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. This date is slightly more likely to fall on a Tuesday, Thursday or Sunday (58 in 400 years each) than on Friday or Saturday (57), and slightly less likely to occur on a Monday or Wednesday (56).
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 sixteenth 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 I of England 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 .
1334 – Pope Benedict XII is elected.
1522 – Siege of Rhodes : 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 .
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.
1915 – World War I : The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli .
1916 – World War I : The battle of Verdun results in a French victory after more than 9 months of intense fightings.
1917 – Cheka , the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.
1924 – Adolf 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: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta , India .
1946 – The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.
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 is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden , England, in the Pennines .
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 Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines , killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
1989 – United States invasion of Panama : The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega . This is also the first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft .
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, 7 months and 29 days.
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 .
2013 – China successfully launches the Bolivian Túpac Katari 1 from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center .
1494 – Oronce Finé , French mathematician and cartographer (d. 1555)
1537 – John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
1626 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff , German scholar and politician (d. 1692)
1641 – Urban Hjärne , Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (d. 1724)
1717 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes , French politician and diplomat, French Minister of Foreign Affairs (d. 1787)
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)
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)
1869 – Charley Grapewin , American actor (d. 1956)
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 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)
1901 – Robert J. Van de Graaff , American physicist and academic, invented the Van de Graaff generator (d. 1967)
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)
1922 – Beverly Pepper , American sculptor and painter
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 – Charlie Callas , American actor and comedian (d. 2011)
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
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
1938 – John Harbison , American composer and academic
1939 – Kathryn Joosten , American actress (d. 2012)
1940 – Pat Chapman , English chef and author, founded The Curry Club
1942 – Rana Bhagwandas , Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (d. 2015)
1942 – Bob Hayes , American sprinter and football player (d. 2002)
1942 – Michael P. Johnson , American sociologist
1942 – Jean-Claude Trichet , French banker and economist
1944 – Bobby Colomby , American drummer and producer
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 – Lloyd Mumphord , American football player
1946 – Sonny Perdue , American captain and politician, 81st Governor of Georgia
1946 – Dick Wolf , American director, producer, and screenwriter
1947 – Roger Alton , English journalist
1947 – Gigliola Cinquetti , Italian singer-songwriter
1947 – Bo Ryan , American basketball player and coach
1947 – Stevie Wright , English-Australian singer-songwriter (d. 2015)
1948 – Alan Parsons , English keyboard player and producer
1948 – Carol Smart , English sociologist and academic
1948 – Mitsuko Uchida , Japanese-British pianist
1949 – Soumaïla Cissé , Malian engineer and politician
1949 – Cecil Cooper , American baseball player and manager
1949 – Oscar Gamble , American baseball player
1950 – Geoffrey Grimmett , English mathematician and academic
1950 – Arturo Márquez , Mexican-American composer
1951 – Lynne Featherstone , English blogger and politician
1951 – Christopher Le Brun , English painter and sculptor
1951 – Peter May , Scottish author and screenwriter
1951 – Nuala O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan , Northern Irish academic and police ombudsman
1951 – Marta Russell , American author and activist (d. 2013)
1952 – Jenny Agutter , English actress
1954 – Michael Badalucco , American actor and producer
