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Historical Events

20 Dec 1046
Synod of Sutri German King Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI
20 Dec 1046
Benedictus IX & Silvester III & names Bishop Siutger Pope Clemens II at the Council of Sutri
20 Dec 1448
Pope Nicholas V appoints Rudolf of Diepholt Bishop of Utrecht as cardinal
20 Dec 1585
English fleet & Robert Dudley Earl of Leicester reach Vlissingen
20 Dec 1600
Ottario Rinuccini and Giulio Caccinis opera Euridice published
20 Dec 1606
Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown Virginia
20 Dec 1606
The English colonial expedition to America consisting of the ships Discovery Godspeed and Susan Constant departs Blackwall and will later found Jamestown
20 Dec 1626
Holy Roman Emperor Ferdinand II and Prince of Transylvania Gabor Bethlen sign Peace of Pressburg (Bratislava)
20 Dec 1669
1st jury trial in Delaware Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging branding & slavery
20 Dec 1688
Prince William of Oranges troops arrive in London
20 Dec 1745
Bonnie Prince Charlies army reaches the river Esk
20 Dec 1790
1st successful US cotton mill to spin yarn in Pawtucket Rhode Island
20 Dec 1803
French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA for 27M
20 Dec 1820
Missouri imposes a 1 bachelor tax on unmarried men aged between 21 & 50
20 Dec 1830
Great Britain France Prussia Austria and Russia recognize Belgium
20 Dec 1860
South Carolina secedes from the Union (US Civil War)
20 Dec 1862
Confederate raid on Union supplies at Holly Springs Mississippi
20 Dec 1880
Battle at Bronkers Spruit Transvaal Farmers beat Britten
20 Dec 1880
NYs Broadway lit by electricity becomes known as Great White Way
20 Dec 1883
Intl cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls
20 Dec 1891
Strongman Louis Cyr withstands pull of 4 horses
20 Dec 1892
Pneumatic automobile tire patented Syracuse NY
20 Dec 1893
1st state anti-lynching statute approved in Georgia
20 Dec 1894
England beat Australia by 10 runs in the 1st six-day Test Cricket Australia needed 177 to win all out at 166 on 6th day
20 Dec 1900
Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft)
20 Dec 1906
Venezuela (under vice-pres Gomez) attacks Dutch fleet
20 Dec 1907
Explosion at Yolande Alabama coal mine kills 91
20 Dec 1912
J Hartley Manners Peg O My Heart premieres in NYC
20 Dec 1912
Paul Claudels LAnnonce Faite Marie premieres in Paris
20 Dec 1915
Final withdraw of all allied troops from Anzac Cove
20 Dec 1917
A second nationwide referendum on military conscription is rejected by the Australian public
20 Dec 1918
Eugene ONeills Moon of the Caribees premieres in NYC
20 Dec 1918
The Allies turn their attention to Bolshevik expansion in the East landing troops in Crimea and Latvia
20 Dec 1919
Canadian National Railways established (N Americas longest 50000 KM)
20 Dec 1919
US House of Representatives restricts immigration
20 Dec 1920
Bert Collins scores 104 on Test Cricket debut v England SCG
20 Dec 1921
AL votes to return to best-of-7 World Series while NL votes best-of-9 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts deciding vote for best-of-7
20 Dec 1922
14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR)
20 Dec 1922
Polish parliament selects Stanislaw Wojcieckowski as president
20 Dec 1926
Cards trade Rogers Hornsby to Giants for Frankie Frisch & Jimmy Ring
20 Dec 1926
Pope Pius XI convicts fascist pursuit in Italy
20 Dec 1926
Sidney Howards Silver Cord premieres in NYC
20 Dec 1928
1st international dogsled mail leaves Minot Maine for Montreal Quebec
20 Dec 1928
Ethel Barrymore Theater opens at 243 W 47th St NYC
20 Dec 1929
Heinie Wagner replaces Bill Carrigan as Red Sox manager
20 Dec 1929
Mount Davidson dedicated as a San Francisco city park
20 Dec 1930
Learie Constantine cricket 100 in 52 mins WI v Tas (10x4 1x6 1x5)
20 Dec 1932
Queensland all out 74 v Victoria Ironmonger (age 50) 7-13
20 Dec 1935
Pope Pius XI publishes encyclical Ad Catholici Sacerdotii
20 Dec 1937
Bill OReilly takes 9-41 for NSW against South Australia
20 Dec 1938
Boston Bruins rookie goalie Frankie Brimsek records his 3rd straight shutout with a 3-0 win over the New York Americans making it his incredible sixth shutout in his first 8 NHL games
20 Dec 1939
Radio Australia begins overseas shortwave service
20 Dec 1941
Free France under adm Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquelon
20 Dec 1941
World War II First battle of the American Volunteer Group better known as the Flying Tigers in Kunming China.
