1355 Between 1166 and 1371, Serbia was ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by Rome and the Byzantine Empire in 1217, reaching its peak under Stefan Dušan (c. 1308 – December 20, 1355), in 1346 as a relatively short-lived Serbian Empire, which covered most of the Balkans.
1552 The late Martin Luther's wife Katharina von Bora remained in Wittenberg for six years after her husband's death in 1546, when an outbreak of the Black Plague and a harvest failure forced her to leave the city. She fled to Torgau where her cart was involved in a bad accident near the city gates, seriously injuring her. Katharina died in Torgau about three months later on December 20, 1552 at the age of 53.
1573 Sir Francis Walsingham was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from December 20, 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster." Walsingham's staff in England included the cryptographer Thomas Phelippes, who was an expert in deciphering letters and forgery, and Arthur Gregory, who was skilled at breaking and repairing seals without detection.
1576 On December 20, 1576 Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth I of England protesting her order that he tell preachers throughout England to stop speaking so often. She felt three or four sermons per year were sufficient. Grindal's refusal to enforce her wishes earned him house arrest.
1590 French master surgeon Ambroise Paré died in Paris on December 20, 1590 from natural causes in his 80th year. Paré attributed his success with his patients to the fact that "I treated them, God cured them."
1673 When Louis XIV of France decided he wanted the married Marquise of Montespan as his mistress he threw her husband into the Bastille. Louis had seven children by her, who were legitimized on December 20, 1673, Claims were made that de Montespan arranged for a black mass to be celebrated in order to become the king’s mistress and eventually Madame de Montespan was exiled by Louis to a convent for life.
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| Serbian Empire, 1355 |
1552 The late Martin Luther's wife Katharina von Bora remained in Wittenberg for six years after her husband's death in 1546, when an outbreak of the Black Plague and a harvest failure forced her to leave the city. She fled to Torgau where her cart was involved in a bad accident near the city gates, seriously injuring her. Katharina died in Torgau about three months later on December 20, 1552 at the age of 53.
1573 Sir Francis Walsingham was principal secretary to Queen Elizabeth I of England from December 20, 1573 until his death and is popularly remembered as her "spymaster." Walsingham's staff in England included the cryptographer Thomas Phelippes, who was an expert in deciphering letters and forgery, and Arthur Gregory, who was skilled at breaking and repairing seals without detection.
1576 On December 20, 1576 Edmund Grindal, Archbishop of Canterbury, sent a letter to Queen Elizabeth I of England protesting her order that he tell preachers throughout England to stop speaking so often. She felt three or four sermons per year were sufficient. Grindal's refusal to enforce her wishes earned him house arrest.
1590 French master surgeon Ambroise Paré died in Paris on December 20, 1590 from natural causes in his 80th year. Paré attributed his success with his patients to the fact that "I treated them, God cured them."
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| Ambroise Paré Posthumous (fantasy) portrait by William Holl |
1673 When Louis XIV of France decided he wanted the married Marquise of Montespan as his mistress he threw her husband into the Bastille. Louis had seven children by her, who were legitimized on December 20, 1673, Claims were made that de Montespan arranged for a black mass to be celebrated in order to become the king’s mistress and eventually Madame de Montespan was exiled by Louis to a convent for life.
1786 Pequot Native American Hannah Ocuish was convicted of killing Eunice Bolles, a 6-year-old white girl, after a quarrel over strawberries. She confessed to the crime and was sentenced to death by hanging. Hannah Ocuish was hanged on December 20, 1786, the same day as her trial. She was just 12-years-old making her the youngest person executed in the United States.
1799 The poet William Wordsworth first encountered Dove Cottage on the edge of Grasmere when on a walking tour of the Lake District with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The house was available for rent, and he, his wife Mary and sister Dorothy took up residence on December 20, 1799 paying £5 a year to John Benson of Grasmere. The primitive Dove Cottage was Wordsworth's cramped home for nine years until 1808.
