On this day in History - Dec. 20

• 0069 - General Vespasianus occupies Rome.
• 0069 - Aulus Vitellius dies murdered. Roman commandant of Rhine and 7th emperor.
• 0217 - Pope Zephyrinus dies.
• 0860 - King Ethelbald of Wessex dies
• 0910 - Alfonso III of Leon ( the Great) dies. King of Leon and Asturias.
• 1022 - Elvira Mendes dies (b. 0996). Queen of Alfonso V of Castile.
• 1046 - Synod of Sutri : German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI.
• 1334 - Pope Benedictus XII (Jaques Fournier) begins his Papacy (until 25 Apr 1342). See the list of all Popes
• 1494 - Matteo Maria Boiardo dies. Italian poet.
• 1522 - Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually re-settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
• 1524 - Thomas Linacre dies. English scholar and physician.
• 1537 - King John III of Sweden was born (d. 1592).
• 1539 - Johannes Lupi dies. Flemish composer
• 1566 - Edward Wightman was born (d.1612). English Baptist preacher.
• 1579 - John Fletcher is baptized (d. 1625). English playwright.
• 1590 - Ambroise Paré dies (b. 1510). French physician.
• 1594 - Giovanni Battista Gagliano was born, composer.
• 1626 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff was born (d. 1692). German statesman.
• 1629 - Pieter de Hooch, was born (d.1684). Duttch painter.
• 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.
• 1717 - Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes was born (d. 1787). French statesman and diplomat.
• 1722 - Kangxi Emperor of China dies (b. 1654).
• 1737 - D. Tomas de Almeida becomes the 1º Cardinal Patriarch of Lisbon - Portugal
• 1740 - Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon dies (b. 1675). English military officer and statesman.
• 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.
• 1768 - Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni dies (b. 1692). Italian poet.
• 1780 - England declares war on Netherlands.
• 1783 - Antonio Soler dies. Spanish composer.
• 1786 - Pietro Raimondi was born (d. 1853). Italian composer.
• 1792 - Nicolas Charlet was born (d. 1845). French painter .
• 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 (d. 1869). Father of colloid chemistry.
• 1812 - Sacagawea dies. Shoshone guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
• 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.
• 1838 - Edwin Abbott Abbott was born (d. 1926). English schoolmaster, theologian, and author.
• 1841 - Ferdinand Buisson was born. French educator and pacifist. Nobel Peace Prize 1927 in 1927 (jointly with the German pacifist Ludwig Quidde).
• 1856 - Ferdinand Avenarius was born (d. 1923). Author.
• 1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union.
• 1860 - Dan Leno was born (d. 1904). English entertainer.
• 1861 - Ivana Kobilca was born (d. 1926). Slovenian painter.
• 1865 - Elsie De Wolfe aka Lady Mendl was born (d. 1950). Actress & interior decorator.
• 1868 - Harvey Samuel Firestone, was born (d. 1938). Industrialist, Firestone tyres.
• 1872 - Lorenzo Perosi was born († 1956). Italian composer.
• 1879 - Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park.
• 1881 - Branch Rickey was born (d. 1965). American baseball executive.
• 1890 - Jaroslav Heyrovský was born (d. 1967). Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate in 1959.
• 1892 - Pneumatic automobile tire patented by Alexander Brown and George Stillman of New York.
• 1892 - Eduarda Mansilla dies (b. 1838). Argentine writer.
• 1894 - Portuguese Olimpic Comitee is created.
• 1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978).
• 1898 - Irene Dunne was born in Louisville. Kentucky (d. 1990). American actress (Show Boat, I Remember Mama, My Favorite Wife).
• 1901 - Robert Van de Graaff was born (d. 1967). American physicist and inventor.
• 1902 - Sidney Hook was born (d. 1989). American philosopher.
• 1902 - George Edward Alexander Windsor was born (d. 1942). Duke of Kent.
• 1915 - Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli .
• 1917 - Cheka, first Soviet secret police, founded under Felix Dzerzjinski .
• 1917 - Gonzalo Rojas was born. Chilean poet
• 1917 - David Bohm was born (d. 1992). American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist.
• 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.
• 1922 - George Roy Hill was born (d. 2002). American film director.
• 1926 - Sir Geoffrey Howe was born in Port Talbot, Glamorgan. British politician : Chancellor of the Exchequer (1979-1983), foreign secretary (1983-89), and deputy prime minister (1989-90).
• 1926 - Otto Graf Lambsdorff was born. German politician.
• 1927 - Kim Young-sam was born. President of South Korea.
• 1929 - Émile Loubet dies (b. 1838). 7th President of France.
• 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.
• 1933 - Jean Carnahan was born. U.S. Senator
• 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.
• 1937 - Erich Ludendorff dies (b. 1865). German general.
• 1941 - Igor Severyanin dies (b. 1887). Russian poet.
• 1941 - Japanese troops landed on Mindanao. (World War II).
• 1942 - 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta .
• 1942 - Bob Hayes was born (d. 2002). American football player.
• 1942 - Sílvio de Abreu was born. Brazilian novelist and actor.
• 1944 - Getúlio Vargas Foundation is created in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
• 1946 - Uri Geller was born. Israeli psychic known for his demonstrations of metal bending and telepathy.