20 Dec 1943
Internationale is no longer USSR National Anthem
20 Dec 1944
Archbishop De Young & bishop Huibers condemn black market
20 Dec 1944
Battle of Bastogne Nazis surround 101st Airborne (NUTS)
20 Dec 1944
Bishop forbids membership of non Catholic unions
20 Dec 1944
Terence Rattigans O Mistress Mine premieres in London
20 Dec 1948
Second Chamber accept 2nd Police Action in Indonesia
20 Dec 1949
Maurice Ravel and John Crankos ballet Beauty & the Beast premieres
20 Dec 1951
Walter Zinns Experimental Breeder Reactor I the first nuclear reactor to produce electric power goes live at the Argonne National Laboratory USA
20 Dec 1952
KHQ TV channel 6 in Spokane WA (NBC) begins broadcasting
20 Dec 1953
KID (now KIDK) TV channel 3 in Idaho Falls ID (CBS) 1st broadcasting
20 Dec 1953
KWTV TV channel 9 in Oklahoma City OK (CBS) begins broadcasting
20 Dec 1955
Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales
20 Dec 1956
Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
20 Dec 1956
Montgomery Alabama removes race-based seat assignments on its buses
20 Dec 1959
Jasu Patel takes 9-69 India v Australia at Kanpur
20 Dec 1960
Auschwitz commandant Richard Bar arrested in German FR
20 Dec 1960
The National Liberation Front better known as the Viet Cong is officially formed in South Vietnam
20 Dec 1963
Berlin Wall opens for 1st time to West Berliners
20 Dec 1963
Massemba-Debate elected President of Congo-Brazzaville
20 Dec 1963
Trial against 21 camp guards of Auschwitz begins
20 Dec 1966
NBA awards Seattle Supersonics a franchise for 1967-68 season
20 Dec 1967
Ian Anderson & Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull
20 Dec 1968
The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo California.
