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Revision as of 19:37, 3 May 2011

Template:DecemberCalendar

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.

Events

• 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of emperor.
• 217 – The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the 16th pope, but is opposed by the theologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.
• 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.
• 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.
• 1924 – Hitler: is released from Landsberg Prison
• 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.
• 1946 – An 8.1 M_w earthquake and subsequent tsunami in Nankaidō, Japan, kill over 1,300 people and destroy over 38,000 homes.
• 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. 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.
• 1959 – The Walker Family Murders
• 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.
• 1977 – Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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, one of the largest bank robberies in UK history.
• 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.
• 2007 – 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)
• 1869 – Charles Grapewin, American actor (d. 1956)
• 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 – Yitzhak Baer, German-born Israeli historian (d. 1980)
• 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 – Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian writer (d. 1977)
• 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)
• 1914 – Harry F. Byrd Jr, American politician
• 1916 – Michel Chartrand, Quebec union leader (d. 2010)
• 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, 14th 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
• 1941 – Tommy Cole, American makeup artist, actor and singer
• 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)
• 1945 – Sivakant Tiwari, senior legal officer of the Singapore Legal Service (d. 2010)
• 1946 – Uri Geller, Israeli mentalist
• 1946 – Lesley Judd, English TV presenter and dancer
• 1946 – Lloyd Mumphord, NFL football player
• 1946 – John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Sonny Perdue, American politician, governor of Georgia
• 1946 – Dick Wolf, American television series creator
• 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
• 1950 – Arturo Marquez, Mexican composer
• 1951 – Gilbert Montagné, French musician
• 1951 – Peter May, Scottish novelist and scriptwriter
• 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress
• 1952 – Sky Gilbert, Canadian writer
• 1954 – Michael Badalucco, American actor
• 1954 – Sandra Cisneros, American writer
• 1955 – David Breashears, American mountaineer
• 1955 – Ed Kuepper, German-born Australian musician (The Saints, Laughing Clowns)
• 1955 – Rory Markas, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 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, Polish politician
• 1959 – Trent Tucker, American basketball player
• 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
• 1969 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (d. 2000)
• 1970 – Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Alister McRae, Scottish rally driver
• 1970 – Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1971 – Roger J. Beaujard, American musician
• 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, American comic book artist
• 1979 – David DeJesus, American baseball player
• 1979 – George Lamb, English radio and TV presenter
• 1979 – Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
• 1980 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
• 1980 – Fitz Hall, English footballer
• 1980 – Tony, French-born Portuguese footballer
• 1980 – Martín Demichelis, Argentine footballer
• 1981 – Roy Williams, American football player
• 1981 – James Shields, American baseball player
• 1981 – Royal Ivey, American basketball player
• 1982 – David Cook, American singer, winner of American Idol.
• 1982 – David Wright, American baseball player
• 1982 – David Tavaré, Spanish singer
• 1982 – Keny Arkana, French rapper & 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 – Benjamin Brierley, English-born German rugby player
• 1986 – Anoop Desai, American singer and former American Idol contestant
• 1987 – Tariel Zintiridis, Greek judoka
• 1988 – Andrés Bottiglieri Italian–Argentine footballer
• 1990 – JoJo, American singer
• 1991 – Hunter Gomez, American actor
• 1992 – Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater

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 – Tsar Stefan Dušan of Serbia (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)
• 1765 – Louis, Dauphin of France, son of Louis XV; father of Louis XVI, Louis XVIII, and Charles X (b. 1729)
• 1768 – Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni, Italian poet (b. 1692)
• 1783 – Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (b. 1729)
• 1786 – Hannah Ocuish, Native American convicted murderer (b. 1774)
• 1812 – Sacagawea, Native American member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (b. 1788)
• 1856 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian revolutionary (b. 1820)
• 1862 – Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
• 1915 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (b. 1863)
• 1917 – Lucien Petit-Breton, French racing cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1921 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (b. 1850)
• 1927 – Roshan Singh, Indian nationalist (date of birth unknown)
• 1929 – Émile Loubet, French statesman (b. 1838)
• 1935 – Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier (b. 1882)
• 1937 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
• 1938 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary (b. 1850)
• 1941 – Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
• 1954 – James Hilton, British author (b. 1900)
• 1956 – Ramon Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist (b. 1906)
• 1961 – Moss Hart, American dramatist (b. 1904)
• 1961 – Earle Page, Australian politician (b. 1880)
• 1968 – John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1971 – Roy O. Disney, American entertainment industry executive (b. 1893)
• 1973 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish statesman (b. 1904)
• 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 American pianist (b. 1887)
• 1984 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1946)
• 1986 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (b. 1959)
• 1988 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian television executive (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, American diplomat (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer and writer (b. 1934)
• 1997 – Denise Levertov, English-born American 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. 1909)
• 1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1916)
• 1998 – C. 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)
• 2002 – Bernard King, Australian chef and television personality (b. 1934)
• 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)
• 2009 – Jack Hixon, English football talent scout (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Brittany Murphy, American actress (b. 1977)
• 2009 – Arnold Stang, American comic actor (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Mairoon Ali, Trinidadian comedienne and actress (b. 1954)
• 2010 – Brian Hanrahan, British journalist (b. 1949)
• 2010 – Steve Landesberg, American actor and comedian (b. 1945)
• 2010 – James R. Mann, American attorney and politician (b. 1920)

Holidays and observances

• Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion)
• Christian Feast Day:
  • Dominic of Silos
  • O Clavis
  • Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
• Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve:
  • Yalda (Iran)
• International Human Solidarity Day (International)
• Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

• Days of the year
• December