December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 11 days remain until the end of the year.
Contents
1 Events
2 Births
3 Deaths
4 Holidays and observances
5 References
6 External links
Events[edit]
AD 69 – Priscus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian.[1]
1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.[2]
1334 – Cistercian Jacques Fournier is elected Pope Benedict XII.[3]
1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.
1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.
1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.[4]
1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.
1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.[5]
1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers", in Kunming, China.
1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.
1946 – The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.
1948 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.
1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
1952 – A 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.
1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
1967 – A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 155 mph on their New York Division, also present-day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
1971 – The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris, France.
1973 – The Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.
1984 – Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 15 mi (24 km) southeast of Jonelle's home. [6][7] The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head."[8]
1985 – Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
1987 – In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker 'MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
1989 – The United States invasion of Panama deposes 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 159.
1999 – Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
2004 – A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.
2007 – Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.[9]
2007 – The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art.
2019 – The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.[10]
Births[edit]
1494 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)
1496 – Joseph ha-Kohen, historian and physician (d. 1575)
1537 – John III, king of Sweden (d. 1592)[11]
1576 – John Sarkander, Moravian priest and saint (d. 1620)
1626 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German scholar and politician (d. 1692)
1629 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)[12]
1641 – Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (d. 1724)[13]
1740 – Arthur Lee, American physician and diplomat (d. 1792)
1786 – Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
1792 – Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, French painter and educator (d. 1845)
1806 – Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (d. 1871)[14]
1812 – Laura M. Hawley Thurston, American poet and educator (d. 1842)[15]
1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian, author, and educator (d. 1926)
1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1932)
1861 – Ferdinand Bonn, German actor (d. 1933)
1861 – Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926)
1865 – Elsie de Wolfe, American actress and interior decorator (d. 1950)
1868 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (d. 1938)[16]
1869 – Charley Grapewin, American actor (d. 1956)[17]
1871 – Henry Kimball Hadley, American composer and conductor (d. 1937)[18]
1873 – Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian, author, and academic (d. 1948)
1873 – Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, academic, and politician (d. 1936)
1881 – Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (d. 1965)
1886 – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player and businessman (d. 1974)
1888 – Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (d. 1980)
1888 – Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (d. 1958)
1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French pianist, actress and singer (d. 1958)
1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
1891 – Erik Almlöf, Swedish triple jumper (d. 1971)
1894 – Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
1898 – Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and politician, 156th Prime Minister of Greece (d. 1973)
1898 – Irene Dunne, American actress and singer (d. 1990)
1899 – Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Welsh preacher and physician (d. 1981)
1900 – Lissy Arna, German film actress (d. 1964)
1901 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic, invented the Van de Graaff generator (d. 1967)[19]
1902 – Prince George, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
1902 – Sidney Hook, American philosopher and author (d. 1989)
1904 – Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (d. 1984)
1904 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (d. 1977)
1905 – Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (d. 1992)
1907 – Paul Francis Webster, American soldier and songwriter (d. 1984)
1908 – Dennis Morgan, American actor and singer (d. 1994)
1909 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian journalist and politician (d. 2000)
1911 – Hortense Calisher, American author (d. 2009)
1914 – Harry F. Byrd Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (d. 2013)
1915 – Aziz Nesin, Turkish author and poet (d. 1995)
1916 – Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader and activist (d. 2010)
1917 – David Bohm, American-English physicist, neuropsychologist, and philosopher (d. 1992)
1917 – Cahit Külebi, Turkish poet and author (d. 1997)
1917 – Audrey Totter, American actress (d. 2013)
