Template:On this day - February 20

José Eleuterio González ("Gonzalitos")

• 1524 – In Spain, King Charles I orders by Decree the Governor of Panama to study the possibility of joining the South Sea (Pacific Ocean) with the North Sea (Atlantic Ocean) across the Isthmus of Panama.
• 1524 – Tecún Umán, last leader of the K'iche' Maya, dies in combat against Pedro de Alvarado (b. c. 1500).
• 1777 – In Spain, Charles III forbids dancing inside churches.
• 1813 – Birth of José Eleuterio González "Gonzalitos", Mexican physician, politician, writer, educator, historian and philanthropist (d. 1888).
• 1813 – In Salta (Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata, present-day Argentina), the troops of General Manuel Belgrano defeat units of the royalist army at the Battle of Salta.
• 1827 – In Rosário do Sul (Brazil), during the War of Brazil, the Argentine Army defeats that of the Empire of Brazil at the Battle of Ituzaingó.
• 1835 – The city of Concepción (Chile) is destroyed by an earthquake.
• 1859 – In Venezuela, the seizure of the Coro barracks by Commander Tirso Salaverría sets off the Federal War.
• 1862 – Death of Francisco Balagtas, Filipino poet (b. 1788).
• 1862 – In Madrid (Spain), Ángel de Saavedra is appointed director of the Royal Spanish Academy.
• 1868 – Birth of Pompeu Fabra, Spanish linguist (d. 1948).
• 1900 – Birth of Agustín Segura, Spanish painter (d. 1988).
• 1920 – The Cajal Institute for biological research is created in Madrid.
• 1928 – In Havana (Cuba), the Sixth Pan-American Conference closes.
• 1953 – In London, the painting Lady with a Fan (by Francisco de Goya) is sold for 1400 pounds sterling.
• 1970 – Chile signs a trade treaty with Cuba, despite the ban of the Organization of American States (OAS).
• 2003 – A judge orders the arrest of Carlos Fernández, president of Venezuela's largest business organization (Fedecámaras), for his role as instigator of the general strike against the government of Hugo Chávez.
• 2005 – The Referendum on the European Constitution in Spain is held for the ratification of the Treaty establishing a Constitution for Europe. Spaniards approve the new Constitution with 76.7% of the votes and a turnout of 42%.
• 2016 – Death of Fernando Cardenal, Nicaraguan priest, Minister of Education and liberation theologian (b. 1934).