December 20 facts for kids

December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar; 11 days remain until the end of the year. December 20th is a day filled with many interesting historical events, from ancient Roman times to modern-day space exploration. Throughout history, this date has seen important political changes, scientific breakthroughs, and cultural milestones. Let's explore some of the key moments that have happened on this day.

Historic Events on December 20

Ancient Times to the 1500s

• AD 69 – A Roman general named Antonius Primus marched into Rome. He did this to help Vespasian become the new Emperor.
• 1192 – On his way home from the Third Crusade, Richard I of England was captured and put in prison by Leopold V of Austria.
• 1334 – A monk named Jacques Fournier was chosen to become Pope Benedict XII.

Key Moments: 1600s to 1900s

• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase was officially completed in New Orleans. This huge land deal greatly expanded the United States.
• 1808 – The Peninsular War saw the start of the Second siege of Zaragoza in Spain.
• 1832 – A British ship, HMS Clio, arrived at Port Egmont. Its mission was to take control of the Falkland Islands for Britain.
• 1848 – Louis Napoleon Bonaparte became the first (and only) president of the French Second Republic. He won by a lot of votes in the French presidential election.
• 1860 – South Carolina became the first state to try and leave the United States. This was called the South Carolina Declaration of Secession.

Modern History: 1900s to Today

• 1915 – During World War I, the last Australian soldiers left Gallipoli.
• 1917 – The Cheka, which was the first secret police force of the Soviet Union, was created.
• 1940 – The very first comic book featuring the superhero Captain America, called Captain America Comics #1, was published.
• 1941 – During World War II, the "Flying Tigers" (American Volunteer Group) had their first battle in China.
• 1942 – In World War II, Japanese planes bombed Calcutta, India.
• 1946 – The classic movie It's a Wonderful Life first showed in New York.
• 1946 – A powerful earthquake in Japan caused a tsunami. It killed at least 1,000 people and destroyed many homes.
• 1948 – The Dutch military captured Yogyakarta, which was the temporary capital of Indonesia during the Indonesian National Revolution.
• 1951 – The EBR-1 in Idaho became the first nuclear power plant to make electricity. It powered just four light bulbs!
• 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 plane crashed in Washington, sadly killing 87 people.
• 1955 – Cardiff was officially named the capital city of Wales in the United Kingdom.
• 1957 – The first version of the Boeing 707 airplane took its first flight.
• 1960 – The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, also known as the Viet Cong, was officially formed.
• 1970 – The Koza riot happened in Okinawa, Japan. About 5,000 Okinawans protested against the U.S. occupation after incidents involving American service members.
• 1977 – China's two biggest newspapers published the full "Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme" for the first time.
• 1984 – The Summit Tunnel fire occurred in England. A freight train carrying a lot of gasoline derailed, causing one of the biggest tunnel fires in history.
• 1985 – Pope John Paul II announced the start of World Youth Day.
• 1987 – The passenger ferry Doña Paz sank after hitting an oil tanker in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines. This was a terrible disaster, with an estimated 4,000 people losing their lives.
• 1989 – The United States invasion of Panama led to the removal of Manuel Noriega from power.
• 1995 – NATO began its peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
• 1995 – American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashed into a mountain in Colombia, killing 159 people.
• 1999 – Macau was handed over to China by Portugal.
• 2004 – A large bank robbery happened at the Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland. Thieves stole £26.5 million.
• 2007 – Elizabeth II became the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, passing Queen Victoria.
• 2007 – Two famous paintings, Portrait of Suzanne Bloch by Pablo Picasso and O Lavrador de Café by Cândido Portinari, were stolen from a museum in Brazil. They were found a few weeks later.
• 2019 – The United States Space Force was created. It was the first new branch of the U.S. Armed Forces since 1947.

Famous Birthdays on December 20

Born Before the 1900s

• 1494 – Oronce Finé, a French mathematician and mapmaker.
• 1537 – John III, who became king of Sweden.
• 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, a famous Dutch painter.
• 1740 – Arthur Lee, an American doctor and diplomat.
• 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, an English writer and educator, known for Flatland.
• 1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, a French politician and academic who won the Nobel Peace Prize.
• 1868 – Harvey Samuel Firestone, an American businessman who started the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company.
• 1873 – Mehmet Akif Ersoy, a Turkish poet and politician who wrote the Turkish national anthem.
• 1881 – Branch Rickey, an American baseball player and manager.
• 1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, a Czech chemist who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry.
• 1894 – Robert Menzies, who became the 12th Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1898 – Irene Dunne, a popular American actress and singer.

