Reuters historical calendar - September 20

Lond, Sep 19 (Reuters) Following are some of the major events to have occurred on September 20 in history: 1928 - The Grand Fascist Council became Italy's supreme legislative body, replacing the Chamber of Deputies.

1949 - The first government was announced for the Federal Republic of Germany.

1957 - Jean Sibelius, Finnish composer best known for his orchestral suite ''Finlandia'', died.

1970 - The Soviet Luna 16 space probe landed on the moon and collected samples of lunar soil.

1973 - Billie Jean King defeated Bobby Riggs in a tennis match at Houston, Texas, billed as the ''Battle of the Sexes''.

1976 - The Swedish Social Democratic Party was defeated in parliamentary elections after more than 40 years in power.

1979 - Emperor Bokassa of the Central African Empire was deposed by former President David Dako who returned the country to the status of Republic.

1990 - The East German parliament and the West German lower house approved a treaty unifying the two countries.

1998 - Malaysian police arrested sacked finance minister Anwar Ibrahim after he led demonstrators through the capital Kuala Lumpur.

1999 - A multinational force arrived in East Timor and secured the airport in the capital Dili, as Indonesia's military pulled out.

2001 - President George W. Bush announced the creation of a cabinet-level post to oversee ''homeland defence'' to protect Americans following the Sept. 11 attacks.

2004 - Former general Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono defeated Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri in an historic direct election.

2005 - Simon Wiesenthal, who waged an untiring campaign to track down Nazi war criminals and keep alive the memory of 6 million Jews killed in the Holocaust, died aged 96.

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