ThisDayThatYear.com - Events from History on December 20

Events from History on December 20

xxxx : General Vespasianus occupies Rome
1046 : Benedictus IX & Silvester III & names Bishop Siutger, Pope Clemens II
1046 : Synod of Sutri: German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI,
1192 : Richard the Lionhearted captured in Vienna
1448 : Pope Nicolaas V named Utrechts bishop Rudolf of Diepholt, cardinal
1585 : English fleet & earl Robert Dudley van Leicester reach Vlissingen
1600 : Ottario Rinuccini/Giulio Caccini's opera "Euridice" published
1606 : Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown Va
1626 : Emperor Ferdinand II/Transylvanian monarch G bor Betlen signs
1626 : Peace of Pressburg
1661 : Corporation Act enforced in England
1669 : 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for
1669 : insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery
1688 : Prince Willem III's troops pull into London
1694 : Frederik van Brandenburg flees Schweiben
1699 : Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed-Sept 1 to Jan 1
1745 : Bonnie Prince Charlie's army meets de Esk
1780 : England declares war on Netherlands
1790 : 1st successful US cotton mill to spin yarn (Pawtucket, RI)
1803 : Louisiana Purchase formally transferred from France to US for $27M
1820 : Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men between 21 & 50
1823 : Franz Schuberts "Ballet-Musik aus Rosamunde," premieres in Vienna
1830 : England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium
1850 : Hawaiian post office established
1860 : SC votes 169-0 for Ordinace of Secession, 1st state to secede
1861 : Battle of Dranesville, VA
1862 : -Dec 20th] Battle of Kelly's Ford, VA
1862 : -Jan 3rd] Vicksburg campaign
1862 : Battle of Holly Spring, MS
1862 : Brig-gen Nathan B Forrest occupies Trenton, Kentucky
1864 : -Dec 27th] Battle of Ft Fisher, NC
1865 : De Clear-Alkmaar railway opens
1879 : Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park
1880 : Battle at Bronker's Spruit, Transvaal: Farmers beat Britten
1880 : NY's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way"
1883 : Intl cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls
1891 : Strongman Louis Cyr withstands pull of 4 horses
1892 : Phileas Fogg completes around world trip, according to Verne
1892 : Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse, NY
1893 : 1st state anti-lynching statue approved, in Georgia
1894 : Day Six 1T Aus v Eng Australia need 177 to win, all out 166
1900 : Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft)
1906 : Venezuela (under vice-pres Gomez) attacks Dutch fleet
1907 : Explosion at Yolande Alabama, coal mine kills 91
1912 : J Hartley Manners' "Peg O' My Heart," premieres in NYC
1912 : Paul Claudels "L'Annonce Faite … Marie," premieres in Paris
1915 : Russian troops overrun Qom, Persia
1917 : Russian secret police in Czech forms under Felix Dzerzjinski
1918 : Eugene O'Neill's "Moon of the Caribees," premieres in NYC
1919 : Canadian Natl Railways established (N America's longest, 50,000 KM)
1919 : US House of Representatives restricts immigration
1920 : Bob Hope became an American citizen
1921 : AL votes to return to best-of-7 World Series, while NL votes best-of-9
1921 : Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts deciding vote for best-of-7
1922 : 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR)
1922 : Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president
1924 : Adolf Hitler freed from jail early
1926 : Cards trade Rogers Hornsby to Giants for Frankie Frisch & Jimmy Ring
1926 : Pope Pius XI convicts fascist pursuit in Italy
1926 : Sidney Howard's "Silver Cord," premieres in NYC
1928 : 1st internationsl dogsled mail leaves Minot, Maine for Montr‚al, QuŠ
1928 : Ethel Barrymore Theater opens at 243 W 47th St NYC
1929 : Heinie Wagner replaces Bill Carrigan as Red Sox manager
1929 : Mount Davidson dedicated as a SF city park
1932 : Queensland all out 74 v Victoria, Ironmonger (age 50) 7-13
1933 : Bolivia & Paraguay sign weapon cease fire
1935 : Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii
1937 : Bill O'Reilly takes 9-41 for NSW against South Australia
1938 : Vladimir K Zworykin (Penn) receives patent on Iconoscope TV system
1939 : Radio Australia begins overseas shortwave service
1940 : Connie Mack acquires controlling interest in the Athletics for $42,000
1941 : Free France under adm Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miqu‚lon
1941 : Japanese troops lands on Mindanao
1942 : 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
1943 : "International" is no longer USSR National Anthem
1944 : Archbishop De Young & bishop Huibers condemn black market
