1. On September 20, 1863, the Battle of Sterling's Plantation took place in Ashley County, Arkansas. This was a Confederate victory and part of the larger Red River Campaign during the Civil War.
2. The first air service to the city of Fayetteville, Arkansas started on September 20, 1926 with the arrival of a National Air Transport (NAT) airplane.
3. Tommy Hodson, a quarterback for the University of Arkansas Razorbacks, threw a school record 6 touchdown passes in a single game on September 20, 1986, against the New Mexico State Aggies.
4. The Little Rock Nine, the group of nine black students who first integrated Little Rock Central High School in 1957, were escorted to school by federal troops on September 20 of that year after Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to block their entrance.
5. In 1909, the Arkansas State Fair, one of the largest fairs in the state, opened its gates for the first time on September 20 in Hot Springs. The fair has since moved to Little Rock and is held annually in October.