December 20th in History

The Christmas perennial  It’s a Wonderful Life premiers, December 20, 1946

Today in History

  • Vespasian becomes Emperor of Rome (69)
  • Richard I Lionheart is captured on his way home to England following the end of the Third Crusade (1192)
  • The Louisiana Purchase is completed (1803)
  • South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States (1860)
  • Adolf Hitler is released from prison following his role in the Beer Hall Putch (1924)
  • World War II: The American Volunteer Group (“Flying Tigers”) go into battle for the first time (1941)
  • It’s a Wonderful Life premiers (1946)
  • A nuclear power plant generates electricity for the first time — enough to power four lightbulbs (1951)
  • Zulfikar Ali Bhutto becomes president of Pakistan (1971)
  • The US invades Panama (1989)
  • NATO begins its peacekeeping operation in Bosnia (1995)
  • NeXT merges with Apple Computers, returning Steve Jobs to the leadership of the company (1996)
  • Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria (2007)

Birthdays

  • Samuel Mudd, physician and convicted Lincoln assassination conspirator (1833)
  • Edwin A. Abbott, author of Flatland (1838)
  • Harvey S. Firestone, tire maker (1868)
  • Branch Rickey, baseball manager (1881)
  • Irene Dunne, actress and singer (1898)
  • Robert Van de Graaff, physicist and generator inventor (1901)
  • Dennis Morgan, actor and singer (1908)
  • George Roy Hill, filmmaker (1922)
  • Charlie Callas, actor and comedian (1927)
  • John Hillerman, actor (1932)
  • Uri Geller, self-proclaimed psychic (1946)
  • Alan Parsons, musician (1948)

Deaths

  • Sacagawea, Native American interpreter and guide, member of the Lewis and Clark Expedition (1812)
  • Erich Ludendorff, German general (1937)
  • James Hilton, author (1954)
  • Moss Hart, director and playwright (1961)
  • John Steinbeck, author and Nobel laureate (1968)
  • Roy O. Disney, business executive (1971)
  • Bobby Darrin, singer-songwriter (1973)
  • Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago (1976)
  • Arthur Rubinstein, pianist (1982)
  • W. Edwards Deming, management theorist and statistician (1993)
  • Dean Rusk, US secretary of state (1994)
  • Carl Sagan, astronomer (1996)
  • Hank Snow, country musician (1999)
  • Foster Brooks, drunk actor (2001)
  • Brittany Murphy, actress (2009)
  • Steve Landesberg, actor (2010)

Holidays and Celebrations

  • Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
  • Fête des Cafres (Abolition of Slavery Day) (Réunion, French Guiana)
  • International Human Solidarity Day (International)
  • Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)
Informal and made-up holidays include Go Caroling Day, Mudd Day, and National Sangria Day.
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December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years). There are 11 days remaining until the end of the year.