1918 – Jean Marchand, Canadian trade union leader and politician, 43rd Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1988)
1922 – George Roy Hill, American director, producer, and screenwriter (d. 2002)[20]
1922 – Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter (d. 2020)
1924 – Charlie Callas, American actor and comedian (d. 2011)
1924 – Judy LaMarsh, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Secretary of State for Canada (d. 1980)
1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007)
1926 – Geoffrey Howe, Welsh lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (d. 2015)
1926 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Economics (d. 2009)
1927 – Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark, English engineer and politician (d. 2016)
1927 – Jim Simpson, American sportscaster (d. 2016)
1927 – Kim Young-sam, South Korean soldier and politician, 7th President of South Korea (d. 2015)
1931 – Mala Powers, American actress (d. 2007)
1932 – John Hillerman, American actor (d. 2017)
1933 – Jean Carnahan, American author and politician
1933 – Olavi Salonen, Finnish runner
1933 – Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist
1935 – Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster
1939 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (d. 2012)
1939 – Kim Weston, American soul singer
1942 – Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (d. 2015)
1942 – Bob Hayes, American sprinter and football player (d. 2002)[21]
1942 – Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist
1944 – Ray Martin, Australian television host and journalist
1945 – Peter Criss, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer
1945 – Sivakant Tiwari, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and author (d. 2010)
1946 – Uri Geller, Israeli-English magician and psychic
1946 – Dick Wolf, American director, producer, and screenwriter
1947 – Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer-songwriter[22]
1948 – Alan Parsons, English keyboard player and producer[23]
1948 – Mitsuko Uchida, Japanese pianist[24]
1949 – Soumaïla Cissé, Malian engineer and politician
1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (b. 1934)[37]
1997 – Denise Levertov, English-American poet and translator (b. 1923)
1997 – Dick Spooner, English cricketer (b. 1919)
1997 – Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)
1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
1999 – Riccardo Freda, Egyptian-Italian director and screenwriter (b. 1909)
1999 – Hank Snow, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (b. 1914)
2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and politician, 1st President of Senegal (b. 1906)
2005 – Raoul Bott, Hungarian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1923)
2006 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
2008 – Adrian Mitchell, English author, poet, and playwright (b. 1932)
2008 – Robert Mulligan, American director and producer (b. 1925)
2008 – Igor Troubetzkoy, Russian aristocrat and racing driver (b. 1912)
2009 – Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (b. 1977)
2009 – Arnold Stang, American actor (b. 1918)
2010 – James Robert Mann, American colonel, lawyer, and politician (b. 1920)
2010 – K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (b. 1914)
2011 – Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright and screenwriter (b. 1926)
2012 – Stan Charlton, English footballer and manager (b. 1929)
2012 – Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (b. 1929)
2012 – Victor Merzhanov, Russian pianist and educator (b. 1919)
2013 – Pyotr Bolotnikov, Russian runner (b. 1930)
2014 – Per-Ingvar Brånemark, Swedish surgeon and academic (b. 1929)
2014 – John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (b. 1915)
2020 - Fanny Waterman, British pianist (b. 1920) [38]
2020 – Ezra Vogel, American sociologist (b. 1930)[39]
Holidays and observances[edit]
Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)
Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
Christian feast day:
Dominic of Silos
O Clavis
Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
Katharina von Bora (Lutheran)
December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances:
Yaldā (Iran)
International Human Solidarity Day (International)[40]
Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)
References[edit]
^Alexander Fraser Tytler (lord Woodhouselee.) (1858). Elements of general history. Ed. by B. Turner. p. 210.
^Chronicle Books (1 March 1993). Chronicle of the Royal Family. Chronicle Communications. p. 51. ISBN 978-1-872031-20-0.
^Partner, Peter (1972). The Lands of St. Peter: The Papal State in the Middle Ages and the Early Renaissance. University of California Press. p. 327. ISBN 978-0-520-02181-5.
^Graham, Cole Blease (2007). The South Carolina State Constitution: A Reference Guide. Greenwood Publishing Group. p. 16. ISBN 978-0-313-29299-6.
^"Adolph Hitler Leaving Landsberg Prison". www.metmuseum.org. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
^Cash, Detective Robert (July 25, 2019). "Remains Found in Weld County Identified". Greeley Police Department. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
^Nicholson, Kieran (July 25, 2019). "Remains of Jonelle Matthews dug up by work crew 34 years after she vanished, Greeley police say—Then 12-year-old disappeared after middle school Christmas concert". The Denver Post. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
^Pietsch, Bryan (October 13, 2020). "Man Charged With Murder in 1984 Killing of Colorado Girl Taken From Home". The New York Times. Retrieved 24 October 2020.
^Witchell, Nicholas (8 September 2015). "The Queen: A constant amid gale-force changes". BBC News. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
^Browne, Ryan (December 20, 2019). "With a signature, Trump brings Space Force into being". CNN.
