WHAT HAPPENED ON 20. DECEMBER
Want to find out what all happened on 20. December

Vespasian, formerly a general under Nero, enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor. (20. December 69)

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. (20. December 217)

Richard I of England 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. (20. December 1192)

Siege of Rhodes: 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. (20. December 1522)

The Virginia Company loads three ships with settlers and sets sail to establish Jamestown, Virginia, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. (20. December 1606)

The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana. (20. December 1803)

Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins. (20. December 1808)

South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States. (20. December 1860)

The end of one of the most dramatic Test Matches of all time. In the first to involve six days of play, England became the first team to win one after following on at Sydney. (20. December 1893)

World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli. (20. December 1915)

Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded. (20. December 1917)

Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison (20. December 1924)

World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers" in Kunming, China. (20. December 1941)

World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India. (20. December 1942)

The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York, New York. (20. December 1946)

The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs. (20. December 1951)

A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington killing 87. (20. December 1952)

Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom. (20. December 1955)

The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight. (20. December 1957)

Unknown attackers murder the Walker family in Osprey, Florida. (20. December 1959)