• 1946 - Dick Wolf was born. American television series creator
• 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) .
• 1949 - Soumaïla Cissé was born. Malian politician
• 1952 - United States Air Force C-124 crashs and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87 .
• 1952 - Brigitte Bardot married Roger Vadim.
• 1952 - Jenny Agutter was born in Taunton, Somerset, SW England. English actress best known for her role in 'The Railway Children' (1970).
• 1952- A Assembleia Geral da ONU aprova por maioria a Convenção sobre os Direitos Políticos da Mulher.
• 1954 - 20 000 soldats français sont envoyés en Algérie.
• 1954 - Michael Badalucco was born. American actor.
• 1954 - James Hilton dies (b. 1900). American novelist; many of his works were filmed, notably 'Lost Horizon' (1933) and 'Goodbye Mr Chips' (1934).
• 1955 - Indépendance du Soudan .
• 1955 - Yugoslavia wins UN vote The United Nations General Assembly elects Yugoslavia to the hotly-contested temporary seat on the Security Council.
• 1956 - Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra.
• 1957 - Création de l'Agence européenne de l'énergie nucléaire (AEEN) .
• 1957 - Billy Bragg was born. English singer and songwriter
• 1957 - Mike Watt was born. American bassist
• 1957 - Joyce Hyser was born. American actress
• 1957 - Anna Vissi was born. Greek singer
• 1960 - National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
• 1960 - Nalo Hopkinson was born. Canadian writer.
• 1960 - Pedro Abrunhosa was born. Portuguese singer.
• 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.
• 1961 - Moss Hart dies (b. 1904). American author.
• 1961 - Earle Page dies (b. 1880). Eleventh Prime Minister of Australia
• 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.
• 1965 - Rich Gannon was born. American football player
• 1967 - 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam
• 1968 - John Steinbeck dies (b. 1902). American writer : Pulitzer Prize-winning novel The Grapes of Wrath (1939). Nobel Prize laureate in 1962.
• 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. Canadian actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Dead Zone)
• 1970 - Massimo Ellul was born. Maltese entrepreneur and philanthropist
• 1971 - Pakistani President Agha Mohammad Yahya Khan transferred power to Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
• 1973 - Luis Carrero Blanco, Prime Minister of Spain is assassinated in a car bomb attack in Madrid by ETA.
• 1973 - Bobby Darin dies (b. 1936). American singer.
• 1974 - André Jolivet dies (b. 1905). French composer.
• 1974 - Ethiopia was declared a socialist state under the leadership of Mengistu Haile Mariam.
• 1976 - Walter Fitzgerald dies at 80. Actor (Adv of Sadie, Fallen Idol).
• 1976 - Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns.
• 1976 - Richard J. Daley dies (b. 1902). Mayor of Chicago.
• 1978 - Njitap Geremi was born. Cameroon footballer
• 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 - Ashley Cole was born. English footballer
• 1982 - Arthur Rubinstein dies in Geneve (b. 1887). Polish-born pianist, who became a US citizen in 1946, thereafter making over 200 recordings (My young years)
• 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 - The Summit tunnel fire is the largest underground fire in history, as a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of petrol derails near the town of Todmorden in the Pennines
• 1984 - 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library.
• 1984 - Gonzalo Márquez dies (b. 1946). Venezuelan Major League Baseball player.
• 1987 - Dona Paz ferry sinks after crash with oil tanker Vector, 4.386 die.
• 1987 - Andrey Nikolaevich Kolmogorov dies. Russian mathematicien.
• 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.
• 1988 - The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
• 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.
• 1989 - Kurt Böhme dies (b. 1908). German bass.
• 1990 - Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns
• 1990 - JoJo was born. American singer
• 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.
• 1994 - Dean Rusk dies (b. 1909). United States Secretary of State.
• 1994 - Fernanda de Castro dies. Portuguese writer and poet.
• 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 - NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
• 1996 - Promulgação da Lei de Diretrizes e Bases da Educação Nacional (Brazil)
• 1996 - Carl Sagan dies (b. 1934). American astronomer and writer.
• 1997 - Denise Levertov dies (b. 1923).English-born poet
• 1997 - Juzo Itami dies (b. 1933). Japanese actor and director.
• 1998 - Irene Hervey dies (b. 1910). American actress.
• 1998 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin dies (b. 1916). British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine
• 1999 - Hank Snow dies (b. 1914). Canadian singer.
• 1999 - Vermont's Supreme Court rules that homosexual couples are entitled to same benefits and protections as married heterosexual couples
• 1999 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
• 2000 - Mirza Ghulam Hafiz dies (b. 1920). Indian statesman, politician, and philanthropist.
• 2001 - Foster Brooks dies (b. 1912). American actor and comedian.
• 2001 - Léopold Sédar Senghor dies at his home in Normandy aged (b. 1906). First President of Senegal and poet.
• 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.
• 2004 - Ronaldinho, Brazilian football player, is declared by FIFA The best world footballer of 2004
• 2005 - Ronaldinho repeats the nomination from FIFA of the Best World footballer (2005)
• Dia do Mecânico (Brazil)