From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining.
[edit] Events
- 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.
- 1803 - Louisiana Purchase completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
- 1860 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.
- 1915 - Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
- 1917 - Cheka, first Soviet secret police, founded.
- 1942 - Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
- 1951 - Nuclear power first harvested when EBR-1 powers four light bulbs.
- 1952 - United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
- 1960 - National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
- 1973 - The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid
- 1981 - The first ever on-stage performance of the award-winning Broadway musical Dreamgirls at Imperial Theatre on Broadway.
- 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.
- 1988 - The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
- 1989 - United States invasion of Panama: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
- 1991 - Paul Keating becomes Prime Minister of Australia.
- 1995 - 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.
- 1996 - NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
- 1999 - Vermont's Supreme Court rules that homosexual couples are entitled to the same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples.
- 1999 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
- 2001 - Argentine economic crisis (1999-2002): President of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa is forced out of office.
- 2002 - US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
- 2005 - 2005 New York City transit strike: New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike, shutting down all New York City Subway and Bus services.
[edit] 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)
- 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)
- 1881 - Branch Rickey, baseball executive (d. 1965)
- 1886 - Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (d. 1974)
- 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)
- 1907 - Paul Francis Webster, musician (d. 1984)
- 1917 - David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
- 1922 - George Roy Hill, American film director (d. 2002)
- 1926 - Sir Geoffrey Howe, British politician
- 1926 - Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician
- 1927 - Kim Young-sam, President of South Korea
- 1933 - Jean Carnahan, U.S. Senator
- 1933 - Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist
- 1938 - John Harbison, American composer
- 1944 - Bobby Colomby, American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
- 1945 - Peter George Criscoula, American drummer and singer (KISS)
- 1946 - Uri Geller, Israeli psychic
- 1946 - John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
- 1946 - Dick Wolf, American television series creator
- 1947 - Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer
- 1949 - Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician
- 1951 - Gilbert Montagné, French musician
- 1951 - Peter May - Writer, Scottish novelist and scriptwriter
- 1952 - Jenny Agutter, English actress
- 1954 - Michael Badalucco, American actor
- 1956 - Junji Hirata, Japanese professional wrestler
- 1957 - Billy Bragg, English singer and songwriter
- 1957 - Mike Watt, American bassist
- 1957 - Joyce Hyser, American actress
- 1957 - Anna Vissi, Greek singer
- 1960 - Nalo Hopkinson, Canadian writer
- 1963 - Infanta Elena of Spain, Duchess of Lugo
- 1965 - Rich Gannon, American football player
- 1966 - Chris Robinson, American singer (Black Crowes)
- 1968 - Karl Wendlinger, Austrian racing driver
- 1970 - Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
- 1973 - Cory Stillman, National Hockey League forward
- 1974 - Die, Japanese musician (Dir en grey)
- 1975 - Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer
- 1976 - Jang Hyuk, Korean actor
- 1976 - Aubrey Huff, baseball player
- 1976 - Adam Powell, Neopets creator
- 1977 - Jon Armstrong, American magician
- 1978 - Njitap Geremi, Cameroon footballer
- 1979 - Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
- 1980 - Ashley Cole, English footballer
- 1981 - Roy Williams, American football player
- 1982 - David Wright, baseball player
- 1983 - Lucy Pinder, British model
- 1990 - JoJo, American child singer
Do not add yourself or people without Wikipedia articles to this list Do not trust "this year in history" websites for accurate date information Do not link multiple occurrences of the same year, just link the first occurrence. -->
[edit] Deaths
- 217 - Pope Zephyrinus
- 860 - King Ethelbald of Wessex
- 910 - Alfonso III of Leon
- 1022 - Elvira Mendes, wife of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
- 1355 - Stefan Dušan, Serb king and tsar (b. circa 1308)
- 1494 - Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet
- 1524 - Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician
- 1539 - Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer
- 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)
- 1812 - Sacagawea, Shoshone guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
- 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)
- 1941 - Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
- 1954 - James Hilton, American 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)
- 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, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
- 1982 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-born pianist (b. 1887)
- 1984 - Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1946)
- 1986 - Joe DeSa, baseball player (b. 1959)
- 1989 - Kurt Böhme, German bass (b. 1908)
- 1991 - Simone Beck, French chef (b. 1904)
- 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)
- 1998 - Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1910)
- 1998 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1916)
- 1999 - Hank Snow, Canadian singer (b. 1914)
- 2000 - Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Indian statesman, politician, and philanthropist (b. 1920)
- 2001 - Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (b. 1912)
- 2001 - Léopold Sédar Senghor, first President of Senegal (b. 1906)
[edit] Holidays and observances
[edit] External links
December 19 - December 21 - November 20 - January 20 -- listing of all days
