On this day: 20 September

Agnes of Poitou and Andrew I of Hungary meet to negotiate about the border territory of Burgenland.

Saladin begins the Siege of Jerusalem.

The second of two major uprisings by the Old Prussians, a Baltic tribe, began against the Teutonic Knights.

Cardinal Robert of Geneva is elected as Pope Clement VII, beginning the Papal schism.

A tsunami caused by the Meiō earthquake washed away the building housing the Great Buddha (pictured) at Kōtoku-in in Kamakura, Japan; the statue has since stood in the open air.

Ferdinand Magellan sets sail from Sanlúcar de Barrameda with about 270 men on his expedition which ultimately culminates in the first circumnavigation of the globe.

The first of a series of treaties comprising the Peace of Ryswick was signed between France and the Grand Alliance, ending the Nine Years' War.

The Walking Purchase concludes, which forces the cession of 1.2 million acres (4,900 km2) of Lenape-Delaware tribal land to the Pennsylvania Colony.

The French Army achieved its first major victory of the War of the First Coalition at the Battle of Valmy.

The decade-long Ragamuffin War starts when rebels capture Porto Alegre in Brazil.

The American Association for the Advancement of Science is created.

American Civil War: The Battle of Chickamauga, in northwestern Georgia, ends in a Confederate victory.

The Bersaglieri entered Rome through the Porta Pia, ending the temporal power of the Pope and completing the unification of Italy.

Charles Duryea and his brother road-test the first American-made gasoline-powered automobile.

World War II: Australian troops led by Gordon Grimsley King defeated Imperial Japanese forces at the Battle of Kaiapit in New Guinea.

Second World War: Allied forces captured San Marino from the German Army.

The first Cannes Film Festival is held, having been delayed for seven years due to World War II.

Six days after a referendum, King Christian X of Denmark annuls the declaration of independence of the Faroe Islands.

The Treaty on Relations between the USSR and the GDR is signed.

Greek general Konstantinos Dovas becomes Prime Minister of Greece.

James Meredith, an African American, is temporarily barred from entering the University of Mississippi.

Following the Battle of Burki, the Indian Army captures Dograi in during the Indo-Pakistani War of 1965.

L. Ron Hubbard, the founder of Scientology, announced the story of Xenu in a taped lecture sent to all Scientologists.

Sweden, Norway, and Denmark submit the Greek case alleging human rights violations by the Greek junta.

Hurricane Irene (satellite image pictured) moved into the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic, making it the first actively tracked tropical cyclone to do so.

Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in straight sets at the Astrodome in Houston, Texas, in an internationally televised tennis match dubbed the "Battle of the Sexes".

Vietnam is admitted to the United Nations.

A series of celestial phenomena of disputed nature was observed in the western Soviet Union, Finland and Denmark.

A French-organized coup d'état in the Central African Empire overthrows Emperor Bokassa I.

NFL season: American football players in the National Football League begin a 57-day strike.

The Cosby Show, which became one of three U.S. television shows to have the highest ratings five years in a row, premiered with its pilot episode.

South Ossetia declares its independence from Georgia.

Hurricane Erika, the strongest and longest-lasting hurricane of the 1997 Atlantic hurricane season, dissipated after causing flooding and power outages throughout Puerto Rico.

In an address to a joint session of Congress and the American people, U.S. President George W. Bush declares a "war on terror".

Between 15,000 and 20,000 protesters march on Jena, Louisiana, United States, in support of six black youths who had been convicted of assaulting a white classmate.

The United States military ended its "don't ask, don't tell" policy, consequently allowing gay and lesbian people to serve openly.

Roughly four million people, mostly students, demonstrate across the world to address climate change. Sixteen-year-old Greta Thunberg from Sweden leads the demonstration in New York City.