From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 69 – Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of emperor.
• 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.
• 1522 – Suleiman the Magnificent accepts the surrender of the surviving Knights of Rhodes, who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually settle on Malta and become known as the Knights of Malta.
• 1606 – The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
• 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
• 1835 – First signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad, Texas.
• 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.
• 1915 – World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
• 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police, is founded.
• 1924 – Hitler: was released from Landsberg Prison
• 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
• 1942 – World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
• 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
• 1952 – United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
• 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
• 1960 – National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
• 1968 – The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
• 1973 – The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
• 1977 – Djibouti and Vietnam join the United Nations.
• 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.
• 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 (1,749 official).
• 1988 – The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed in Vienna.
• 1989 – United States invasion of Panama: The United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
• 1991 – A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
• 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 160.
• 1995 – The Democratic Social Movement is founded in Greece.
• 1996 – NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
• 1999 – Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
• 2002 – US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
• 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.
• 2005 – The first same sex civil partnerships in Scotland are celebrated.
• 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.
• 2007 – 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.
• 2007 – The painting Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, is stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with O Lavrador de Café, by the major Brazilian modernist painter Candido Portinari.

Births

• 1494 – Oronce Finé, French mathematician (d. 1555)
• 1537 – King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
• 1566 – Edward Wightman, English Baptist preacher (d. 1612)
• 1579 – (baptized) John Fletcher, English playwright (d. 1625)
• 1626 – Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (d. 1692)
• 1629 – Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)
• 1717 – Charles Gravier, comte de Vergennes, French statesman and diplomat (d. 1787)
• 1740 – Arthur Lee, American diplomat (d. 1792)
• 1786 – Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
• 1792 – Nicolas Charlet, French painter (d. 1845)
• 1833 – Samuel Mudd, American physician (d. 1883)
• 1838 – Edwin Abbott Abbott, English schoolmaster, theologian, and author (d. 1926)
• 1841 – Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)
• 1860 – Dan Leno, English entertainer (d. 1904)
• 1861 – Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926)
• 1865 – Elsie De Wolfe, American socialite and interior decorator (d. 1950)
• 1868 – Harvey Firestone, American automobile pioneer (d. 1938)
• 1873 – Kwan-Ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian (d. 1948)
• 1881 – Branch Rickey, baseball executive (d. 1965)
• 1886 – Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (d. 1974)
• 1888 – Yitzhak Baer, German-born Israeli historian (d. 1980)
• 1888 – Fred Merkle, American baseball figure (d. 1958)
• 1890 – Yvonne Arnaud, French-born actress (d. 1958)
• 1890 – Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
• 1894 – Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
• 1898 – Irene Dunne, American actress (d. 1990)
• 1901 – Robert Van de Graaff, American physicist and inventor (d. 1967)
• 1902 – Sidney Hook, American philosopher (d. 1989)
• 1902 – George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
• 1904 – Spud Davis, baseball player (d. 1984)
• 1905 – Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricket player (d. 1992)
• 1907 – Paul Francis Webster, songwriter (d. 1984)
• 1908 – Dennis Morgan, American actor (d. 1994)
• 1909 – Vakkom Majeed, Indian politician (d. 2000)
• 1911 – Hortense Calisher, American author (d. 2009)
• 1914 – Harry F. Byrd Jr, American politician
• 1916 – Michel Chartrand, Quebec union leader
• 1917 – David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
• 1918 – Jean Marchand, French Canadian trade unionist and politician (d. 1988)
• 1918 – Audrey Totter, American actress
• 1922 – George Roy Hill, American film director (d. 2002)
• 1922 – Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter
• 1924 – Charlie Callas, American comedian
• 1924 – Judy LaMarsh, Canadian politician and broadcaster (d. 1980)