1812 Grimm's Fairy Tales is a collection of German fairy tales first published on December 20, 1812 by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. Among the traditional stories they recorded were Snow White, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel. The collection was considered by the brothers to be folk tales for adults rather than children's stories. Indeed, the first volumes were much criticized because of the adult content.
1860 The English music hall star Dan Leno was born on December 20, 1860. He was best known for his dame roles in the annual pantomimes that were popular at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 1888 to 1904. He was paid £200 for each of the pantomime seasons. Leno later became known as ‘the King’s Jester’ after entertaining Edward VII at Sandringham.
1860 In the 1830s, South Carolina residents, frustrated by agricultural tariffs, broached the possibility of secession. Tariff reform appeased them for some time, but following the election of President Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina became on December 20, 1860 the first of eleven slave states to secede from the Union.
1880 New York’s Broadway received its first electric lights between 14th and 34th Streets on December 20, 1880. The Broadway theater district would gradually move north and become known as the Great White Way, for its blazing illumination.
1891 Maria Skobtsova was born on December 20, 1891 in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. A Russian noblewoman, poet and nun, she devoted her life to the poor. As a member of the French Resistance during World War II, her convent became a haven for persecuted Jewish women and children. Money poured in to help them to flee from France and hundreds escaped. Mother Maria died in the Ravensbruck concentration camp and was canonized a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
1909 On December 20, 1909, Mark Twain announced that he was done writing books and giving lectures. "The fact is I am through with work," he said. Though he intended to retire from public life, Twain continued writing personally. He kept a daily journal and worked on his autobiography, which was published posthumously. He would die four months later of a heart attack.
1946 The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life was first released in New York City on December 20, 1946. The film is now among the most popular in American cinema and because of numerous television showings in the 1980s has become traditional viewing during the holiday season
1951 The Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I), which is located in the desert about 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Arco, Idaho was the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant. At 1:50 pm on December 20, 1951, it produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs.
1955 Cardiff was proclaimed as the capital of Wales on December 20, 1955. Caernarfon had also vied for this title. Although the city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1958, Cardiff only became a center of national administration with the establishment of the Welsh Office in 1964.
1957 Elvis Presley received his draft notice on December 20, 1957, but applied for and received a 60-day deferment to fulfill his commitment to the movie, King Creole. After being drafted in the U.S. Army in 1958, Elvis went through regular training and then served as a truck driver in West Germany
1963 In August 1961 the Soviet zone was sealed off by the Russians, and the Berlin Wall was built along the zonal boundary. The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time on December 20, 1963 so West Berliners could enjoy one-day Christmas visits to family in East Berlin. The arrangement lasted only four years.
1984 The Summit tunnel fire, the largest underground fire in transportation history, occurred on December 20, 1984 when a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of petrol derailed near the town of Todmorden in the Pennines, North England. Surprisingly, the damage done by the fire was minimal.
1987 History's worst peacetime sea disaster happened on December 20, 1987, when the passenger ferry Doña Paz sunk after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
1799 The poet William Wordsworth first encountered Dove Cottage on the edge of Grasmere when on a walking tour of the Lake District with Samuel Taylor Coleridge. The house was available for rent, and he, his wife Mary and sister Dorothy took up residence on December 20, 1799 paying £5 a year to John Benson of Grasmere. The primitive Dove Cottage was Wordsworth's cramped home for nine years until 1808.
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| Dove Cottage. By Christine Hasman, |
1812 Grimm's Fairy Tales is a collection of German fairy tales first published on December 20, 1812 by the Grimm brothers, Jacob and Wilhelm. Among the traditional stories they recorded were Snow White, Rapunzel and Hansel and Gretel. The collection was considered by the brothers to be folk tales for adults rather than children's stories. Indeed, the first volumes were much criticized because of the adult content.
1860 The English music hall star Dan Leno was born on December 20, 1860. He was best known for his dame roles in the annual pantomimes that were popular at London's Theatre Royal, Drury Lane, from 1888 to 1904. He was paid £200 for each of the pantomime seasons. Leno later became known as ‘the King’s Jester’ after entertaining Edward VII at Sandringham.