20 Dec 1968
The Peoples Democracy (PD) announce that its members will undertake a protest march from Belfast to Derry beginning 1 January 1969
20 Dec 1969
Peter Paul & Marys Leaving on a Jet Plane reaches 1
20 Dec 1970
Edward Gierek succeeds Wladyslaw Gomulka as Polands communist party leader
20 Dec 1972
Five civilians (four Catholics one Protestant) killed in gun attack on the Top of the Hill Bar in Derry North Ireland
20 Dec 1973
AL pres Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees
20 Dec 1975
Pope Paul VI named J Willebrands archbishop of Utrecht
20 Dec 1976
Music Is opens at St James Theater NYC for 8 performances
20 Dec 1977
1st Space walk made by Soviet cosmonaut Georgy Grechko during Salyut 6 EO-1 mission
20 Dec 1977
RAF -terrorist Knut Folkerts sentenced to 20 years
20 Dec 1978
H. R. Haldeman Nixons White House Chief of Staff released from jail
20 Dec 1979
Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Behn Wilson scores with 408 remaining in regulation to earn a 1-1 tie with the Pittsburgh Penguins and equal NHL record for longest undefeated streak of 28 games go on to break record and extend to 35 games
20 Dec 1980
NBC broadcasts NY Jets 24-17 win over Dolphins without audio
20 Dec 1980
USSR formally announces death of Alexei Kosygin
20 Dec 1981
Harry Krieger and Tom Eyens musical Dreamgirls opens at Imperial Theater NYC for 1522 performances
20 Dec 1981
Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) & most turnovers (10)
20 Dec 1981
Winnipeg left wing Doug Smail sets an NHL record by scoring just 4 seconds into Jets 5-4 win over the St Louis Blues fastest goal from opening face-off to back of net in history later tied by Bryan Trottier and Alex Mogilny
20 Dec 1983
NY Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pitts Penguins
20 Dec 1984
33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in Yale library
20 Dec 1985
Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC
20 Dec 1985
Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)
20 Dec 1986
White teenagers beat blacks in New York Citys Howard Beach
20 Dec 1987
76th Davis Cup Sweden beats India in Gothenburg (5-0)
20 Dec 1987
Dona Paz ferry sinks after crash with oil tanker Vector in Philippine waters 4386 die in worlds deadliest peacetime maritime disaster
20 Dec 1987
Nancy Lopez and Miller Barber wins LPGA Mazda Golf Championship
20 Dec 1988
Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrods department store London
20 Dec 1988
Premier Ranasinghe Premadasa elected President of Sri Lanka
20 Dec 1989
Premier Lubbers sees CDA-party leader Elco Brinkman as successor
20 Dec 1990
Pentagon warns Saddam that US air power is ready to attack on 115
20 Dec 1990
Robert F X Sillerman purchases WAFL NY-NJ Knights for 11 million
20 Dec 1990
Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze resigns
20 Dec 1990
The worlds first website and server go live at CERN
20 Dec 1991
NHL grants permanent membership to Tampa Lightning & Ottawa Senators
20 Dec 1991
Paul Keating installed as premier of Australia
20 Dec 1991
A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
20 Dec 1992
Northwest & KLM introduce a new joint logo Worldwide Reliability
20 Dec 1994
Ballon dOr FC Barcelonas Bulgarian forward Hristo Stoichkov is named Europes best football player ahead of Juventus striker Roberto Baggio and Milan defender Paolo Maldini
20 Dec 1995
Paul Roebson opens at Longacre Theater NYC for 14 performances
20 Dec 1995
American Flight 965 crashes in Columbia 159 die 5 survive
20 Dec 2001
Argentine economic crisis President of Argentina Fernando de la Ra is forced out of office.
20 Dec 2001
90th Davis Cup France beats Australia in Melbourne (3-2)
20 Dec 2002
US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
20 Dec 2005
US District Court Judge John E. Jones III rules against mandating the teaching of intelligent design in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
20 Dec 2005
The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated
20 Dec 2005
New York Citys Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike over pension and wage increases shutting down all subway and bus services for three days
20 Dec 2005
The Breakthrough 7th studio album by Mary J. Bilge is released
20 Dec 2006
A judge rules against the death penalty in the case of Naveed Haq a man convicted in the shooting death and injuries at the Jewish Federation in Seattle.
