Title: December 20 Content: == Events == === Up to 1950 === * 69 - Vespasian enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. * 1192 - Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria. * 1522 – Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually re-settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta. * 1606 - The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. * 1803 – Louisiana Purchase is completed. * 1808 - Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins. * 1860 – South Carolina becomes first state to secede from the United States. * 1870 - The Cape Blanco lighthouse goes into operation at the western tip of Oregon. * 1915 – The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli during World War I. * 1917 – Cheka, first Soviet secret police, is founded. * 1924 - Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison. * 1942 - World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta. * 1942 - A magnitude 7.3 earthquake in Erbaa, Turkey, kills around 3,000 people. * 1946 - The popular Christmas movie It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City. * 1946 - The Tonankai earthquake in Japan kills around 1,300 people. === 1951 2000 === * 1951 - The EBR in Arco, Idaho, becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. * 1952 – United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87. * 1955 - Cardiff is officially proclaimed as the capital city of Wales. * 1957 - The European Nuclear Energy Agency is founded. * 1957 - The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight. * 1960 – National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed. * 1961 - The Dominican Republic holds its first elections. * 1967 - A Pennsylvania Railroad metroliner reaches over the limit of 155 miles per hour in speed on its New York Division. * 1968 - The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California. * 1971 - Zulfikar Ali Bhutto becomes the 4th President of Pakistan. * 1973 - Spanish Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated by a car bomb in Madrid. * 1977 - Djibouti and Vietnam join the UN. * 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, England. * 1985 - Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day. * 1988 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna. * 1989 – Operation Just Cause: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega. * 1991 - Paul Keating becomes the 24th Prime Minister of Australia. * 1995 – The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) begins peacekeeping in Bosnia. * 1995 – An American Airlines Flight 965 Boeing 757 crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160. * 1999 – Vermont's Supreme Court rules that homosexual couples are entitled to same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples. * 1999 – Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal. * 1999 - NASA starts the ACRIMSat satellite to study the Sun. === From 2001 === * 2002 – US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader. * 2004 - A gang of thieves steal 26.5 million pounds from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland. * 2007 - Elizabeth II overtakes Queen Victoria as the UK's oldest-ever monarch, having reached an age of 81 years, 7 months and 29 days. As of December 2014, Elizabeth is 88 years of age. * 2015 - Spain holds its parliamentary election, with no party winning overall control. * 2016 - A fireworks market explosion near Mexico City kills at least 30 people. == Births == === Up to 1900 === * 1537 – King John III of Sweden (d. 1592) * 1579 - John Fletcher, English dramatist (d. 1625) * 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, painter (d. 1684) * 1633 - Abbas II of Persia (d. 1666) * 1648 - Tommaso Ceva, Italian poet and mathematician (d. 1736) * 1717 - Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French politician and diplomat (d. 1787) * 1740 - Arthur Lee, American diplomat (d. 1792) * 1786 - Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853) * 1792 – Nicolas Charlet, painter (d. 1845) * 1805 – Thomas Graham, Father of colloid chemistry (d. 1869) * 1833 – Samuel Mudd, physician, possible conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1883) * 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, schoolmaster/theologian/writer of Flatland (d. 1926) * 1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, winner of the Nobel Peace Prize in 1927 (d. 1932) * 1856 – Ferdinand Avenarius, writer (d. 1923) * 1858 - Kuno Meyer, German scholar (d. 1919) * 1860 – Dan Leno, English entertainer (d. 1904) * 1861 – Ivana Kobilca, Slovene painter (d. 1926) * 1865 – Elsie De Wolfe, aka Lady Mendl, actress & interior decorator (d. 1950) * 1868 - Arturo Alessandri, President of Chile (d. 1950) * 1868 – Harvey Firestone, automobile pioneer (d. 1938) * 1873 - Mahmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, writer, academic and politician (d. 1936) * 1876 - Walter Sydney Adams, American astronomer (d. 1956) * 1881 – Branch Rickey, baseball executive (d. 1965) * 1886 – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis star (d. 1974) * 1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French actress (d. 1958) * 1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry (d. 1967) * 1891 - Erik Almlöf, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1971) * 1893 – Charlotte Bühler, psychologist * 1894 – Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978) * 1898 – Irene Dunne, American actress (d. 1990) * 1898 - Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and politician (d. 1973) * 1899 - Martin Lloyd-Jones, Welsh preacher and physician (d. 1981) === 1901 1950 === * 1901 – Robert Van de Graaff, physicist, inventor (d. 1967) * 1902 – Sidney Hook, American philosopher (d. 1989) * 1902 – Max Lerner, American educator (d. 1992) * 1902 – George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (d. 1942) * 1904 - Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (d. 1977) * 1908 - Dennis Morgan, American actor (d. 1994) * 1914 – Harry F. Byrd, Jr., American politician (d. 2013) * 1916 - Gonzalo Rojas, Chilean poet (d. 2011) * 1917 - David Bohm, American-born philosopher, physicist and neuropsychologist (d. 1992) * 1918 - Audrey Totter, American actress (d. 2013) * 1918 - Jean Marchand, Canadian trade union leader and politician (d. 1988) * 1922 – George Roy Hill, American movie director (d. 2002) * 1923 – James Leasor, mystery writer * 1924 - Judy LaMarsh, Canadian soldier, lawyer and politician (d. 1980) * 1924 – Friederike Mayröcker, writer * 1924 - Charlie Callas, American comedian (d. 2011) * 1925 - Benito Lorenzo, Italian footballer (d. 2007) * 1926 – Sir Geoffrey Howe (Lord Howe of Aberavon), British politician (d. 2015) * 1926 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician (d. 2009) * 1927 – Kim Young- sam, President of South Korea (d. 2015) * 1927 - Jim Simpson, American sportscaster (d. 2016) * 1927 - Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark (d. 2016) * 1930 – Noel Ferrier, producer and actress * 1932 - John Hillerman, American actor (d. 2017) * 1933 – Jean Carnahan, US Senator * 1934 - Julius Darmaatmadja, Indonesian cardinal * 1939 - Kathryn Joosten, American actress (d. 2012) * 1942 - Jean-Claude Trichet, French economist and banker * 1942 – Bob Hayes, track and field star, American football star (d. 2002) * 1944 - Bobby Colomby, American drummer and producer * 1945 - Peter Criss, American musician * 1945 - Tom Tancredo, American politician * 1945 - Pierre Bürcher, Swiss bishop * 1946 – Dick Wolf, American TV drama series creator * 1946 – Uri Geller, Israeli-British psychic TV presenter * 1946 - Sonny Perdue, American politician, former Governor of Georgia and 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture * 1946 - John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005) * 1947 - Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer === 1951 1975 === * 1951 - Kate Atkinson, English writer * 1951 - Lynne Featherstone, English politician * 1951 - Peter May, Scottish author and screenwriter * 1951 - Christopher Le Brun, English painter and sculptor * 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress * 1952 - Sky Gilbert, Canadian drag queen performer, actor and producer * 1954 – Michael Badalucco, actor * 1954 - Sandra Cisneros, American writer * 1955 – Lonesome Bob, singer, songwriter * 1955 - Binali Yildirim, Prime Minister of Turkey * 1955 - Martin Schulz, German politician, President of the European Parliament * 1956 - Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, President of Mauritania * 1957 – Anna Vissi, Greek singer * 1957 – Billy Bragg, English singer, songwriter * 1957 – Mike Watt, bassist * 1958 - Jürgen Raab, German footballer * 1959 - Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, former Prime Minister of Poland * 1960 – Nalo Hopkinson, science fiction writer * 1963 - Infanta Elena of Spain * 1963 - Mats Gren, Swedish footballer * 1965 – Rich Gannon, American football quarterback * 1970 – Nicole DeBoer, actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Dead Zone) * 1972 - Anders Odden, Norwegian musician * 1975 - Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer === From 1976 === * 1976 - Aubrey Hoff, American baseball player * 1976 - Nenad Vuckovic, Croatian footballer * 1977 - Sonja Aldén, Swedish singer * 1978 - Andrei Markov, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player * 1978 - Bouabdellah Tahri, French runner * 1979 - George Lamb, English television presenter * 1980 - Ashley Cole, English footballer * 1980 - Martin Demichelis, Argentine footballer * 1981 - Julien Benneteau, French tennis player * 1982 - David Cook, American singer * 1982 - David Wright, American baseball player * 1982 - Keny Arkana, French singer and rapper * 1982 - Mohammed Asif, Pakistani cricketer * 1983 - Lara Stone, Dutch model * 1983 - Jonah Hill, American actor * 1983 - Lucy Pinder, English model and actress * 1983 - Mapei, Swedish- American singer * 1987 - Michihiro Yasuda, Japanese footballer * 1990 – Joanna Levesque, AKA JoJo, American singer * 1990 - Marta Xargay, Spanish basketball player * 1991 - Hunter Gomez, American actor * 1992 - Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater * 1995 - Feliks Zembegs, Australian speed cuber * 1997 - Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese singer and model * 1998 - Kylian Mbappé, French footballer == Deaths == === Up to 1900 === * 69 - Vitellius, Roman Emperor * 217 - Pope Zephyrinus * 860 - Ethelbald of Wessex (b. 834) * 910 - King Alfonso III of Leon (b. 848) * 1022 - Elvira Mendes, Queen of Castile (b. 996) * 1295 - Margaret of Provence (b. 1221) * 1355 - Stefan Dusan, Emperor of Serbia (b. 1308) * 1494 - Matteo Maria Boiardi, Italian poet (b. 1434) * 1524 - Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician (b. 1460) * 1539 - Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. 