August 20

in History

Planasia (modern Pianosa), ItalyClassical

Augustus's Grandson Executed

An exile silenced by imperial decree

Agrippa Postumus, the last surviving grandson of the late Emperor Augustus, was executed by his guards while living in exile. Whether the order came from Augustus himself before death or from his successor Tiberius remains one of Rome's enduring mysteries. The killing eliminated the last potential rival to Tiberius's claim, ensuring a smooth but ruthless transition of imperial power.

14 AD

Salvatore Quasimodo Was Born — Classical fire in a modern poet's voice

Modica, Sicily, ItalyEarly 20th Century

1901

Salvatore Quasimodo Was Born

Classical fire in a modern poet's voice

In Modica, Sicily, Salvatore Quasimodo was born beneath the Mediterranean sun that would suffuse his poetry with warmth and shadow. He rose to become one of Italy's foremost twentieth-century poets, awarded the 1959 Nobel Prize in Literature for lyrical poetry expressing 'the tragic experience of life in our own times' with classical fire.

1901 AD

American nuclear-powered commercial ship (1959–72)Late 20th Century

1962

NS Savannah

The NS Savannah, the world's first nuclear-powered civilian ship, embarks on its maiden voyage.

NS Savannah was the first nuclear-powered merchant ship, launched on July 21, 1959, two years after the Soviet ice-breaker Lenin, the first nuclear-powered civilian vessel. A demonstration project for the potential peacetime uses of nuclear energy, she was built in the late 1950s at a cost of $46.9 million.

1962 AD