Historical Events on December 20, Special Events on This Day

Important Events From This day in History December 20th. Find Out What happened 20th December This Day in History on your birthday. Also you can find some answers for the following questions;
Which major historical events happened on December 20?
What happened on December 20th in history?
What special day is December 20?
What happened in history on December 20th?

What Happened on December 20th This Day in History

Year Name
2019 The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.
2007 Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 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 in Brazil. Both will be recovered a few weeks later.
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.
1999 Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
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 of the 163 people on board.
1991 A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
1989 The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.
1987 In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
1985 Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
1984 The Summit Tunnel fire, one of the largest transportation tunnel fires in history, burns after a freight train carrying over one million liters of gasoline derails near the town of Todmorden, England, in the Pennines.
1984 Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 24 km (15 mi) southeast of Jonelle's home.[12][13] The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head."
1973 Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco.
1967 A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 249 kilometres per hour (155 mph) on their New York Division, also present-day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
1957 The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
1955 Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
1952 A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87 of the 115 people on board.
1951 The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
1948 Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.
1946 It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews.
1946 An earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan causes a tsunami which kills at least one thousand people and destroys 36,000 homes.
1942 World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.
1941 World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers", in Kunming, China.
1924 Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.
1917 Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.
1915 World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
1860 South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States with the South Carolina Declaration of Secession.
1832 HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.
1808 Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.
1803 The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
1334 Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII.
1192 Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.
69 Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian.
Famous People Born on December 20

Here is a random list who born on December 20. For full list please click on the link above.

Year Name
1927 Jim Simpson, American sportscaster (d. 2016)
1946 Uri Geller, Israeli-English magician and psychic
1888 Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (d. 1980)
1935 Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster
1948 Mitsuko Uchida, Japanese pianist
1942 Bob Hayes, American sprinter and football player (d. 2002)
1964 Mark Coleman, American mixed martial artist and wrestler
1955 Martin Schulz, German politician
1916 Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader and activist (d. 2010)
1970 Jörg Schmidt, German footballer
Famous People Deaths On December 20

Here is a list of some famous peope who died on December 20. For full list please click on the link above.

Date Name
1991 Simone Beck, French chef and author (b. 1904)
1968 John Steinbeck, American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
1812 Sacagawea, American explorer (b. 1788)
1921 Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist (b. 1852)
1971 Roy O. Disney, American banker and businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (b. 1893)
2006 Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
1993 W. Edwards Deming, American statistician, author, and academic (b. 1900)
1997 Denise Levertov, English-American poet and translator (b. 1923)
1982 Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and composer (b. 1887)
1723 Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist (b. 1652)