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

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 – Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1909)
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