• 1925 – Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007)
• 1925 – Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia
• 1926 – Sir Geoffrey Howe, British politician
• 1926 – Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician
• 1927 – Kim Young-sam, President of South Korea
• 1931 – Mala Powers, American film actress (d. 2007)
• 1931 – Terry Sanders, American filmmaker
• 1932 – John Hillerman, American actor (Magnum, P.I.)
• 1933 – Jean Carnahan, U.S. Senator
• 1933 – Rik van Looy, Belgian cyclist
• 1935 – Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricket player
• 1938 – John Harbison, American composer
• 1940 – Pat Chapman, English Author, Founder The Curry Club
• 1941 – Tommy Cole, American makeup artist, actor and singer
• 1942 – Rana Bhagwandas, Former Pakistani Chief Justice
• 1942 – Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist
• 1944 – Bobby Colomby, American musician (Blood, Sweat & Tears)
• 1944 – Jean Fergusson, English actress
• 1945 – Peter Criss, American drummer and singer (Kiss)
• 1946 – Lloyd Mumphord, NFL football player
• 1946 – John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1946 – Sonny Perdue, American politician, governor of Georgia
• 1946 – Dick Wolf, American television series creator
• 1946 – Lesley Judd, English TV presenter and dancer
• 1947 – Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer
• 1948 – Alan Parsons, British music producer and artist
• 1948 – Stevie Wright, English-born Australian musician and songwriter
• 1949 – Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician
• 1949 – Cecil Cooper, American baseball player
• 1950 – Arturo Marquez, Mexican composer
• 1951 – Gilbert Montagné, French musician
• 1951 – Peter May, Scottish novelist and scriptwriter
• 1952 – Jenny Agutter, English actress
• 1952 – Sky Gilbert, Canadian writer
• 1954 – Michael Badalucco, American actor
• 1954 – Sandra Cisneros, American writer
• 1955 – David Breashears, American mountaineer
• 1955 – Ed Kuepper, German-born Australian musician (The Saints, Laughing Clowns)
• 1955 – Rory Markas, American sportscaster (d. 2010)
• 1956 – Blanche Baker, American actress
• 1956 – Junji Hirata, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1957 – Billy Bragg, English singer and songwriter
• 1957 – Mike Watt, American bassist
• 1957 – Stephen Bicknell, British organ builder and scholar (d. 2007)
• 1957 – Joyce Hyser, American actress
• 1957 – Anna Vissi, Greek-Cypriot singer
• 1958 – Steve Sailer, American political commentator
• 1959 – Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Polish politician
• 1959 – Trent Tucker, American basketball player
• 1960 – Nalo Hopkinson, Canadian writer
• 1960 – Kim Ki-duk, Korean filmmaker
• 1961 – Mohammad Fouad, Arab singer and actor
• 1961 – Mike Keneally, American musician
• 1963 – Infanta Elena of Spain
• 1963 – Joel Gretsch, American actor
• 1964 – Mark Coleman, American Mixed Martial Artist, UFC Hall of Famer
• 1965 – Robert Cavanah, Scottish actor
• 1965 – Jim Carr (US), Digital Strategist
• 1965 – Rich Gannon, American football player
• 1966 – Matt Neal , British Race Driver
• 1966 – Chris Robinson, American singer (Black Crowes)
• 1966 – Myrra Malmberg, Swedish singer
• 1968 – Karl Wendlinger, Austrian racing driver
• 1968 – Joe Cornish, British comedian
• 1969 – Bobby Phills, American basketball player (d. 2000)
• 1970 – Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
• 1970 – Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer
• 1971 – Roger J. Beaujard, American musician
• 1972 – Anders Odden, Norwegian musician
• 1973 – Cory Stillman, National Hockey League forward
• 1974 – Die, Japanese musician (Dir en grey)
• 1975 – Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer
• 1975 – Jaydy Michel, Mexican model
• 1976 – Jang Hyuk, Korean actor
• 1976 – Aubrey Huff, American baseball player
• 1976 – Adam Powell, Neopets creator
• 1976 – Ramon Stoppelenburg, world traveler and Dutch author
• 1977 – Saukrates, Canadian rapper
• 1978 – Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer
• 1978 – Andrei Markov, Russian ice hockey player
• 1978 – Tony Moore (artist), American comic book artist
• 1979 – David DeJesus, American baseball player
• 1979 – Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
• 1980 – Ashley Cole, English footballer
• 1980 – Fitz Hall, English footballer
• 1980 – Tony, French-born Portuguese footballer
• 1981 – Roy Williams, American football player
• 1981 – James Shields, American baseball player
• 1981 – Royal Ivey, American basketball player
• 1982 – David Cook, American singer, winner of American Idol.
• 1982 – David Wright, American baseball player
• 1982 – David Tavaré, Spanish singer
• 1982 – Keny Arkana, French rapper & singer
• 1982 – Mohammed Asif, Pakistani cricket player
• 1982 – Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer
• 1983 – Jonah Hill, American actor
• 1983 – Lucy Pinder, British model
• 1983 – Darren Sammy, St. Lucian West Indies cricketer
• 1983 – Adrián Varela, Mexican singer
• 1986 – Anoop Desai, American singer and former American Idol contestant
• 1987 – Tariel Zintiridis, Greek judoka
• 1990 – JoJo, American singer
• 1991 – Hunter Gomez, American actor

