December 20
December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining until the end of the year.
Events
- 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of emperor.
- 1192 – Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third crusade.
- 1522 – Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
- 1606 – The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
- 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
- 1835 – First signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad, Texas.
- 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.
- 1915 – World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
- 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, is founded.
- 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
- 1942 – World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
- 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity for the first time. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
- 1952 – United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
- 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
- 1960 – National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
- 1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
- 1973 – The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
- 1984 – The Summit tunnel fire is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of petrol derails near the town of Todmorden in the Pennines.
- 1987 – History's worst peacetime sea disaster, when the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
- 1988 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna.
- 1989 – United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
- 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
- 1995 – NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
- 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160.
- 1995 – The Democratic Social Movement is founded in Greece.
- 1996 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
- 1999 – Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
- 2001 – Argentine economic crisis: President of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa is forced out of office.
- 2002 – US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
- 2005 – US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
- 2005 – The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated.
- 2006 – A judge rules against the death penalty in the case of Naveed Haq, a man convicted in the shooting death and injuries at the Jewish Federation in Seattle.
- 2007 – Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
- 2007 – The painting Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, is stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with O Lavrador de Café, by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.
Births
- 1494 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician (d. 1555)
- 1537 – King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
- 1566 – Edward Wightman, English Baptist preacher (d. 1612)
- 1579 – (baptized) John Fletcher, English playwright (d. 1625)
- 1626 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (d. 1692)
- 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)
- 1717 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat (d. 1787)
- 1740 – Arthur Lee, American diplomat (d. 1792)
- 1786 – Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
- 1792 – Nicolas Charlet, French painter (d. 1845)
- 1833 – Samuel Mudd, American physician (d. 1883)
- 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English schoolmaster, theologian, and author (d. 1926)
- 1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)
- 1860 – Dan Leno, English entertainer (d. 1904)
- 1861 – Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926)
- 1865 – Elsie De Wolfe, American socialite and interior decorator (d. 1950)
- 1868 – Harvey Firestone, American automobile pioneer (d. 1938)
- 1873 – Kwan-Ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (d. 1948)
- 1881 – Branch Rickey, baseball executive (d. 1965)
- 1886 – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (d. 1974)
- 1888 – Fred Merkle, American baseball figure (d. 1958)
- 1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French-born actress (d. 1958)
- 1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
- 1894 – Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
- 1898 – Irene Dunne, American actress (d. 1990)
- 1901 – Robert Van de Graaff, American physicist and inventor (d. 1967)
- 1902 – Sidney Hook, American philosopher (d. 1989)
- 1902 – George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
- 1904 – Spud Davis, baseball player (d. 1984)
- 1905 – Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricket player (d. 1992)
- 1907 – Paul Francis Webster, songwriter (d. 1984)
- 1908 – Dennis Morgan, American actor (d. 1994)
- 1909 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian politician (d. 2000)
- 1911 – Hortense Calisher, American author (d. 2009)
- 1916 – Michel Chartrand, Quebec union leader
- 1917 – David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
- 1918 – Jean Marchand, French Canadian trade unionist and politician (d. 1988)
- 1918 – Audrey Totter, American actress
- 1922 – George Roy Hill, American film director (d. 2002)
- 1922 – Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter
- 1924 – Charlie Callas, American comedian
- 1924 – Judy LaMarsh, Canadian politician and broadcaster (d. 1980)
- 1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007)
- 1925 – Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia
- 1926 – Sir Geoffrey Howe, British politician
- 1926 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician
- 1927 – Kim Young-sam, President of South Korea
- 1931 – Mala Powers, American film actress (d. 2007)
- 1931 – Terry Sanders, American filmmaker
- 1932 – John Hillerman, American actor, Magnum P.I.
- 1933 – Jean Carnahan, U.S. Senator
- 1933 – Rik van Looy, Belgian cyclist
- 1935 – Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricket player
- 1938 – John Harbison, American composer
- 1940 – Pat Chapman, English Author, Founder The Curry Club
- 1942 – Rana Bhagwandas, Former Pakistani Chief Justice
- 1942 – Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist
- 1944 – Bobby Colomby, American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
- 1944 – Jean Fergusson, English actress
- 1945 – Peter Criss, American drummer and singer (Kiss)
- 1946 – John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1946 – Sonny Perdue, American politician, governor of Georgia
- 1946 – Dick Wolf, American television series creator
- 1946 – Lesley Judd, BBC Blue Peter presenter
- 1947 – Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer
- 1948 – Alan Parsons, British music producer and artist
- 1948 – Stevie Wright, English-born Australian musician and songwriter
- 1949 – Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician
- 1949 – Cecil Cooper, American baseball player
- 1951 – Gilbert Montagné, French musician
- 1951 – Peter May, Scottish novelist and scriptwriter
- 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress
- 1954 – Michael Badalucco, American actor
- 1954 – Sandra Cisneros, American writer