1860 In the 1830s, South Carolina residents, frustrated by agricultural tariffs, broached the possibility of secession. Tariff reform appeased them for some time, but following the election of President Abraham Lincoln, South Carolina became on December 20, 1860 the first of eleven slave states to secede from the Union.
1880 New York’s Broadway received its first electric lights between 14th and 34th Streets on December 20, 1880. The Broadway theater district would gradually move north and become known as the Great White Way, for its blazing illumination.
1891 Maria Skobtsova was born on December 20, 1891 in Riga, Latvia, then part of the Russian Empire. A Russian noblewoman, poet and nun, she devoted her life to the poor. As a member of the French Resistance during World War II, her convent became a haven for persecuted Jewish women and children. Money poured in to help them to flee from France and hundreds escaped. Mother Maria died in the Ravensbruck concentration camp and was canonized a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church.
1909 On December 20, 1909, Mark Twain announced that he was done writing books and giving lectures. "The fact is I am through with work," he said. Though he intended to retire from public life, Twain continued writing personally. He kept a daily journal and worked on his autobiography, which was published posthumously. He would die four months later of a heart attack.
1946 The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life was first released in New York City on December 20, 1946. The film is now among the most popular in American cinema and because of numerous television showings in the 1980s has become traditional viewing during the holiday season
1951 The Experimental Breeder Reactor I (EBR-I), which is located in the desert about 18 miles (29 km) southeast of Arco, Idaho was the world's first electricity-generating nuclear power plant. At 1:50 pm on December 20, 1951, it produced sufficient electricity to illuminate four 200-watt light bulbs.
1955 Cardiff was proclaimed as the capital of Wales on December 20, 1955. Caernarfon had also vied for this title. Although the city hosted the Commonwealth Games in 1958, Cardiff only became a center of national administration with the establishment of the Welsh Office in 1964.
1957 Elvis Presley received his draft notice on December 20, 1957, but applied for and received a 60-day deferment to fulfill his commitment to the movie, King Creole. After being drafted in the U.S. Army in 1958, Elvis went through regular training and then served as a truck driver in West Germany
1963 In August 1961 the Soviet zone was sealed off by the Russians, and the Berlin Wall was built along the zonal boundary. The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time on December 20, 1963 so West Berliners could enjoy one-day Christmas visits to family in East Berlin. The arrangement lasted only four years.
1984 The Summit tunnel fire, the largest underground fire in transportation history, occurred on December 20, 1984 when a freight train carrying over 1 million litres of petrol derailed near the town of Todmorden in the Pennines, North England. Surprisingly, the damage done by the fire was minimal.
1987 History's worst peacetime sea disaster happened on December 20, 1987, when the passenger ferry Doña Paz sunk after colliding with the oil tanker Vector 1 in the Tablas Strait in the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
2001 The largest Christmas cracker in the world was made by the children and parents of Ley Hill School in Chesham, Buckinghamshire, England on December 20, 2001. The cracker measured 63.1 m (207 ft) long and 4 m (13 ft) in diameter and was made of: 200m 6" a 2" timber, half a mile of cardboard, 1300 bolts, 1000 nails, 500 screws and half a mile of plastic tape. It was filled with festive hats, jokes and toys and was pulled apart by 40 people.
2001 Leopold Sedar Senghor died on December 20, 2001. The leader of the Sengalese Progressive Union, Senghor was Senagal's first president. He was also Prime Minister between 1962 and 70. Pro-African, Senghor advocated a brand of African socialism.
2007 On December 20, 2007, Queen Elizabeth II became the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days. She finally passed away on September 8, 2022, having lived for 96 years and 140 days.
2001 Leopold Sedar Senghor died on December 20, 2001. The leader of the Sengalese Progressive Union, Senghor was Senagal's first president. He was also Prime Minister between 1962 and 70. Pro-African, Senghor advocated a brand of African socialism.
2007 On December 20, 2007, Queen Elizabeth II became the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing her great-great-grandmother Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days. She finally passed away on September 8, 2022, having lived for 96 years and 140 days.
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