Deaths

• 217 – Pope Zephyrinus
• 860 – King Ethelbald of Wessex (b. 834)
• 910 – Alfonso III of Leon (b. 848)
• 1022 – Elvira Mendes, wife of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
• 1355 – Stefan Dušan, Serb king and tsar (b. 1308)
• 1494 – Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet (b. 1434)
• 1524 – Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician (b. 1460)
• 1539 – Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (b. 1506)
• 1590 – Ambroise Paré, French physician (b. 1510)
• 1722 – Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654)
• 1723 – Augustus Quirinus Rivinus (b. 1652)
• 1740 – Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, English military officer and statesman (b. 1675)
• 1768 – Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni, Italian poet (b. 1692)
• 1783 – Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (b. 1729)
• 1786 – Hannah Ocuish, Youngest person ever executed in the U.S. (b. 1774)
• 1812 – Sacagawea, American Shoshone explorer (b. 1788)
• 1856 – Francesco Bentivegna, Italian revolutionary (b. 1820)
• 1862 – Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon, anatomist and zoologist (b. 1791)
• 1915 – Upendrakishore Ray, Indian writer, painter and composer (b. 1863)
• 1917 – Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-French cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1921 – Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (b. 1850)
• 1929 – Émile Loubet, French statesman (b. 1838)
• 1935 – Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier (b. 1882)
• 1937 – Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
• 1938 – Annie Armstrong, American missionary leader (b. 1850)
• 1941 – Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
• 1954 – James Hilton, British author (b. 1900)
• 1956 – Ramon Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist (b. 1906)
• 1961 – Moss Hart, American dramatist (b. 1904)
• 1961 – Earle Page, Australian politician (b. 1880)
• 1968 – John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1971 – Roy O. Disney, American entertainment industry executive (b. 1893)
• 1973 – Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish statesman (b. 1903)
• 1973 – Bobby Darin, American singer (b. 1936)
• 1974 – André Jolivet, French composer (b. 1905)
• 1976 – Richard J. Daley, American politician (b. 1902)
• 1981 – Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (b. 1899)
• 1982 – Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-born American pianist (b. 1887)
• 1984 – Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan baseball player (b. 1946)
• 1986 – Joe DeSa, American baseball player (b. 1959)
• 1988 – Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian broadcast television executive (b. 1908)
• 1989 – Kurt Böhme, German bass (b. 1908)
• 1991 – Simone Beck, French chef (b. 1904)
• 1991 – Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (b. 1942)
• 1994 – Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
• 1996 – Carl Sagan, American astronomer and writer (b. 1934)
• 1997 – Denise Levertov, English-born American poet (b. 1923)
• 1997 – Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director (b. 1933)
• 1997 – Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)
• 1998 – Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1910)
• 1998 – Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1916)
• 1998 – Chester P. Lyons, Canadian naturalist and author (b. 1915)
• 1999 – Hank Snow, Canadian singer (b. 1914)
• 1999 – Riccardo Freda, Italian film director (b. 1909)
• 2000 – Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladeshi statesman and philanthropist (b. 1920)
• 2001 – Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (b. 1912)
• 2001 – Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese politician (b. 1906)
• 2002 – Bernard King, Australian chef and television personality (b. 1934)
• 2005 – Maniam Moorthy, Malaysian climber
• 2006 – Shi Yuejun, Chinese serial killer (b. 1970)
• 2006 – Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (b. 1929)
• 2006 – Piergiorgio Welby, Italian poet and activist (b.1945)
• 2007 – Nataline Sarkisyan, American medical patient (b. 1990)
• 2009 – Jack Hixon, English football talent scout (b. 1921)
• 2009 – Brittany Murphy, American actress (b. 1977)
• 2009 – Arnold Stang, American comic actor (b. 1918)
• 2009 – Mairoon Ali, Trinidadian comedienne and actress (b. 1954)

Holidays and observances

• Macau – Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day
• R.C. Saints – Saint Dominic of Silos, O Clavis, Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne
• Day of the Dinosaurs

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day
• On This Day in Canada

From Wikiquote

Quotes of the day from previous years:

2004

The dark night of the soul comes just before revelation. When everything is lost, and all seems darkness, then comes the new life and all that is needed. ~ Joseph Campbell

• selected by Kalki

2005

For most of human history we have searched for our place in the cosmos. Who are we? What are we? We find that we inhabit an insignificant planet of a hum-drum star lost in a galaxy tucked away in some forgotten corner of a universe in which there are far more galaxies than people. We make our world significant by the courage of our questions, and by the depth of our answers. ~ Carl Sagan (died 20 December 1996)

• proposed by UDScott

2006

Learn this lesson, that to be self-contented is to be vile and ignorant, and that to aspire is better than to be blindly and impotently happy. ~ Edwin Abbott Abbott (Born 20 December 1838)

• proposed by Kalki

2007

This I believe: that the free, exploring mind of the individual human is the most valuable thing in the world. And this I would fight for: the freedom of the mind to take any direction it wishes, undirected. And this I must fight against: any religion, or government which limits or destroys the individual. This is what I am and what I am about. I can understand why a system built on a pattern must try to destroy the free mind, for it is the one thing which can by inspection destroy such a system. Surely I can understand this, and I hate it and I will fight against it to preserve the one thing that separates us from the uncreative beasts. If the glory can be killed, we are lost. ~ John Steinbeck

• proposed by Kalki

2008

I have come to believe that a great teacher is a great artist and that there are as few as there are any other great artists. It might even be the greatest of the arts since the medium is the human mind and spirit. ~ John Steinbeck

• proposed by UDScott

2009 

Rank or add further suggestions…

Ranking system:

4 : Excellent - should definitely be used.

3 : Very Good - strong desire to see it used.

2 : Good - some desire to see it used.

1 : Acceptable - but with no particular desire to see it used.

0 : Not acceptable - not appropriate for use as a quote of the day.

Suggestions

Man is his own star, and the soul that can
Render an honest and a perfect man
Commands all light, all influence, all fate.
Nothing to him falls early, or too late.
Our acts our angels are, or good or ill,
Our fatal shadows that walk by us still.
~ John Fletcher (baptized December 20, 1579)

• 3 InvisibleSun 12:59, 17 December 2006 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 19:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 4 Kalki (talk · contributions) 02:47, 13 December 2009 (UTC) * 3 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 4 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Ningauble 23:07, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

There is no jesting with edge tools. ~ John Fletcher

• 3 Kalki 23:39, 19 December 2006 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 19:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC). The connection with John Fletcher (and hence December 20) is rather loose, since he was only using a long-established proverb. The Oxford Dictionary of English Proverbs records it from 1510.

You call me a Circle; but in reality I am not a Circle, but an infinite number of Circles... For even a Sphere — which is my proper name in my own country — if he manifest himself at all to an inhabitant of Flatland — must needs manifest himself as a Circle. ~ Edwin Abbott Abbott (Born 20 December 1838)

• 3 Kalki 23:39, 19 December 2006 (UTC) with a very strong lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 19:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

I looked, and, behold, a new world! There stood before me, visibly incorporate, all that I had before inferred, conjectured, dreamed, of perfect Circular beauty. What seemed the centre of the Stranger's form lay open to my view: yet I could see no heart, nor lungs, nor arteries, only a beautiful harmonious Something — for which I had no words; but you, my Readers in Spaceland, would call it the surface of the Sphere. ~ Edwin Abbott Abbott

• 3 Kalki 23:39, 19 December 2006 (UTC)
• 1 Zarbon 19:48, 26 April 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

If I am right in saying that thought is the ultimate origin or source, it follows that if we don't do anything about thought, we won't get anywhere. We may momentarily relieve the population problem, the ecological problem, and so on, but they will come back in another way. ~ David Bohm

• 4 a hint of "history repeats itself." Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC) but prefer to trim it to the first sentence.
  • The coming back in another way is the part that I like though... Zarbon 18:15, 18 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Individuality is only possible if it unfolds from wholeness. ~ David Bohm

• 3 Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC) but I will probably give this a 3 or even a 4 eventually.