20 Dec 2012
Apple is denied a patent for mobile pinch-to-zoom gestures by the US patent authorities
20 Dec 2012
Intercontinental Exchange purchases the New York Stock Exchange the largest in the world for 8 billion
20 Dec 2014
Ismaaiyl Abdullah Brinsley kills 2 NYPD officers in Brooklyn New York supposedly in revenge for the killing of Eric Garner before killing himself
20 Dec 2015
Landslide from construction waste in Shenzhen China leaves 74 dead or missing and buries 30 buildings
20 Dec 2017
US House and Senate pass 1.5 trillion tax and jobs bill the biggest tax overhaul for decades
20 Dec 2017
European Commission triggers first step of its article 7 procedure issuing Poland with formal warning of risk to voting rights
20 Dec 1046
Pope Gregory VI abdicates at the Council of Sutri ending a conflict between himself Benedict IX and Sylvester III Clement II becomes the new Pope
20 Dec 1925
National Football League Championship Chicago Cardinals (11-2-1) win controversial first past the post title Pottsville Maroons suspended after playing unsanctioned game
20 Dec 1981
Winnipeg left wing Doug Smail sets NHL record by scoring just 4 seconds into Jets 5-4 win over the St Louis Blues fastest goal from opening face-off to back of net in history later tied by Bryan Trottier and Alex Mogilny
20 Dec 2018
New figures show average US male weighs 198 pounds and stands 5 feet 9 inches women 171 pounds and 5 feet 4 inches
20 Dec 1606
The English colonial expedition to America consisting of the ships Discovery Godspeed and Susan Constant departs Blackwall London to found Jamestown Virginia
20 Dec 1860
South Carolina declared an independent commonwealth and secedes from the Union (US Civil War)
20 Dec 1905
Philadelphia Jack OBrien wins the World Light Heavyweight boxing title after defending champion Bob Fitzsimmons of England retires in round 13 of 20 in San Francisco
20 Dec 2019
United States Space Force founded an armed forces branch dedicated to space warfare
20 Dec 1932
50 year old Australian cricket Test spinner Bert Ironmonger captures 7-13 as Queensland dismissed for 74 Victoria wins by an innings & 139 runs in Melbourne
20 Dec 1937
Australian cricket spin bowler Bill OReilly takes career best 9-41 for NSW in a Sheffield Shield match against South Australia at Adelaide Oval
20 Dec 1959
Indian cricket spin bowler Jasubhai Patel takes 9-69 in Australias 1st innings 219 in 2nd Test at Kanpur
20 Dec 1995
American Flight 965 crashes into a mountain in Buga Colombia 159 die 5 survive
20 Dec 2019
Landmark climate justice case as Dutch Supreme Court upholds 2013 decision brought by Urgenda Foundation against Dutch government for not reducing carbon dioxide emissions
20 Dec 2019
Little Shell Tribe of Chippewa Indians of Montana granted US federal recognition providing the right to certain legal and government benefits
20 Dec 2020
European countries begin closing their borders to the UK after news of a faster-spreading variant of COVID-19 across London and the south-east
20 Dec 1803
French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA purchased for 15M
20 Dec 1930
Cricketer Learie Constantine scores 100 runs in 52 mins West Indies v Tasmania (10x4 1x6 1x5)
20 Dec 1968
Learie Constantine becomes UKs first person of African descent to be named a life peer (to sit in the House of Lords) in the Crowns New Years Honours list [1]
20 Dec 1968
The Zodiac Killer murders teenagers Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday while on their first date together in Vallejo California [1]
20 Dec 1979
Garry Sherman and Peter Udells musical Comin Uptown based on Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol and starring Gregory Hines opens at Winter Garden Theater NYC runs for 45 performances
20 Dec 1981
Harry Krieger and Tom Eyens musical Dreamgirls opens at Imperial Theater NYC runs for 1522 performances wins 6 Tony 5 Drama Desk and 2 Grammy Awards
20 Dec 1995
Revival of Phillip Hayes Deans drama Paul Robeson opens at Longacre Theater NYC runs for 14 performances
20 Dec 1996
First part of the new building for the National Library of France inaugurated in Paris designed by Dominique Perrault [1]
20 Dec 2007
Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque completed (begun 1994) becoming the largest mosque in Abu Dhabi
20 Dec 2021
First Hong Kong legislative elections with only patriot candidates allowed to stand has low turnout of 30%
20 Dec 1860
South Carolina General Assembly votes 169-0 to secede from the United States declaring itself an independent commonwealth. Is quickly followed by other Southern states triggering the American Civil War.
