In 1913, Adolphe Pegond jumped from an airplane at 700 feet, becoming the first person to parachute from a plane.
In 1940, Leon Trotsky, who once said "from being a patriotic myth, the Russian people have become an afwul reality" was murdered.
In 1968, Soviet troops invaded Czechoslovakia.
From the Telegraph & Argus of August 20th, 1978...
It was a record-breaking day with smiles all round at the sun-drenched 75th annual show of the Gargrave Agricultural and Horticultural Society. A warm sunny day attracted large crowds to the showground in its parkland setting in Eshton Road. The show broke all records for attendance and entries. The assistant treasurer, Mr C. Heselton, said: "I don't think we have had a show like this before. There have been bumper gate takings and our busiest job has been counting the money."
From the Telegraph & Argus of August 20th, 1953...
Russia announced today that it had exploded a hydrogen bomb which, said the official Communist paper Pravda, had power "many times greater than the power of atomic bombs".
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