The ability to perceive or think differently is more important than the knowledge gained. ~ David Bohm

• 2 Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)

This is our culture; fight for it. This is our flag; pick it up. This is our country; take it back. ~ Tom Tancredo

• 3 Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

A patriot is someone who cares what happens in their country. ~ Billy Bragg

• 2 Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 1 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Art is the objectification of feeling. ~ Susanne Langer

• 3 or in other words...bringing feelings to life through artwork. Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Music is the tonal analogue of emotive life. ~ Susanne Langer

• 2 Zarbon 15:32, 7 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

We have reversed the usual classical notion that the independent "elementary parts" of the world are the fundamental reality, and that the various systems are merely particular contingent forms and arrangements of these parts. Rather, we say that inseparable quantum interconnectedness of the whole universe is the fundamental reality, and that relatively independent behaving parts are merely particular and contingent forms within this whole. ~ David Bohm

• 3 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 1 Zarbon 05:31, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 3 Ningauble 23:07, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

Men are divided in opinion as to the facts. And even granting the facts, they explain them in different ways. ~ Edwin Abbott Abbott

• 3 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 2 Zarbon 05:31, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

From dreams I proceed to facts. ~ Edwin Abbott Abbott

• 3 Kalki 02:01, 11 December 2008 (UTC) with a strong lean toward 4.
• 2 Zarbon 05:31, 11 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 InvisibleSun 21:55, 19 December 2008 (UTC)
• 2 Antiquary 22:47, 19 December 2008 (UTC)

From StrategyWiki, the free strategy guide and walkthrough wiki

Articles detailing events that are related to December 20. This may include the release of games or systems, the founding of a video game related company or some other important event.

From Familypedia

December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining until the end of the year.

Events

• 69 - Vespasian, a former general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of emperor.
• 1192 - Richard the Lion-Heart was captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after signing a treaty with Saladin ending the crusade.
• 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.
• 1606 - The Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas
• 1803 - Louisiana Purchase completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
• 1835 - First signing of the Texas Declaration of Independence at Goliad.
• 1860 - South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the United States.
• 1915 - World War I: Last Australian troops evacuated from Gallipoli.
• 1917 - Cheka, first Soviet secret police, founded.
• 1941 - World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming.
• 1942 - World War II: Bombing of Calcutta by the Japanese.
• 1951 - Nuclear power first harvested when EBR-1 powers four light bulbs.
• 1952 - United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
• 1955 - Cardiff was proclaimed as the capital city of Wales,United Kingdom
• 1960 - National Front for the Liberation of Vietnam is formed.
• 1973 - The Spanish Prime Minister, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid
• 1981 - The first ever on-stage performance of the award-winning Broadway musical Dreamgirls at Imperial Theatre on Broadway.
• 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.
• 1988 - The United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances is signed at Vienna.
• 1989 - United States invasion of Panama: United States sends troops into Panama to overthrow government of Manuel Noriega.
• 1991 - Paul Keating becomes the 24th Prime Minister of Australia.
• 1991 - A Missouri court passes the death sentence on Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
• 1995 - NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
• 1995 - An American Airlines Flight 965 Boeing 757 crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 160.
• 1995 - The Democratic Social Movement is founded in Greece.
• 1996 - American astronomer and Astrophysicist Carl Edward Sagan dies at age 62.
• 1996 - NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
• 1999 - Macau is handed over to the People's Republic of China by Portugal.
• 2001 - Argentine economic crisis: President of Argentina Fernando de la Rúa is forced out of office.
• 2002 - US Senator Trent Lott resigns as majority leader.
• 2005 - 2005 New York City transit strike: New York City's Transport Workers Union Local 100 goes on strike, shutting down all New York City Subway and Bus services.
• 2005 - US District Court Judge John E. Jones III ruled against mandating teaching "intelligent design" in his ruling of Kitzmiller v. Dover Area School District.
• 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.

