Human Saga

On October 20

No pivotal events are recorded on exactly October 20 in the Human Saga — here is the surrounding week in history.

This week in history (Oct 17 – Oct 23)

19 October 202 BCEBattle of Zama ends the Second Punic WarMilitary & conflict

At Zama in North Africa the Roman general Publius Cornelius Scipio (later 'Africanus') decisively defeated Hannibal, ending the Second Punic War and Carthage's status as a great power.

18 October 1685Revocation of the Edict of NantesReligion & ideology

On 18 October 1685 Louis XIV issued the Edict of Fontainebleau, revoking the Edict of Nantes (1598) and stripping France's Protestant Huguenots of the legal toleration they had held for nearly a century.

21 October 1805Battle of TrafalgarMilitary & conflict

On 21 October 1805, off Cape Trafalgar on the southwest coast of Spain, a British fleet of 27 ships of the line under Vice-Admiral Horatio Nelson decisively defeated a combined Franco-Spanish fleet of 33 ships commanded by Admiral…

23 October – 10 November 1956Hungarian UprisingMilitary & conflict

The Hungarian Revolution began on 23 October 1956 when student-led demonstrations in Budapest, demanding political reform and an end to Soviet domination, escalated into a nationwide revolt.

17 October 1887Creation of the Indochinese UnionExploration & colonisation

On 17 October 1887 France formally established the Indochinese Union (Union indochinoise), binding together the directly ruled colony of Cochinchina with the protectorates of Annam, Tonkin and Cambodia under a single Governor-General.

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