52ºc, New York
History Events on December 20
The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
#Louisiana_Purchase
HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands
#HMS_Clio_(1807)
Cistercian Jacques Fournier is elected Pope Benedict XII.
#Pope_Benedict_XII
Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.
#Adolf_Hitler
Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly-formed Republic of Indonesia.
#Indonesian_National_Revolution
World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China.
#World_War_II
The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs.
#Experimental_Breeder_Reactor_I
The Zodiac Killer kills Betty Lou Jenson and David Faraday in Vallejo, California.
#Zodiac_Killer
The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York City.
#It's_a_Wonderful_Life
The international aid organization Doctors Without Borders is founded by Bernard Kouchner and a group of journalists in Paris, France.
#Médecins_Sans_Frontières
Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.
#Peninsular_War
The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.
#Virginia_Company
A Pennsylvania Railroad Budd Metroliner exceeds 155 mph on their New York Division, also present day Amtrak's Northeast Corridor.
#Pennsylvania_Railroad
American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia killing 159.
#American_Airlines_Flight_965
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.
#Summit_Tunnel_fire
Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.
#Richard_I_of_England
NATO begins peacekeeping in Bosnia.
#NATO
South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.
#South_Carolina
The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.
#United_States_invasion_of_Panama
The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.
#Boeing_707
The Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco, is assassinated by a car bomb attack in Madrid.
#Prime_Minister_of_Spain
In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker Vector in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
#MV_Doña_Paz
Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.
#Cardiff
Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, seven months and 29 days.
#Elizabeth_II
World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.
#Imperial_Japanese_Army_Air_Service
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.
#Northern_Bank_robbery
Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor.
#Vespasian
A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
#Missouri
World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.
#World_War_I
A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87.
#United_States_Air_Force
Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
#Macau
Pope John Paul II announces the institution of World Youth Day.
#Pope_John_Paul_II
