November 20 in History

In the final weeks of 1979, a few hundred armed militants seized the Grand Mosque in Mecca, the holiest site in Islam, and held it for about two weeks. The takeover began on the first day of the Islamic year 1400, on November 20 by the Gregorian calendar, and it deeply shook the Saudi monarchy. Its aftermath reshaped religious policy inside Saudi Arabia and left a mark on the wider Muslim world.

The United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, adopted by the UN General Assembly in November 1989, is the most widely ratified human rights treaty in history. It established, in binding international law, that people under eighteen are not simply the property or dependents of adults but holders of their own rights, including protection, provision and a voice in matters affecting them.

The 2022 FIFA World Cup, held in Qatar from late November to mid-December, was the first men's World Cup staged in the Middle East and the first in a predominantly Muslim Arab country. It ended with Argentina defeating France in a final widely regarded as one of the greatest in the tournament's history. It also became one of the most debated World Cups ever, because of questions about how it was awarded, the treatment of migrant workers, and the rights of women and LGBTQ people in the host country.