On this day in History - Dec. 20

• 0069 - General Vespasianus occupies Rome.
• 0069 - Died this day, Aulus Vitellius, Roman commandant of Rhine and 7th emperor, murdered.
• 0910 - Alfonso III de Great, King of Asturias, dies.
• 1046 - Synod of Sutri: German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI .
• 1537 - King John III of Sweden was born (d. 1592) .
• 1594 - Giovanni Battista Gagliano was born, composer.
• 1629 - Pieter de Hooch, was born, Duttch painter (d. 1684).
• 1699 - Pedro o Grande anuncia a adoção de um novo calendário russo, cujo Ano Novo começaria em 1 de janeiro e não mais em 1 de setembro.
• 1766 - São incorporadas na Coroa Portuguesa todas as saboarias do Reino. O conde Castelo Melhor, que perde o monopólio, é compensado com o título de marquês e importantes bens fundiários.
• 1780 - England declares war on Netherlands.
• 1792 - Nicolas Charlet, was born, painter (d. 1845) .
• 1795 - Retirados los restos de Cristóbal Colón de la catedral de Santo Domingo para trasladarlos a Cuba.
• 1803 - The United States purchased the Louisiana territory from France .
• 1805 - Thomas Graham, was born, Father of colloid chemistry (d. 1869).
• 1823 - Franz Schuberts "Ballet-Musik aus Rosamunde" premieres in Vienna .
• 1830 - England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium .
• 1833 - Samuel Mudd, was born, physician, possible conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln .
• 1841 - Born this day, Ferdinand-Èdouard Buisson, in France, educator (Nobel Peace Prize 1927).
• 1856 - Ferdinand Avenarius, was born author (d. 1923)
• 1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.
• 1860 - Dan Leno, was born English entertainer (d. 1904) .
• 1861 - Ivana Kobilca, was born Slovene painter (d. 1926) .
• 1865 - Elsie De Wolfe, was born, aka Lady Mendl, actress & interior decorator (d. 1950).
• 1868 - Harvey Samuel Firestone, was born , industrialist, Firestone tyres (d. 1938) .
• 1879 - Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park .
• 1881 - Branch Rickey was born , American baseball executive [d. 1965]
• 1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978).
• 1890 - Jaroslav Heyrovsky, prix Nobel de chimie en 1959.
• 1892 - Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse, NY.
• 1894 - Foi criado o Comité Olímpico Português.
• 1898 - Born this day, Irene [Marie] Dunne, in Louisville, Kentucky, actress (Show Boat, I Remember Mama, My Favorite Wife).
• 1915 - Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli .
• 1917 - Cheka, first Soviet secret police, founded under Felix Dzerzjinski .
• 1917 - Gonzalo Rojas, nascimiento de, poeta chileno.
• 1918 - Eugene O'Neill's "Moon of the Caribees" premieres in New York NY.
• 1922 - 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR) .
• 1922 - Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president.
• 1927 - Kim Young-sam, was born, President of South Korea .
• 1932 - On this date in 1932, Al Jolson, the most famous singer of his day, recorded one of his best-known songs, April Showers on Brunswick Records.
• 1933 - Bolivia & Paraguay sign weapon cease fire .
• 1935 - Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii .
• 1935 - Italians are driven back to the Dembeguina Pass when Abyssinian troops cross the River Takkaze.
• 1941 - Japanese troops landed on Mindanao. (World War II).
• 1942 - 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta .
• 1942 - Sílvio de Abreu, nasceu neste dia, novelista brasileiro
• 1944 - É criada no Rio de Janeiro a Fundação Getúlio Vargas.
• 1946 - Born this day, Patti Smith, singer, songwriter.
• 1947 - Gigliola Cinquetti, was born , Italian singer.
• 1948 - O Canadá reconhece o estabelecimento do Estado de Israel.
• 1949 - Claudia Jennings [Mary Ellen Chestrerton] was born in Minnesota, playmate (November 1969) .
• 1952 - United States Air Force C-124 crashs and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87 .
• 1952 - Brigitte Bardot married Roger Vadim.
• 1954 - 20 000 soldats français sont envoyés en Algérie .