- 1955 – Ed Kuepper, German-born Australian musician (The Saints, Laughing Clowns)
- 1956 – Blanche Baker, American actress
- 1956 – Junji Hirata, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1957 – Billy Bragg, English singer and songwriter
- 1957 – Mike Watt, American bassist
- 1957 – Stephen Bicknell, British organ builder and scholar (d. 2007)
- 1957 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
- 1957 – Anna Vissi, Greek-Cypriot singer
- 1958 – Steve Sailer, American political commentator
- 1959 – Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Prime Minister of Poland
- 1960 – Nalo Hopkinson, Canadian writer
- 1960 – Kim Ki-duk, Korean filmmaker
- 1961 – Mohammad Fouad, Arab singer and actor
- 1961 – Mike Keneally, American musician
- 1963 – Infanta Elena of Spain
- 1963 – Joel Gretsch, American actor
- 1964 – Mark Coleman, American Mixed Martial Artist, UFC Hall of Famer
- 1965 – Robert Cavanah, Scottish actor
- 1965 – Jim Carr (US), Digital Strategist
- 1965 – Rich Gannon, American football player
- 1966 – Matt Neal , British Race Driver
- 1966 – Chris Robinson, American singer (Black Crowes)
- 1966 – Myrra Malmberg, Swedish singer
- 1968 – Karl Wendlinger, Austrian racing driver
- 1968 – Joe Cornish, British comedian
- 1968 – Phil Andrews, British racing driver
- 1970 – Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
- 1970 – Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer
- 1972 – Anders Odden, Norwegian musician
- 1973 – Cory Stillman, National Hockey League forward
- 1974 – Die, Japanese musician (Dir en grey)
- 1975 – Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer
- 1975 – Jaydy Michel, Mexican model
- 1976 – Jang Hyuk, Korean actor
- 1976 – Aubrey Huff, American baseball player
- 1976 – Adam Powell, Neopets creator
- 1976 – Ramon Stoppelenburg, world traveler and Dutch author
- 1977 – Saukrates, Canadian rapper
- 1978 – Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer
- 1978 – Andrei Markov, Russian ice hockey player
- 1978 – Tony Moore (artist), American comic book artist
- 1979 – David DeJesus, American baseball player
- 1979 – Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
- 1980 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
- 1980 – Fitz Hall, English footballer
- 1980 – Tony, French-born Portuguese footballer
- 1981 – Roy Williams, American football player
- 1981 – James Shields, American baseball player
- 1981 – Chris Edwards, British musician (Kasabian)
- 1982 – David Cook, American singer, winner of American Idol.
- 1982 – David Wright, American baseball player
- 1982 – David Tavaré, Spanish singer
- 1982 – Mohammed Asif, Pakistani cricket player
- 1982 – Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer
- 1983 – Jonah Hill, American actor
- 1983 – Lucy Pinder, British model
- 1983 – Darren Sammy, St. Lucian West Indies cricketer
- 1983 – Adrián Varela, Mexican singer
- 1986 – Anoop Desai, American singer
- 1987 – Tariel Zintiridis, Greek judoka
- 1990 – JoJo, American singer
Deaths
- 217 – Pope Zephyrinus
- 860 – King Ethelbald of Wessex (b. 834)
- 910 – Alfonso III of Leon (b. 848)
- 1022 – Elvira Mendes, wife of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
- 1355 – Stefan Dušan, Serb king and tsar (b. 1308)
- 1494 – Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet (b. 1434)
- 1524 – Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician (b. 1460)
- 1539 – Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. 1506)
- 1590 – Ambroise Paré, French physician (b. 1510)
- 1722 – Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654)
- 1723 – Augustus Quirinus Rivinus (b. 1652)
- 1740 – Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, English military officer and statesman (b. 1675)
- 1768 – Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni, Italian poet (b. 1692)
- 1783 – Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (b. 1729)
- 1812 – Sacagawea, American Shoshone explorer (b. 1788)
- 1856 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian revolutionary (b. 1820)
- 1862 – Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon, anatomist and zoologist (b. 1791)
- 1915 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (b. 1863)
- 1917 – Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-French cyclist (b. 1882)
- 1921 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (b. 1850)
- 1929 – Émile Loubet, 7th President of France (b. 1838)
- 1935 – Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier (b. 1882)
- 1937 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
- 1938 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary leader (b. 1850)
- 1941 – Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
- 1954 – James Hilton, British author (b. 1900)
- 1956 – Ramon Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist and Public Health minister (b. 1906)
- 1961 – Moss Hart, American dramatist (b. 1904)
- 1961 – Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)
- 1968 – John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
- 1971 – Roy O. Disney, American co-founder (with his brother Walt Disney) of what is now The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893)
- 1973 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Prime Minister of Spain (assassinated) (b. 1903)
- 1973 – Bobby Darin, American singer (b. 1936)
- 1974 – André Jolivet, French composer (b. 1905)
- 1976 – Richard J. Daley, American politician (b. 1902)
- 1981 – Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
- 1982 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-born pianist (b. 1887)
- 1984 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1946)
- 1986 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (b. 1959)
- 1988 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian television pioneer (b. 1908)
- 1989 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (b. 1908)
- 1991 – Simone Beck, French chef (b. 1904)
- 1991 – Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
- 1994 – Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
- 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer and writer (b. 1934)
- 1997 – Denise Levertov, English-born poet (b. 1923)
- 1997 – Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director (b. 1933)
- 1997 – Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)
- 1998 – Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1916)
- 1998 – Chester P. Lyons, Canadian naturalist and author (b. 1915)
- 1999 – Hank Snow, Canadian singer (b. 1914)
- 1999 – Riccardo Freda, Italian film director (b. 1909)
- 2000 – Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladeshi statesman and philanthropist (b. 1920)
- 2001 – Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (b. 1912)
- 2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese politician (b. 1906)
- 2005 – Maniam Moorthy, Malaysian climber
- 2006 – Shi Yuejun, Chinese serial killer (b. 1970)
- 2006 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
- 2006 – Piergiorgio Welby, Italian poet and activist (b.1945)
- 2007 – Nataline Sarkisyan, American medical patient (b. 1990)
Holidays and observances
External links
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