1944 : Battle of Bastogne, Nazis surround 101st Airborne (NUTS!)
1944 : Bishop forbids membership in non Catholic unions
1944 : Terence Rattigans "O Mistress Mine," premieres in London
1945 : Rationg of auto tires ends in US
1946 : Darius Milhaud's 2nd Symphony, premieres
1948 : Second Chamber accept 2nd Police Action in Indonesia
1949 : Maurice Ravel/John Cranko's ballet "Beauty & the Beast," premieres
1950 : "Harvey," starring James Stewart, premieres in NY
1952 : KHQ TV channel 6 in Spokane, WA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 : KID (now KIDK) TV channel 3 in Idaho Falls, ID (CBS) 1st broadcasting
1953 : KWTV TV channel 9 in Oklahoma City, OK (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 : Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
1956 : Montgomery, Ala, removed race-based seat assignments on its buses
1957 : Elvis Presley given draft notice to join US Army for National Service
1959 : Jasu Patel takes 9-69, India v Australia at Kanpur
1960 : Auschwitz-commandant Richard B„r arrested in German FR
1962 : D Sjostakovitz opera "Katerina Ismailova," premieres in Moscow
1962 : Osmond brothers debut on Andy Williams Show
1963 : Berlin Wall opens for 1st time to West Berliners
1963 : Massemba-Debate elected pres of Congo-Brazzaville
1963 : Trial against 21 camp guards of Auschwitz begins
1964 : Levi Eshkol forms Israeli govt
1966 : Brussels: Nuclear Planning Group established
1966 : Nuclear Planning Group forms in Brussels
1966 : US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1967 : "Graduate," starring Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft, premieres
1967 : 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam
1967 : Ian Anderson & Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull
1969 : Peter, Paul & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1
1970 : Edward Gierek succeeds Wladyslaw Gomulka as Poland's party leader
1971 : Pakistan president Yahya Khan resigns
1972 : Neil Simons "Sunshine Boys," premieres in NYC
1973 : AL pres Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees
1973 : Dutch Antillean govt of Evertsz forms
1974 : Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state
1974 : George Harrison releases his "Dark Horse" album in UK
1975 : Joe Walsh recruited to join Eagles
1975 : Pope Paul VI named J Willebrands archbishop of Utrecht
1976 : "Music Is" opens at St James Theater NYC for 8 performances
1976 : Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns
1977 : 1st Space walk made by G Grechko from Salyut
1977 : RAF -terrorist Knut Folkerts sentenced to 20 years
1978 : H R Haldeman, Nixon's White House chief of staff released from jail
1980 : NBC broadcasts NY Jets' 24-17 win over Dolphins without audio
1980 : USSR formally announces death of Alexei Kosygin
1981 : "Dreamgirls" opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 1522 performances
1981 : Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) & most turnovers (10)
1981 : Harry Krieger/Tom Eyen's musical "Dreamgirls," premieres in NYC
1983 : El Salvador adopts constitution
1983 : NY Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pitts Penguins
1983 : PLO chairman Yasser Arafat & 4,000 loyalists evacuate Lebanon
1984 : 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library
1984 : US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 : Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC
1985 : Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)
1986 : White teenagers beat blacks in Howard Beach, NY
1987 : "Nuts" with Barbra Striesand premieres
1987 : Dona Paz ferry sinks after crash with oil tanker Vector, 4386 die
1988 : Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's dept store, London
1988 : NBC signs lease to stay in NYC, 33 more years
1988 : Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected pres of Sri Lanka
1989 : Premier Lubbers sees CDA-party leader Elco Brinkman as successor
1989 : US troops invade Panama & oust Manuel Noriega, but don't catch him
1990 : Pentagon warns Saddam that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15
1990 : Robert F X Sillerman purchases WAFL NY-NJ Knights for $11 million
1990 : Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns
1991 : Paul Keating installed as premier of Australia
1992 : Northwest & KLM introduce a new joint logo "Worldwide Reliability"
1992 : Slobodan Milosevic re-elected president of Serbia
1993 : Donald Trump weds Marla Maples
1995 : "Paul Roebson" opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 14 performances
1995 : American Flight 965 crashes in Columbia, 159 die, 5 survive
1999 : Portugal returns Macau to China

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