^"Nordisk familjebok". Project Runeberg. p. 1432. Retrieved 20 December 2019.
^Haldane Macfall (1973). A History of Painting: The Dutch genius. Dana Estes and Co. p. 178.
^Swedish Poets of the Seventeenth Century: Some Gleanings from the Swedish Parnassus. Parker printing Company. 1932. p. 77.
^"MARTÍN CARRERA" (in Spanish). Presidencia de la Republica de Mexico. Archived from the original on May 28, 2019. Retrieved May 27, 2019.
^Frisbee, Edward Selah (1926). The Frisbee-Frisbie genealogy: Edward Frisbye of Branford, Connicticut, and his descendants, with appendix containing brief lineages of Fiskes, Haskells, Mabies and Parkes, and bibliography. The Tuttle Company. p. 188.
^Editors of Chase's (24 September 2019). Chase's Calendar of Events 2020: The Ultimate Go-to Guide for Special Days, Weeks and Months. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 605. ISBN 978-1-64143-316-7.CS1 maint: extra text: authors list (link)
^James Robert Parish (1978). Hollywood Character Actors. Arlington House. p. 236. ISBN 978-0-87000-384-4.
^Albert Ernest Wier (1938). The Macmillan Encyclopedia of Music and Musicians: In One Volume. Macmillan. p. 741.
^Ray Eldon Hiebert; Roselyn Hiebert (1970). Atomic Pioneers: From the late 19th to the mid-20th century. U.S. Atomic Energy Commission, Division of Technical Information. p. 88.
^Van Gelder, Lawrence (December 28, 2002). "New York Times, December 28, 2002". The New York Times. Retrieved May 3, 2010.
^"Bob Hayes". IOC. Retrieved 27 November 2020.
^Robert H. Blissmer (August 1988). Who's Who in Italy, 1988. Bernan Assoc. ISBN 978-88-85246-08-9.
^Jean-Michel Guesdon; Philippe Margotin (24 October 2017). Pink Floyd All the Songs: The Story Behind Every Track. Running Press. p. 338. ISBN 978-0-316-43923-7.
^Charles Moritz (1992). Current Biography Yearbook. H. W. Wilson Company. p. 576-7. ISBN 9780824201289.
^Roth, Madeline (December 20, 2018). "JoJo Just Rerecorded 'Leave (Get Out)' and 'Baby It's You' for Our Nostalgic Thrill". MTV.com. Retrieved November 20, 2019.
^"Rachael Boyle - Player Profile - Football". Eurosport UK. Retrieved 27 April 2020.
^"Premier League Website". Retrieved 16 March 2021.
^"Jorginho". Chelsea F.C. Retrieved 5 October 2018.
^"De'Aaron Fox". NBA.com. Retrieved 14 July 2020.
^"Facundo Pellistri". Premier League. Retrieved 10 December 2020.
^The Australian Encyclopaedia: Ferns to Ley. Grolier Society of Australia. 1977. p. 130. ISBN 978-0-9596604-0-1.
^"Julius Richard Petri, inventor of the Petri dish, celebrated in Google Doodle". The Telegraph. 31 May 2013. Retrieved 12 November 2019.
^Julen Agirre, translated by Barbara Probst Solomon (1975). Operation Ogro: The Execution of Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco. Quadrangle/The New York Times Book Company. ISBN 0-8129-0552-0.
^Brock Helander (1996). The Rock Who's who. Schirmer Books. pp. 156–158. ISBN 978-0-02-871031-0.
^New York Times, December 22, 1994, pg. A1
^"Simone Beck, a Cook, Dies at 87; Co-Wrote Book With Julia Child". New York Times. 21 December 1996. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^"Carl Sagan, an Astronomer Who Excelled at Popularizing Science, Is Dead at 62". New York Times. 21 December 1996. Retrieved 18 March 2019.
^Millington, Barry (2020-12-21). "Dame Fanny Waterman obituary". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2020-12-24.
^Ezra Vogel, Harvard scholar who bridged U.S. and East Asia, dies at 90 The Washington Post. December 22, 2020. Retrieved January 22, 2021.
^"International Days". www.un.org. 6 January 2015. Retrieved 2 January 2021.
External links[edit]
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