20 November 1990

Suicide bombers blew up the British consulate and the headquarters of HSBC Bank in Istanbul, killing 31 people, including consul general Roger Short and actor Kerem Yılmazer.

First Nagorno-Karabakh War: An Azerbaijani military helicopter carrying a peacekeeping mission team was shot down in Nagorno-Karabakh, disrupting ongoing peace talks.

Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, was arrested in Novocherkassk.

Windows 1.0, the first version of Microsoft Windows available to the public, was released.

Armed insurgents attacked and took over the Masjid al-Haram in Mecca, declaring that one of their leaders was the Mahdi, the prophesied redeemer of Islam.

A group of Native American activists began a 19-month occupation (graffiti pictured) of Alcatraz Island in San Francisco Bay.

Princess Elizabeth, daughter of King George VI, married Lieutenant Philip Mountbatten, who was given the title Duke of Edinburgh.

The Nuremberg trials (defendants pictured) of 24 leading Nazis involved in the Holocaust and various war crimes during World War II began in Nuremberg, Germany.

First World War: The Battle of Cambrai began with British forces having initial success over Germany's Hindenburg Line.

The American whaleship Essex sank 2,000 nautical miles (3,700 km) west of the western coast of South America after it was attacked by a sperm whale, an event which inspired the novel Moby-Dick by Herman Melville (pictured).

American Revolutionary War: The Battle of Fort Lee saw the invasion of New Jersey by British and Hessian forces and the subsequent general retreat of the Continental Army.

War of Jenkins' Ear: A British naval force arrived at the settlement of Portobello in the Spanish Main, capturing it the next day.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup begins in Qatar. This is the first time the tournament was held in the Middle East.

Jimmie Johnson wins his seventh NASCAR Cup Series championship to tie Richard Petty and Dale Earnhardt for the most all-time.

Following a hostage siege, at least 19 people are killed in Bamako, Mali.

A court in Taliban-controlled Afghanistan declares accused terrorist Osama bin Laden "a man without a sin" in regard to the 1998 U.S. embassy bombings in Kenya and Tanzania.

The first space station module component, Zarya, for the International Space Station is launched from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan.

A fire breaks out in an office building in Hong Kong, killing 41 people and injuring 81.

The Angolan government and UNITA rebels sign the Lusaka Protocol in Zambia, ending 19 years of civil war. (Localized fighting resumes the next year.)

Savings and loan crisis: The United States Senate Ethics Committee issues a stern censure of California senator Alan Cranston for his "dealings" with savings-and-loan executive Charles Keating.

North Macedonia's deadliest aviation disaster occurs when Avioimpex Flight 110, a Yakovlev Yak-42, crashes near Ohrid Airport, killing all 116 people on board.

An Azerbaijani MI-8 helicopter carrying 19 peacekeeping mission team with officials and journalists from Russia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan is shot down by Armenian military forces in Khojavend District of Azerbaijan.

Andrei Chikatilo, one of the Soviet Union's most prolific serial killers, is arrested; he eventually confesses to 56 killings.

Velvet Revolution: The number of protesters assembled in Prague, Czechoslovakia, swells from 200,000 the day before to an estimated half-million.