• 1955 - Indépendance du Soudan .
• 1956 - Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra.
• 1957 - Création de l'Agence européenne de l'énergie nucléaire (AEEN) .
• 1960 - National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed .
• 1961 - Résolution de l'ONU sur le statut des corps célestes : ils peuvent être librement explorés par tous les États et ne sont pas susceptibles d'appropriation nationale.
• 1962 - Osmond brothers debut on Andy Williams Show .
• 1962 - D Sjostakovitz opera "Katerina Ismailova," premieres in Moscow .
• 1962 - In its first free election in 38 years, the Dominican Republic chooses leftist Juan Bosch Gavino as president.
• 1963 - Berlin Wall opened for first time More than two years after the Berlin Wall was constructed by East Germany to prevent its citizens from fleeing its communist regime, nearly 4000 West Berliners are allowed to cross into East Berlin to visit relatives, under a 17 day Christmas accord .
• 1963 -Trial against 22 camp guards of Auschwitz begins .
• 1967 - 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam
• 1968 - John Steinbeck writer : Grapes of Wrath, (Nobel 1940, 62), dies [b.1902]
• 1968 - In Spain, Franco banished Prince Carlos, pretender to the Spanish throne.
• 1969 - Muhammad Anwar al-Sadat is named by Colonel Gamal Abdul al-Nasser as his successor.
• 1969 - Peter, Paul & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1
• 1970 - Nicole DeBoer, was born , actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Dead Zone)
• 1971 - Pakistan President Yahya Khan resigns (Ali Bhutto assumes power)
• 1973 - España, el presidente del Gobierno español, Luis Carrero Blanco, es asesinado con una bomba por la banda terrorista ETA.
• 1976 - Walter Fitzgerald, actor (Adv of Sadie, Fallen Idol), dies at 80
• 1976 - Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns .
• 1979 - Kim Jae-kyu, o cabeça do Serviço Secreto da Coréia, é condenado a morte pelo assassinato do presidente Park Chung-hee em Seul.
• 1980 - Born this day, Ashley Cole, footballer, in Stepney, East London.
• 1982 - Artur Rubinstein, dies in Geneva, musician- pianist (My young years) (b. 1887)
• 1983 - PLO chairman Yasser Arafat and 4,000 loyalists evacuated Lebanon.
• 1983 - El Salvador adopts constitution .
• 1983 - Ladrões roubam a taça Jules Rimet da sede da Confederação Brasileira de Futebol. O troféu pesava 1,8 kg em ouro puro.
• 1984- 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library .
• 1987- Dona Paz ferry sinks after crash with oil tanker Vector, 4.386 die. .
• 1988- É assassinado Chico Mendes, líder dos seringueiros no Acre e fundador do Sindicato dos Trabalhadores Rurais de Basiléia e Xapuri (Brasil) .
• 1988 - Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa was elected President of Sri Lanka.
• 1989 - Operation Just Cause: United States invaded Panama and installed a new government but failed to capture General Manuel Noriega
• 1989 - El pintor español José María Sicilia, galardonado con el Premio Nacional español de Artes Plásticas.
• 1990 - Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns
• 1992 - Slobodan Milosevic was re-elected as President of Serbia.
• 1994 - México desvaloriza o peso e inicia o efeito Tequila em todas as economias da América Latina.
• 1995 - NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia
• 1995 - An American Airlines Boeing 757 crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160
• 1996 - Promulgação da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (Brazil)
• 1996 - Carl Sagan died at age 62, American astronomer.
• 1999 - Vermont's Supreme Court rules that homosexual couples are entitled to same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples
• 2001 - Léopold Sédar Senghor, poet, Senegal's first president. Senghor, 95, dies at his home in Normandy
• 2001 - A crise argentina atingiu o momento mais grave. O ministro da Economia, Domingo Cavallo, pediu demissão pois o Congresso retirou os poderes especiais que ele havia recebido. Os argentinos sentem a crise no país, com a renúncia também do presidente Fernando de La Rua. O presidente do Senado, Ramón Puerta, assume o governo provisoriamente.
• 2002 - US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.