20 Dec 1883
International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls between Canada and US
20 Dec 1928
Ethel Barrymore Theatre opens at 243 W 47th St NYC
20 Dec 1943
Internationale is no longer used as USSR National Anthem
20 Dec 1967
Ian Anderson and Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull in Blackpool England
20 Dec 1973
Dutch Antillean government of Juancho Evertsz forms
20 Dec 1976
Richard Adler and Will Holts musical Music Is based on William Shakespeares Twelfth Night opens at St James Theater NYC runs for 8 performances
20 Dec 1991
Missouri court sentences Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their teenaged daughter Palestina in St. Louis he dies of diabetes complications before execution she dies of natural causes while in prison
20 Dec 1991
NHL approves expansion teams Tampa Lightning & Ottawa Senators
20 Dec 2022
6.4-magnitude earthquake near Eureka northern California kills at least two people [1]
20 Dec 1922
Draft declaration on creating the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) crafted by representatives from the Russian SFSR the Ukrainian SSR Byelorussian SSR and the Transcaucasian SFSR
20 Dec 1930
Cricketer Learie Constantine scores 100 runs in 52 mins West Indies v Tasmania (10x4 1x6 1x5) [1]
20 Dec 1932
50-year-old Australian cricket Test spinner Bert Ironmonger captures 7-13 as Queensland dismissed for 74 Victoria wins by an innings & 139 runs in Melbourne
20 Dec 2022
Multinational company 3M says it will stop making and using forever chemicals linked to health problems such as cancer [1]
20 Dec 2022
The ruling Taliban suspend university education for female students in Afghanistan part of a wider crackdown on womens rights in the country [1]
20 Dec 2023
Gaza Health Authority says the death toll has reached nearly 20000 from the war with Israel - higher than other Arab conflict with Israel in more than 40 years [1]
20 Dec 1803
French flag lowered in New Orleans to signify the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to the United States purchased for 15 million
20 Dec 1820
Missouri imposes a 1 bachelor tax on unmarried men aged 21 to 50
20 Dec 1860
South Carolina General Assembly votes 169-0 to secede from the United States declaring itself an independent commonwealth and is quickly followed by other Southern states triggering the American Civil War
20 Dec 1862
Holly Springs Raid Earl Van Dorn leads Confederate cavalry against a Union supply depot in Mississippi
20 Dec 1894
England beat Australia by 10 runs in the first six-day cricket Test Australia needed 177 to win but were all out for 166
20 Dec 1918
Eugene ONeills play Moon of the Caribees premieres in NYC
20 Dec 1920
Bert Collins scores 104 on Test cricket debut against England at the SCG
20 Dec 1920
Bob Hope becomes an American citizen at age 17 after emigrating from England at four years old
20 Dec 1926
St. Louis Cardinals trade future Baseball Hall of Fame infielder Rogers Hornsby to NY Giants for Frankie Frisch & Jimmy Ring concerns over Hornsbys gambling
20 Dec 1935
The crystallization of the first virus the tobacco mosaic virus (TMV) by Wendell Stanley is announced in the journal Science for which he is awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry on December 10 1946
20 Dec 1944
Terence Rattigans comedic play O Mistress Mine premieres in London
20 Dec 1946
Darius Milhauds Symphony No. 2 premieres with the Boston Symphony Orchestra conducted by the composer the work is commissioned as a memorial to the wife of the groups music director Serge Koussevitzky
20 Dec 1953
WCSH TV Channel 6 in Portland Maine (NBC) begins broadcasting
20 Dec 1973
AL president Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees
20 Dec 1975
Pope Paul VI names Johannes Willebrands Archbishop of Utrecht
20 Dec 1983
Guy Lafleur Montreal Canadiens becomes 10th NHLer to score 500 goals
20 Dec 1985
Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points)
20 Dec 1986
White teenagers beat Black individuals in New York Citys Howard Beach
20 Dec 2017
Lady Gaga signs Las Vegas residency deal for 75m at MGM Park Theatre
20 Dec 2024
A 50-year old psychiatrist from Saudi Arabia drives his car through an outdoor Christmas market in Magdeburg Germany killing at least five people