1954 – Sandra Cisneros , American author and poet
1955 – David Breashears , American mountaineer, director, and producer
1955 – Binali Yıldırım , Turkish lawyer and politician, Turkish Minister of Transport
1956 – Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz , Mauritanian general and politician, President of Mauritania
1956 – Guy Babylon , American keyboard player and songwriter (d. 2009)
1956 – Blanche Baker , American actress and screenwriter
1956 – Junji Hirata , Japanese wrestler
1956 – Andrew Mackenzie , Scottish geologist and businessman
1957 – Billy Bragg , English singer-songwriter and guitarist
1957 – Anna Vissi , Cypriot singer-songwriter and actress
1957 – Mike Watt , American singer-songwriter and bass player
1958 – Doug Nordquist , American high jumper
1958 – James Thomson , American biologist and academic
1959 – George Coupland , Scottish scientist
1959 – Hildegard Körner , German runner
1959 – Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz , Polish physicist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Poland
1959 – Trent Tucker , American basketball player and sportscaster
1960 – Nalo Hopkinson , Jamaican-Canadian author and educator
1960 – Kim Ki-duk , South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter
1961 – Mohammad Fouad , Egyptian singer-songwriter and actor
1961 – Mike Keneally , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1961 – Freddie Spencer , American motorcycle racer
1964 – Mark Coleman , American mixed martial artist and wrestler
1965 – Robert Cavanah , Scottish actor and director
1965 – Rich Gannon , American football player and sportscaster
1966 – Matt Neal , English race car driver
1966 – Veronica Pershina , Russian-American figure skater and coach
1966 – Chris Robinson , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1968 – Joe Cornish , English actor, director, and screenwriter
1968 – Karl Wendlinger , Austrian race car driver
1969 – Alain de Botton , Swiss-English philosopher and author
1969 – Zahra Ouaziz , Moroccan runner
1969 – Bobby Phills , American basketball player (d. 2000)
1970 – Grant Flower , Zimbabwean cricketer and coach
1970 – Alister McRae , Scottish race car driver
1970 – Jörg Schmidt , German footballer
1971 – Roger J. Beaujard , American guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1972 – Anders Odden , Norwegian guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1972 – Anja Rücker , German sprinter
1973 – Maarja Kangro , Estonian author and poet
1973 – David Nedohin , Canadian curler and sportscaster
1973 – Cory Stillman , Canadian ice hockey player and coach
1974 – Die , Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer
1974 – Paul Linger , English footballer
1975 – Bartosz Bosacki , Polish footballer
1976 – Aubrey Huff , American baseball player and radio host
1976 – Adam Powell , Welsh game designer and businessman, co-founded Meteor Games
1976 – Ramon Stoppelenburg , Dutch businessman and author
1976 – Nenad Vučković , Croatian footballer
1977 – Kerem Kabadayı , Turkish drummer and songwriter
1978 – Andrei Markov , Russian-Canadian ice hockey player
1978 – Geremi Njitap , Cameroon footballer
1978 – Bouabdellah Tahri , French runner
1979 – David DeJesus , American baseball player
1979 – Michael Rogers , Australian cyclist
1979 – Ramón Rodríguez , Puerto Rican-American actor and dancer
1980 – Israel Castro , Mexican footballer
1980 – Ashley Cole , English footballer
1980 – Anthony da Silva , French-Portuguese footballer
1980 – Martín Demichelis , Argentinian footballer
1980 – Fitz Hall , English footballer
1981 – Royal Ivey , American basketball player
1981 – Darya Pchelnik , Belarusian hammer thrower
1981 – James Shields , American baseball player
1981 – Roy Williams , American football player
1982 – Mohammad Asif , Pakistani cricketer
1982 – David Cook , American singer-songwriter and guitarist
1982 – Kasper Klausen , Danish footballer
1982 – David Wright , American baseball player
1983 – Jonah Hill , American actor, producer, and screenwriter
1983 – Chelsea Johnson , American pole vaulter
1983 – Adrián Varela , Mexican singer
1984 – Nikolaos Karabelas , Greek footballer
1985 – Gilbert Kirwa , Kenyan runner
1987 – Yutaka Otsuka , Japanese baseball player
1988 – Andrés Bottiglieri , Italian–Argentinian footballer
1990 – JoJo , American singer-songwriter and actress
1990 – Filipp Breytveyt , Russian footballer
1991 – Fabian Schär , Swiss footballer
1992 – Ksenia Makarova , Russian-American figure skater
217 – Pope Zephyrinus
860 – Æthelbald of Wessex (b. 834)
1295 – Margaret of Provence (b. 1221)
1355 – Stephen Uroš IV Dušan of Serbia (b. 1308)
1539 – Johannes Lupi , Flemish composer (b. 1506)
1590 – Ambroise Paré , French physician and surgeon (b. 1510)
1722 – Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654)