1506) * 1552 - Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (b. 1499) * 1722 - Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654) * 1765 - Louis, Dauphin of France, son of Louis XV of France (b. 1729) * 1768 - Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet and academic (b. 1692) * 1783 - Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (b. 1729) * 1812 - Sacagawea, Native American member of the Lewis and Clark expedition (b. 1788) * 1856 - Francesco Bentivegna, Italian revolutionary (b. 1820) === 1901 2000 === * 1915 - Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (b. 1863) * 1917 - Lucien Petit-Breton, French racing cyclist (b. 1882) * 1927 - Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (b. 1872) * 1929 - Emile Loubet, French statesman (b. 1838) * 1937 - Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865) * 1941 - Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887) * 1944 - Abbas II of Egypt (b. 1874) * 1950 - Enrico Mizzi, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1885) * 1961 - Earle Page, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880) * 1961 - Moss Hart, American dramatist (b. 1904) * 1968 - Max Brod, Austrian-Israeli writer and composer (b. 1884) * 1968 - John Steinbeck, American writer (b. 1902) * 1971 - Roy O. Disney, American entertainment industry executive (b. 1893) * 1971 - Shigeyoshi Suzuki, Japanese footballer (b. 1902) * 1973 - Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936) * 1973 - Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish politician (b. 1904) * 1976 - Richard J. Daley, American politician (b. 1902) * 1982 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish pianist (b. 1887) * 1989 - Kurt Böhme, German bass (b. 1908) * 1994 - Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (b. 1909) * 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer and writer (b. 1934) * 1997 - Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director (b. 1933) * 1998 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist (b. 1916) * 2000 - Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladeshi statesman and philanthropist (b. 1920) === From 2001 === * 2001 - Leopold Sedar Senghor, 1st President of Senegal (b. 1906) * 2009 - Brittany Murphy, American actress (b. 1977) * 2010 - Brian Hanrahan, British journalist (b. 1949) * 2011 - Hana Andronikova, Czech writer (b. 1967) * 2012 - Jimmy McCracklin, American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1921) * 2013 - Nelly Omar, Argentine actress and singer (b. 1911) * 2014 - John Freeman, English politician, diplomat and broadcaster (b. 1915) * 2014 - Bob Lanier, American businessman and politician, Mayor of Houston (b. 1925) * 2015 - Ray Mathews, American football player (b. 1929) * 2015 - Patricia Elliott, American actress (b. 1938) * 2016 - Michèle Morgan, French actress (b. 1920) * 2017 - William Agee, American business executive (b. 1938) * 2017 - Florence Bjelke-Petersen, Australian politician (b. 1920) * 2017 - Henryk Cioch, Polish lawyer and politician (b. 1951) * 2017 - Annie Goetzinger, French comic artist (b. 1951) * 2017 - Bernard Francis Law, American cardinal (b. 1931) * 2017 - Red Murrell, American basketball player (b. 1933) * 2017 - Stan Pilecki, Polish-born Australian rugby player (b. 1947) * 2017 - Randolph Quirk, British linguist and life peer (b. 1920) * 2018 - F. W. Bernstein, German poet and cartoonist (b. 1938) * 2018 - Klaus Hagerup, Norwegian author (b. 1946) * 2018 - Donald Moffat, English-American actor (b. 1930) * 2019 - Fazle Hasan Abed, Bangladeshi philanthropist (b. 1936) * 2019 - Matti Ahde, Finnish politician (b. 1945) * 2019 - Zilda Cardoso, Brazilian actress (b. 1936) * 2019 - Thomas Chandy, Indian politician (b. 1947) * 2019 - Junior Johnson, American racing driver (b. 1931) * 2019 - Eduard Krieger, Austrian footballer (b. 1946) * 2019 - Roland Matthes, German swimmer (b. 1950) * 2019 - Yuri Pshenichnikov, Uzbek- Russian handball player (b. 1940) * 2019 - Daniel Selvaraj, Indian writer (b. 1938) * 2020 - Nicette Bruno, Brazilian actress (b. 1933) * 2020 - Doug Anthony, Australian politician (b. 1929) * 2020 - Fanny Waterman, British pianist (b. 1920) * 2020 - Ezra Vogel, American sociologist (b. 1930) == Observances == * Earliest possible date for the December Solstice (usually on December 21 or 22) * International Day of Human Solidarity Category:Days of the year