Births

• 1494 - Oronce Finé, French mathematician (d. 1555)
• 1537 - King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
• 1566 - Edward Wightman, English Baptist preacher (d. 1612)
• 1579 - (baptized) John Fletcher, English playwright (d. 1625)
• 1626 - Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German statesman (d. 1692)
• 1629 - Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (d. 1684)
• 1717 - Charles Gravier, French statesman and diplomat (d. 1787)
• 1786 - Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (d. 1853)
• 1792 - Nicolas Charlet, French painter (d. 1845)
• 1833 - Samuel Mudd, American physician (d. 1883)
• 1838 - Edwin Abbott Abbott, English schoolmaster, theologian, and author (d. 1926)
• 1841 - Ferdinand Buisson, French pacifist, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize (d. 1932)
• 1860 - Dan Leno, English entertainer (d. 1904)
• 1861 - Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (d. 1926)
• 1865 - Elsie De Wolfe, American socialite and interior decorator (d. 1950)
• 1868 - Harvey Firestone, American automobile pioneer (d. 1938)
• 1881 - Branch Rickey, baseball executive (d. 1965)
• 1886 - Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player (d. 1974)
• 1888 - Fred Merkle, American baseball figure (d. 1958)
• 1890 - Yvonne Arnaud, French-born actress (d. 1958)
• 1890 - Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate (d. 1967)
• 1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
• 1898 - Irene Dunne, American actress (d. 1990)
• 1901 - Robert Van de Graaff, American physicist and inventor (d. 1967)
• 1902 - Sidney Hook, American philosopher (d. 1989)
• 1902 - George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
• 1904 - Spud Davis, baseball player (d. 1984)
• 1907 - Paul Francis Webster, musician (d. 1984)
• 1909 - Vakkom Majeed, Indian politician (d. 2000)
• 1911 - Hortense Calisher, American author
• 1916 - Michel Chartrand, Quebec union leader
• 1917 - David Bohm, American-born physicist, philosopher, and neuropsychologist (d. 1992)
• 1918 - Jean Marchand, French Canadian trade unionist and politician (d. 1988)
• 1918 - Audrey Totter, American actress
• 1922 - George Roy Hill, American film director (d. 2002)
• 1922 - Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter
• 1924 - Judy LaMarsh, Canadian politician and broadcaster (d. 1980)
• 1925 - Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (d. 2007)
• 1925 - Mahathir bin Mohamad, Prime Minister of Malaysia
• 1926 - Sir Geoffrey Howe, British politician
• 1926 - Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German politician
• 1927 - Kim Young-sam, President of South Korea
• 1931 - Mala Powers, American film actress (d. 2007)
• 1933 - Jean Carnahan, U.S. Senator
• 1933 - Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist
• 1938 - John Harbison, American composer
• 1944 - Bobby Colomby, American musician (Blood)
• 1945 - Peter George Criscoula, American drummer and singer (Kiss)
• 1946 - Uri Geller, Israeli psychic
• 1946 - John Spencer, American actor (d. 2005)
• 1946 - Dick Wolf, American television series creator
• 1947 - Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer
• 1948 - Alan Parsons, British music producer and artist
• 1949 - Soumaïla Cissé, Malian politician
• 1949 - Cecil Cooper, Major League baseball player
• 1951 - Gilbert Montagné, French musician
• 1951 - Peter May, Scottish novelist and scriptwriter
• 1952 - Jenny Agutter, English actress
• 1954 - Michael Badalucco, American actor
• 1954 - Sandra Cisneros, American writer
• 1955 - Ed Kuepper, German-born Australian musician (The Saints, Laughing Clowns)
• 1956 - Junji Hirata, Japanese professional wrestler
• 1957 - Billy Bragg, English singer and songwriter
• 1957 - Mike Watt, American bassist
• 1957 - Stephen Bicknell, leading British organ expert (d. 2007)
• 1957 - Joyce Hyser, American actress
• 1957 - Anna Vissi, Greek-Cypriot singer
• 1958 - Steve Sailer, American political commentator
• 1960 - Nalo Hopkinson, Canadian writer
• 1963 - Infanta Elena of Spain, Duchess of Lugo
• 1965 - Rich Gannon, American football player
• 1966 - Matt Neal , British Race Driver
• 1966 - Chris Robinson, American singer (Black Crowes)
• 1966 - Myrra Malmberg, Swedish singer
• 1968 - Karl Wendlinger, Austrian racing driver
• 1968 - Joe Cornish, British comedian
• 1968 - Phil Andrews, British racing driver
• 1970 - Nicole DeBoer, Canadian actress
• 1972 - Raymond I. Herrera, Mexican/American drummer for Fear Factory, producer, entrepreneur
• 1973 - Cory Stillman, National Hockey League forward
• 1974 - Die, Japanese musician (Dir en grey)
• 1975 - Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer
• 1975 - Christian Filippella, Italian film director
• 1975 - Jaydy Michel, Mexican model
• 1976 - Jang Hyuk, Korean actor
• 1976 - Aubrey Huff, American baseball player
• 1976 - Adam Powell, Neopets creator
• 1976 - Ramon Stoppelenburg, world traveler and Dutch author
• 1977 - Saukrates, Canadian rapper
• 1978 - Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer
• 1978 - Andrei Markov, Russian hockey player
• 1979 - Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist
• 1980 - Ashley Cole, English footballer
• 1980 - Anthony da Silva, French-Portuguese footballer
• 1981 - Roy Williams, American football player
• 1981 - James Shields, American baseball player
• 1982 - David Wright, baseball player
• 1983 - Jonah Hill, American actor
• 1983 - Lara Stone, Dutch model
• 1983 - Lucy Pinder, British model
• 1987 - Tariel Zintiridis, Greek judoka
• 1990 - Joanna "JoJo" Levesque American pop/R&B Singer

