Black History Knowledge — August 20

What happened on this day. These are the August 20 moments in Black history worth knowing, remembering, and passing on.

1964 — Economic Opportunity Act launches major War on Poverty programs

On Aug 20, 1964, President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Economic Opportunity Act. The law created programs including Job Corps, VISTA, and community action agencies, directing federal resources toward poverty that disproportionately burdened Black communities.

1965 — Jonathan Daniels is killed while protecting Ruby Sales

On Aug 20, 1965, a white special deputy in Hayneville, Alabama, shot and killed civil rights worker Jonathan Daniels as he pushed seventeen-year-old Black activist Ruby Sales away from the gunfire. Daniels had joined the Southern voting-rights struggle after Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s call for clergy to come to Selma.

2009 — Usain Bolt sets the 200-meter world record

On Aug 20, 2009, Jamaican sprinter Usain Bolt won the 200-meter final at the World Championships in Berlin in 19.19 seconds. The performance broke his own world record and remains the fastest officially recorded 200-meter race.