December 20

Updated on Nov 06, 2023

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Western zodiac Sagittarius		Holidays & Observances Yaldā
Events Miss Universe 2015, Spanish general election, 2015 Famous birthdays JoJo, Jonah Hill, Martin Schulz, Ashley Cole, Nazriya Nazim

Date day december 20 2015

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).

Untv c news december 20 2016

Events

AD 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.

217 – Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, although Hippolytus of Rome is soon thereafter elected as a rival pope.

1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after 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 fighting.

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 – The United States invasion of Panama deposes 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 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.

Births

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 pianist, 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

1939 – Kathryn Joosten, American actress (d. 2012)

1939 – Kim Weston, American soul singer

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

1944 – Ray Martin, Australian television host and journalist

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

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

1955 – Martin Schulz, German politician

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

1956 – Anita Ward, American disco/R&B singer

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

1974 – Jacqui Oatley, British Sports presenter

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 – Darren Sammy, Saint Lucian cricketer

1984 – Nikolaos Karabelas, Greek footballer

1985 – Gilbert Kirwa, Kenyan runner

1987 – Yutaka Otsuka, Japanese baseball player

1988 – Andrés Bottiglieri, Italian–Argentinian footballer

1989 – Leeson Ah Mau, New Zealand-Samoan rugby league player

1990 – JoJo, American singer and actress

1991 – Jillian Rose Reed, American actress

1991 – Fabian Schär, Swiss footballer

1992 – Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater

1993 – Robeisy Ramírez, Cuban boxer

1997 – Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese singer

Deaths

217 – Pope Zephyrinus

860 – Æthelbald of Wessex (b. 834)

910 – Alfonso III of León, King of León, Galicia and Asturias

1295 – Margaret of Provence (b. 1221)

1326 – Peter, Metropolitan of Moscow

1340 – John I, Duke of Bavaria (b. 1329)

1355 – Stefan Uroš IV Dušan, Emperor 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)

1939 – Hans Langsdorff, German captain (b. 1894)

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 – Denise Levertov, English-American poet and translator (b. 1923)

1997 – Dick Spooner, English cricketer (b. 1919)

1997 – Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)

1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1916)

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 – Raoul Bott, Hungarian-American mathematician and academic (b. 1923)

2006 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)

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 – 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

Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)

Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)

Christian feast day:

Dominic of Silos

O Clavis

Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne

Katharina von Bora (Lutheran)

December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)

Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances:

Yaldā (Iran)

International Human Solidarity Day (International)

Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)

References

December 20 Wikipedia

(Text) CC BY-SA

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