1561 Sep 20, Queen Elizabeth of England signed a treaty at Hamptan Court with French Huguenot leader Louis de Bourbon, the Prince of Conde. The English would occupy Le Harve in return for aiding Bourbon against the Catholics of France.

1934 Sep 20, Sophia Loren, actress (Desire Under the Elms, Black Orchid), was born in Rome.

1997 Sep 20, Nicholas Traina (19), the son of novelist Danielle Steel, died in SF of a drug overdose.

1999 Sep 20, In Russia Raisa Gorbachev, wife of last Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev, died at age 67 after a battle with leukemia.

2001 Sep 20, An Israeli woman, Sarit Amrani (25), was killed in a drive-by shooting by the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades. A Palestinian man was killed in Gaza following a grenade assault. Another Palestinian police officer was killed, possibly by militants he was trying to restrain near Hebron. The violence threatened the recent truce.

2005 Sep 20, A Guyana jury convicted Patricia Alves (43) of manslaughter for killing a friend during an exorcism ritual. Alves was found guilty of killing Kamille Seenauth (34) on Feb. 15, 2002. She allegedly beat Seenauth in an attempt to drive evil spirits out of her. On Sep 28 Alves was sentenced to 10 years in prison.
2010 Sep 20, In New Jersey a woman from Togo was been sentenced to 27 years in prison after being convicted of running a human smuggling operation and forcing women to work at New Jersey hair braiding salons. Akouavi Afolabi ran a scheme to bring at least 20 girls and women ages 10 to 19 from West Africa to the US on fraudulent visas. Victims were made to work at the salons for no pay. Afolabi was also ordered to pay restitution totaling $3.9 million. Her ex-husband and son had already pleaded guilty. Her son received a 55-month prison term. Her ex-husband was sentenced to 24 years.

2010 Sep 20, In Zimbabwe 83 members of Women of Zimbabwe Arise (WOZA) were arrested after marching to highlight concerns around community safety and police behavior. They were freed after 2 days in jail.

2014 Sep 20, J. California Cooper (82), author and playwright, died in Seattle. Her 1991 novel “Family" told a multigenerational story that began with a woman born as a slave. Her 1978 play “Stranger" earned her the Black Playwright of the Year award.