Deaths

• 217 - Pope Zephyrinus
• 860 - King Ethelbald of Wessex
• 910 - Alfonso III of Leon
• 1022 - Elvira Mendes, wife of Alfonso V of Castile (b. 996)
• 1355 - Stefan Dušan, Serb king and tsar (b. circa 1308)
• 1494 - Matteo Maria Boiardo, Italian poet
• 1524 - Thomas Linacre, English scholar and physician
• 1539 - Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer
• 1590 - Ambroise Paré, French physician (b. 1510)
• 1722 - Kangxi Emperor of China (b. 1654)
• 1723 - Augustus Quirinus Rivinus (b. 1652)
• 1740 - Richard Boyle, English military officer and statesman (b. 1675)
• 1768 - Carlo Innocenzio Maria Frugoni, Italian poet (b. 1692)
• 1783 - Antonio Soler, Spanish composer (b. 1729)
• 1812 - Sacagawea, Shoshone guide for the Lewis and Clark Expedition
• 1917 - Lucien Petit-Breton, Argentine-French cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1921 - Hans Hartwig von Beseler, German general (b. 1850)
• 1929 - Émile Loubet, 7th President of France (b.1838)
• 1935 - Martin O'Meara, Australian soldier (b. 1882)
• 1937 - Erich Ludendorff, German general (b. 1865)
• 1941 - Igor Severyanin, Russian poet (b. 1887)
• 1954 - James Hilton, American author (b. 1900)
• 1956 - Ramon Carrillo, Argentine neuroscientist and Public Health minister (b. 1906)
• 1961 - Moss Hart, American dramatist (b. 1904)
• 1961 - Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)
• 1968 - John Steinbeck, American writer, Nobel Prize laureate (b. 1902)
• 1973 - Luis Carrero Blanco, Prime Minister of Spain (assassinated) (b. 1903)
• 1973 - Bobby Darin, American singer (b. 1936)
• 1974 - André Jolivet, French composer (b. 1905)
• 1976 - Richard J. Daley, Mayor of Chicago (b. 1902)
• 1982 - Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-born pianist (b. 1887)
• 1984 - Gonzalo Márquez, Venezuelan Major League Baseball player (b. 1946)
• 1986 - Joe DeSa, baseball player (b. 1959)
• 1988 - Alphonse Ouimet, Canadian television pioneer, president of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation (b. 1908)
• 1989 - Kurt Böhme, German bass (b. 1908)
• 1991 - Simone Beck, French chef (b. 1904)
• 1994 - Dean Rusk, United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
• 1996 - Carl Sagan, American astronomer and writer (b. 1934)
• 1997 - Denise Levertov, English-born poet (b. 1923)
• 1997 - Juzo Itami, Japanese actor and director (b. 1933)
• 1997 - Dawn Steel, American film producer (b. 1946)
• 1998 - Irene Hervey, American actress (b. 1910)
• 1998 - Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, British scientist, recipient of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine (b. 1916)
• 1999 - Hank Snow, Canadian singer (b. 1914)
• 1999 - Riccardo Freda, Italian film director (b. 1909)
• 2000 - Mirza Ghulam Hafiz, Bangladesh statesman, politician, and philanthropist (b. 1920)
• 2001 - Foster Brooks, American actor and comedian (b. 1912)
• 2001 - Léopold Sédar Senghor, first President of Senegal (b. 1906)
• 2005 - Maniam Moorthy, member of the first Malaysian team to summit Mount Everest

Holidays and observances

• R.C. Saints - Saint Dominic of Silos, O Clavis, Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne

External links

• BBC: On This Day
• The New York Times: On This Day

• On This Day in Canada