpson, English mathematician and academic (died 1761)
- 1833Benjamin Harrison, American general, lawyer, and politician, 23rd President of the United States (died 1901)
- 1890H. P. Lovecraft, American short story writer, editor, novelist (died 1937)
- 1901Salvatore Quasimodo, Italian novelist and poet, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1968)
- 1941Slobodan Milošević, Serbian lawyer and politician, 1st President of Serbia (died 2006)
- 1944Rajiv Gandhi, Indian lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of India (died 1991)
- 1946Laurent Fabius, French politician, 158th Prime Minister of Franceturns 80 years
Died on this day August 20
- 1153Bernard of Clairvaux, French theologian and saint (born 1090)aged 62 years
- 1672Johan de Witt, Dutch mathematician and politician (born 1625)aged 47 years
- 1823Pope Pius VII (born 1740)aged 81 years
- 1914Pope Pius X (born 1835)aged 79 years
- 1915Paul Ehrlich, German physician and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1854)aged 61 years
- 1917Adolf von Baeyer, German chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1835)aged 82 years
- 1961Percy Williams Bridgman, American physicist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1882)aged 79 years
- 1995Hugo Pratt, Italian author and illustrator (born 1927)aged 68 years
Sources : Wikipedia (en) · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26
The day in words
In New York the sun rises at 06:12 and sets at 19:47, giving 13h 36m of daylight — 2 minutes less than yesterday. It has been summer since June 21, 2026; autumn opens in 33 days, on September 22, 2026 (September equinox).
The moon is waxing gibbous, 56% illuminated. The next full moon falls on August 28, 2026 and the next new moon on September 11, 2026.
The saints' calendar attaches August 20 to Pius VII, Bernard of Clairvaux and Stephen I of Hungary.
No United Nations international day falls on August 20. The next one on the calendar is International Day of Remembrance of and Tribute to the Victims of Terrorism, on August 21.
It is not a public holiday in the United States.
On this day in history: Battle of the Yarmuk: Marking the first great wave of Muslim conquests and the rapid advance of Islam outside Arabia, Arab forces led by Khalid ibn al-Walid defeat the Byzantine Empire and take control of the Levant (636); Battle of Acheloos: Tsar Simeon I of Bulgaria decisively defeats a Byzantine army (917). English Wikipedia records 10 events for this date.
Thomas Corneille was born on August 20, 1625; Bernard of Clairvaux died on August 20, 1153.
127 days remain until Christmas and 134 until New Year's Day.
In astrology — kept separate from the measured astronomy above, deliberately — August 20 falls under the sign of Leo.
Calendar
By the numbers
- 64%
- of the year elapsed
- 127
- until Christmas
- 134
- until New Year
- 558
- until the next 29 February
2026 — Common year (365 days)
Work with dates
Sources
Every block on this page names where its data comes from. Nothing here is generated when the source is silent.
- United Nations — International Days— What's celebrated today
- Wikidata (P841)— Saints and name days · CC0 1.0
- Wikipedia (en)— On this day in history · CC BY-SA 4.0 · Data imported on 2026-08-26