December 20
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December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining.
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
- 1860 - South Carolina becomes first state to secede from the United States
- 1915 - Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli
- 1917 - Cheka, first Soviet secret police, founded
- 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
- 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 - Operation Just Cause: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega
- 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
- 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.
- 2002 - US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
- 2004 - The Miami Dolphins upset the defending Super Bowl Champion New England Patriots in a fourth quarter comeback and scoring two touchdowns in the final 4 minutes of the game to win 29-28.
Births
- 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)
- 1786 - Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
- 1792 - Nicolas Charlet, French painter (d. [[Death Date:=1845|1845]])
- 1805 - Thomas Graham, Scottish chemist (d. 1869)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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
- 1942 - Bob Hayes, American football player (d. 2002)
- 1946 - Dick Wolf, American television series creator
- 1946 - Uri Geller, Israeli psychic
- 1949 - Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician
- 1952 - Jenny Agutter, English actress
- 1954 - Michael Badalucco, American actor
- 1957 - Anna Vissi, Greek singer
- 1957 - Billy Bragg, English singer and songwriter
- 1957 - Mike Watt, American bassist
- 1957 - Joyce Hyser, American actress
- 1960 - Nalo Hopkinson, Canadian writer
- 1965 - Rich Gannon, American football player
- 1970 - Massimo Ellul, Maltese entrepreneur and philanthropist
- 1970 - Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
- 1980 - Ashley Cole, English footballer
- 1990 - JoJo, American singer
Deaths
- 217 - Pope Zephyrinus
- 860 - King Ethelbald of Wessex
- 910 - Alfonso III of Leon
- 1022 - Elvira Menéndez, queen of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
- 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)
- 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
- 1929 - Émile Loubet, 7th President of France (b.1838)
- 1937 - Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
- 1941 - Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
- 1943 - Sergei Tretyakov, Russian writer (b. 1894)
- 1954 - James Hilton, American author (b. 1900)
- 1961 - Moss Hart, American author (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)
- 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 - Denise Levertov, English-born poet (b. 1923)
- 1997 - Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director (b. 1933)
- 1998 - Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1910)
- 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)