1723 – Augustus Quirinus Rivinus , German physician and botanist (b. 1652)
1740 – Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon , English field marshal and politician, Governor of Portsmouth (b. 1675)
1765 – Louis, Dauphin of France (b. 1729)
1768 – Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni , Italian poet and academic (b. 1692)
1783 – Antonio Soler , Spanish priest and composer (b. 1729)
1812 – Sacagawea , American explorer (b. 1788)
1820 – John Bell , American farmer (b. 1750)
1856 – Francesco Bentivegna , Italian activist (b. 1820)
1862 – Robert Knox , Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
1880 – Gaspar Tochman , Polish-American colonel and lawyer (b. 1797)
1893 – George C. Magoun , American businessman (b. 1840)
1915 – Upendrakishore Ray , Indian painter and composer (b. 1863)
1917 – Lucien Petit-Breton , French-Argentinian cyclist (b. 1882)
1920 – Linton Hope , English sailor and architect (b. 1863)
1921 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler , German general and politician (b. 1850)
1927 – Frederick Semple , American golfer and tennis player (b. 1872)
1929 – Émile Loubet , French lawyer and politician, 8th President of France (b. 1838)
1935 – Martin O'Meara , Irish-Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (b. 1882)
1937 – Erich Ludendorff , German general (b. 1865)
1938 – Annie Armstrong , American missionary (b. 1850)
1938 – Matilda Howell , American archer (b. 1859)
1941 – Igor Severyanin , Russian-Estonian poet and author (b. 1887)
1950 – Enrico Mizzi , Maltese lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (b. 1885)
1954 – James Hilton , English-American author and screenwriter (b. 1900)
1956 – Ramón Carrillo , Argentinian neurologist and physician (b. 1906)
1959 – Juhan Simm , Estonian composer and conductor (b. 1885)
1961 – Moss Hart , American director and playwright (b. 1904)
1961 – Earle Page , Australian soldier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)
1968 – John Steinbeck , American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
1971 – Roy O. Disney , American banker and businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893)
1972 – Adolfo Orsi , Italian businessman (b. 1888)
1973 – Luis Carrero Blanco , Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (b. 1904)
1973 – Bobby Darin , American singer-songwriter and actor (b. 1936)
1974 – R. A. Bevan , English advertiser (b. 1901)
1974 – Rajani Palme Dutt , English journalist and politician (b. 1896)
1974 – André Jolivet , French guitarist and composer (b. 1905)
1976 – Richard J. Daley , American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
1981 – Dimitris Rontiris , Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
1982 – Arthur Rubinstein , Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
1984 – Stanley Milgram , American psychologist and academic (b. 1933)
1984 – Dmitry Ustinov , Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union (1976-84) (b. 1908)
1986 – Joe DeSa , American baseball player (b. 1959)
1991 – Simone Beck , French chef and author (b. 1904)
1991 – Sam Rabin , English wrestler, singer, and sculptor (b. 1903)
1991 – Albert Van Vlierberghe , Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
1993 – W. Edwards Deming , American statistician, author, and academic (b. 1900)
1993 – Nazife Güran , Turkish composer and educator (b. 1921)
1994 – Dean Rusk , American colonel, lawyer, and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
1995 – Madge Sinclair , Jamaican-American actress (b. 1938)
1996 – Carl Sagan , American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (b. 1934)
1997 – Juzo Itami , Japanese actor, director, producer, and screenwriter (b. 1933)
1997 – Denise Levertov , English-American poet and translator (b. 1923)
1997 – Dawn Steel , American film producer (b. 1946)
1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin , English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)
1998 – C. P. Lyons , Canadian historian and author (b. 1915)
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 – M. Moorthy , Malaysian soldier and mountaineer
2005 – Raoul Bott , Hungarian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1923)
2006 – Anne Rogers Clark , American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
2006 – Piergiorgio Welby , Italian poet and activist (b. 1945)
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 (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 – Eagle Keys , American-Canadian football player and coach (b. 1923)
2012 – Jimmy McCracklin , American singer-songwriter and pianist (b. 1921)
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)
Holidays and observances [ edit ]
External links [ edit ]
Months and days of the year
January
February
March
April
May
June
July
August
September
October
November
December