Friday, December 20, 2013

December 20th in History



69 - Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.

217 - The papacy of Zephyrinus ends. Callixtus I is elected as the sixteenth pope, but is opposed by the theologian Hippolytus who accuses him of laxity and of being a Modalist, one who denies any distinction between the three persons of the Trinity.

1192 - Richard the Lion-Heart is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the Third crusade.

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.

1917 - Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, is founded.

1924 - Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison

1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.

1955 - Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

1977 - Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.

1987 - History's worst peacetime sea disaster, when the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people

1989 - United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega. This is also the first combat use of purpose-designed stealth aircraft.

1999 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.

2007 - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.

Famous Birthdays:

1537 - King John III of Sweden

1717 - Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, statesman and diplomat

1886 - Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, tennis player

1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia

1902 - Prince George, Duke of Kent

1922 - George Roy Hill, film director

1944 - Jean Fergusson, actress

1956 - President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz of Mauritania

1963 - HRH Infanta Elena of Spain, the Duchess of Lugo, elder daughter of His Majesty King Juan Carlos and Queen Sofía of Spain, fourth in the line to the Spanish throne.

1979 - Michael Rogers, cyclist

1982 - David Wright, baseball player

1983 - Jonah Hill, actor

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