Born in the 1900s and 2000s

• 1901 – Robert J. Van de Graaff, an American physicist who invented the Van de Graaff generator.
• 1902 – Prince George, Duke of Kent, a member of the British Royal Family.
• 1917 – David Bohm, an American-English physicist and philosopher.
• 1921 – George Roy Hill, an American director and producer, known for movies like The Sting.
• 1926 – Geoffrey Howe, a Welsh lawyer and politician who was the Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom.
• 1927 – Kim Young-sam, who became the 7th President of South Korea.
• 1932 – John Hillerman, an American actor.
• 1939 – Kathryn Joosten, an American actress.
• 1942 – Bob Hayes, an American sprinter and football player.
• 1945 – Peter Criss, an American singer and drummer, famous for being in the band Kiss.
• 1946 – Uri Geller, an Israeli-English magician.
• 1948 – Alan Parsons, an English musician and producer.
• 1952 – Jenny Agutter, an English actress.
• 1954 – Sandra Cisneros, an American author and poet.
• 1957 – Billy Bragg, an English singer-songwriter.
• 1959 – Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, who became the 12th Prime Minister of Poland.
• 1961 – Freddie Spencer, an American motorcycle racer.
• 1965 – Rich Gannon, an American football player.
• 1968 – Joe Cornish, an English actor, director, and screenwriter.
• 1969 – Alain de Botton, a Swiss-English philosopher and author.
• 1970 – Nicole de Boer, a Canadian actress.
• 1980 – Ashley Cole, a famous English footballer.
• 1983 – Jonah Hill, an American actor and producer.
• 1990 – JoJo, an American singer and actress.
• 1998 – Kylian Mbappé, a very well-known French footballer.

Notable Deaths on December 20

Departed Before the 1900s

• 69 – Titus Flavius Sabinus, a Roman politician and soldier.
• 217 – Pope Zephyrinus, a pope of the Catholic Church.
• 1295 – Margaret of Provence, a French queen.
• 1552 – Katharina von Bora, the wife of Martin Luther.
• 1590 – Ambroise Paré, a famous French physician and surgeon.
• 1722 – Kangxi, a powerful emperor of the Qing Dynasty in China.
• 1765 – Louis, the heir to the French throne.
• 1812 – Sacagawea, a Native American explorer who helped the Lewis and Clark Expedition.
• 1862 – Robert Knox, a Scottish surgeon and zoologist.

Departed in the 1900s and 2000s

• 1915 – Upendrakishore Ray, an Indian painter and composer.
• 1921 – Julius Richard Petri, a German microbiologist who invented the Petri dish.
• 1929 – Émile Loubet, who was the 8th President of France.
• 1937 – Erich Ludendorff, a German general.
• 1939 – Hans Langsdorff, a German captain.
• 1954 – James Hilton, an English-American author who wrote Lost Horizon.
• 1961 – Moss Hart, an American director and playwright.
• 1968 – John Steinbeck, a famous American novelist and short story writer who won the Nobel Prize in Literature.
• 1971 – Roy O. Disney, an American businessman who co-founded The Walt Disney Company with his brother Walt.
• 1973 – Bobby Darin, an American singer-songwriter and actor.
• 1976 – Richard J. Daley, a long-serving Mayor of Chicago.
• 1982 – Arthur Rubinstein, a world-famous Polish-American pianist.
• 1984 – Stanley Milgram, an American psychologist known for his obedience experiments.
• 1993 – W. Edwards Deming, an American statistician and author.
• 1994 – Dean Rusk, who was the 54th United States Secretary of State.
• 1996 – Carl Sagan, a well-known American astronomer and cosmologist.
• 1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, an English physiologist who won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
• 2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, the first President of Senegal.
• 2009 – Brittany Murphy, an American actress and singer.
• 2022 – Franco Harris, a famous American football player.

Holidays and Celebrations

• Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)
• Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
• Christian feast day:
  • Dominic of Silos
  • O Clavis
  • Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
  • Katharina von Bora (Lutheran)
  • December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics)
• Earliest date for Winter solstice's eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances:
  • Yaldā (Iran)
• International Human Solidarity Day (International)
• Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)

See also

In Spanish: 20 de diciembre para niños