Editing May 20 (section)

===1601–1900===
*[[1609]] &ndash; [[Shakespeare's sonnets]] are first published in London, perhaps illicitly, by the publisher [[Thomas Thorpe]].<ref>{{cite book|editor-last=Duncan-Jones|editor-first=Katherine|chapter=Introduction|title=Shakespeare's Sonnets|location=London|publisher=Methuen Drama|date=2010|isbn=9781408143551|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=aj4ZbLHM4qIC|pages=34–36}}</ref>
*[[1631]] &ndash; The city of [[Magdeburg]] in Germany is seized by forces of the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and most of its inhabitants [[Sack of Magdeburg|massacred]], in one of the bloodiest incidents of the [[Thirty Years' War]].
*[[1645]] &ndash; [[Yangzhou massacre]]: The ten day massacre of the residents of the city of [[Yangzhou]], part of the [[Transition from Ming to Qing]].<ref>{{cite book|last=Porter|first=Jonathan|title=Imperial China, 1350-1900|location=Lanham, Md.|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|date=2016|isbn=9781442222915|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=MAFiCwAAQBAJ|pages=123–124}}</ref>
*[[1714]] &ndash; [[Johann Sebastian Bach]] leads the first performance of his cantata for Pentecost, [[Erschallet, ihr Lieder, erklinget, ihr Saiten! BWV 172|''Erschallet, ihr Lieder'', BWV 172]], at the chapel of [[Schloss Weimar]].<ref>{{cite book | last1 = Dürr | first1 = Alfred | author-link = Alfred Dürr | last2 = Jones | first2 = Richard D. P. | author2-link = Richard D. P. Jones | chapter-url = https://books.google.com/books?id=m9JuwslMcq4C&pg=PA346 | chapter = Erschallet, ihr Lieder, BWV 172 | title = The Cantatas of J. S. Bach: With Their Librettos in German-English Parallel Text | publisher = [[Oxford University Press]] | date = 2006 | isbn = 978-0-19-929776-4 }}</ref>
*[[1741]] &ndash; The [[Battle of Cartagena de Indias]] ends in a [[Spanish Navy|Spanish]] victory and the [[Royal Navy|British]] begin [[Withdrawal (military)|withdrawal]] towards [[Jamaica]] with substantial [[Casualty (person)|losses]]. 
*[[1775]] &ndash; The [[Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence]] is allegedly signed in [[Charlotte, North Carolina]].
*[[1802]] &ndash; By the [[Law of 20 May 1802]], [[Napoleon Bonaparte]] reinstates [[slavery]] in the [[French colonial empire|French colonies]], revoking its abolition in the [[French Revolution]].
*[[1813]] &ndash; Napoleon Bonaparte leads his French troops into the [[Battle of Bautzen (1813)|Battle of Bautzen]] in [[Saxony]], Germany, against the combined armies of Russia and [[Prussia]]. The battle ends the next day with a French victory.
*[[1861]] &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The state of [[Kentucky]] proclaims its [[Country neutrality (international relations)|neutrality]], which will last until [[September 3]] when [[Confederate States of America|Confederate]] forces enter the state.
*  1861   &ndash; [[American Civil War]]: The State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
*[[1862]] &ndash; U.S. President [[Abraham Lincoln]] signs the [[Homestead Act of 1862|Homestead Act]] into law, opening {{convert|84|e6acre|spell=in}} of public land to settlers.<ref>{{cite book|last=Rodriguez|first=Alicia C.|chapter=Homestead Act|title=The Louisiana Purchase: A Historical and Geographical Encyclopedia|editor-last=Rodriguez|editor-first=Junius P.|location=Santa Barbara, Calif.|publisher=ABC-CLIO|date=2002|isbn=9781576071885|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Qs7GAwwdzyQC|page=142}}</ref>
*[[1864]] &ndash; American Civil War: [[Battle of Ware Bottom Church]]: In the [[Virginia]] [[Bermuda Hundred campaign]], 10,000 troops fight in this Confederate victory.
*[[1873]] &ndash; [[Levi Strauss]] and [[Jacob W. Davis|Jacob Davis]] receive a U.S. [[patent]] for blue [[jeans]] with [[copper]] rivets.<ref>{{cite book|last=Mogahzy|first=Yehia El|title=Engineering Textiles: Integrating the Design and Manufacture of Textile Products|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=Woodhead Publishing|date=2009|isbn=9781845690489|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=B7GjAgAAQBAJ|page=354}}</ref>
*[[1875]] &ndash; Signing of the [[Metre Convention]] by 17 nations leading to the establishment of the [[International System of Units]].
*[[1882]] &ndash; The [[Triple Alliance (1882)|Triple Alliance]] between the German Empire, [[Austria-Hungary]] and the [[Kingdom of Italy]] is formed.
*[[1883]] &ndash; [[Krakatoa]] [[1883 eruption of Krakatoa|begins to erupt]]; the volcano explodes three months later, killing more than 36,000 people.
*[[1891]] &ndash; [[History of film|History of cinema]]: The first public display of [[Thomas Edison]]'s prototype [[kinetoscope]].