Reuters historical calendar - May 20

London, May 19 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on May 20 since 1900: 1902 - Cuba was handed over to a republican government and the last US troops left.

1927 - Britain signed the Treaty of Jeddah with King Ibn Saud, recognising the independence of Saudi Arabia.

1939 - Pan American Airways began the first regular airmail service across the North Atlantic.

1941 - In World War Two, German troops invaded the Greek island of Crete.

1956 - The first hydrogen bomb to be dropped from the air was exploded by the Americans over Bikini Atoll in the Pacific.

1989 - Chinese authorities imposed martial law in the capital Beijing after student-led protests drew millions of people onto the streets.

1991 - The Soviet parliament approved in principle a law which would allow citizens to travel abroad freely.

1996 - Iraq, its economy devastated by nearly six years of sanctions, accepted a UN plan to sell limited quantities of oil in order to buy food and medicine.

1999 - A German court convicted former Nazi Alfons Goetzfrid of war crimes after what was expected to be the last such trial in the country.

1999 - Massimo D'Antona, senior consultant to Italy's labour minister, was shot dead in Rome. A document purporting to come from the Red Brigades claimed responsibility.

2000 - The Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty review conference ended at the United Nations with an ''unequivocal undertaking'' by the five nuclear weapons countries to total nuclear disarmament.

2002 - East Timor declared its independence as the UN transferred power from the mission that had run the country since 1999.

**2005 - French philosopher Paul Ricoeur died aged 92. A humanist and author of around 30 books including ''The Rule of Metaphor,'' Ricoeur was best known for work in the field of phenomenology -- studying how conscious experiences shape the view of reality.

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