December 20 in History

Six people are killed and over 200 are injured when an anti-Islam activist drives a car into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany.

A mass stabbing occurs in a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia, in which a 7-year-old pupil is killed and six more are injured by a knife-wielding 19-year-old male.

The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.

Aerosucre Flight 157 crashes during takeoff from Germán Olano Airport in Puerto Carreño, Colombia, killing five people.

Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.

The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil. Both will be recovered a few weeks later.

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.

Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.

American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia, killing 159 of the 163 people on board.

A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.

The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.

War on drugs: The United Nations agrees upon and promulgates the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, one of three major drug control treaties currently in force.

In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).

Pope John Paul II announces the creation of World Youth Day.

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.

Disappearance of Jonelle Matthews from Greeley, Colorado. Her remains were discovered on July 23, 2019, located about 24 km (15 mi) southeast of Jonelle's home. The cause of death "was a gunshot wound to the head."

With the approval of the State Council, China's two largest newspapers, the People's Daily and the Guangming Daily, publish in full for the first time the Second Chinese Character Simplification Scheme.

Assassination of Luis Carrero Blanco: A car bomb planted by ETA in Madrid kills three people, including the Prime Minister of Spain, Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco.

Koza riot: After a series of hit-and-runs and other vehicular incidents involving American service personnel, roughly 5,000 Okinawans take to the streets, clashing with American law enforcement in protest against the U.S. occupation of Okinawa.

The Zodiac Killer murders his first two officially confirmed victims, David Arthur Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen, on Lake Herman Road in Benicia, California, United States.

Vietnam War: The National Liberation Front of South Vietnam, popularly known as the Viet Cong, is formally established in Tân Lập village, present day Tây Ninh province.

The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.

Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87 of the 115 people on board.

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

Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia.

It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews.

An earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan causes a tsunami which kills at least one thousand people and destroys 36,000 homes.

World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India.

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

Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published.

Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison.

Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded.

World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli.

South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States with the South Carolina Declaration of Secession.

French presidential election: Having won the popular vote in a landslide, Louis Napoleon Bonaparte is inaugurated in the chamber of the National Assembly as the first (and only) president of the French Second Republic.

HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands.

Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins.

The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.

Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII.

Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade.

Emperor Henry III convenes the synod of Sutri to mediate between different claimants to the papacy.

Byzantine Emperor Romanos I Lekapenos is arrested by two of his sons, forced to abdicate and to live as a monk for the rest of his life.

Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian.

Gavin McKenna, Canadian ice hockey player

Facundo Pellistri, Uruguayan footballer

Gaboro, Assyrian Swedish rapper and songwriter (died 2024)

Kylian Mbappé, French footballer

De'Aaron Fox, American basketball player

Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese singer

Jarrod Bowen, English football player

Anžejs Pasečņiks, Latvian basketball player

Calvin Ridley, American football player

Andrea Belotti, Italian footballer

Robeisy Ramírez, Cuban boxer

Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater

Rachael Boyle, Scottish footballer

Jorginho, Brazilian footballer

Jillian Rose Reed, American actress

Fabian Schär, Swiss footballer

JoJo, American singer and actress

Marta Xargay, Spanish basketball player

Malcolm Jenkins, American football player

Chay Genoway, Canadian ice hockey player

Bob Morley, Australian actor

David Tavaré, Spanish singer and DJ

Jonah Hill, American actor, producer, and screenwriter

Mohammad Asif, Pakistani cricketer

David Cook, American singer-songwriter

Kasper Klausen, Danish footballer

David Wright, American baseball player

Royal Ivey, American basketball player and coach

James Shields, American baseball player

Israel Castro, Mexican footballer

Ashley Cole, English footballer

Anthony da Silva, French-Portuguese footballer

Martín Demichelis, Argentine footballer

Michael Rogers, Australian cyclist

Yoon Kye-sang, South Korean singer

Andrei Markov, Russian-Canadian ice hockey player

Geremi Njitap, Cameroon footballer

Bouabdellah Tahri, French runner

Nenad Vučković, Croatian footballer

Bartosz Bosacki, Polish footballer

Die, Japanese guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Jan Čaloun, Czech ice hockey player

Anders Odden, Norwegian guitarist, songwriter, and producer

Nicole de Boer, Canadian actress

Grant Flower, Zimbabwean cricketer and coach

Jörg Schmidt, German footballer

Alain de Botton, Swiss-English philosopher and author

Zahra Ouaziz, Moroccan runner

Karl Wendlinger, Austrian racing driver

Veronica Pershina, Russian-American figure skater and coach

Chris Robinson, American singer-songwriter and guitarist

Joel Gretsch, American actor

Mohammad Fouad, Egyptian singer-songwriter and actor

Nalo Hopkinson, Jamaican-Canadian author and educator

Kim Ki-duk, South Korean director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2020)

George Coupland, Scottish scientist

Hildegard Körner, German runner

Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, Polish physicist and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Poland

Doug Nordquist, American high jumper

James Thomson, American biologist and academic

Billy Bragg, English singer-songwriter and guitarist

Anna Vissi, Cypriot singer-songwriter and actress

Mike Watt, American singer-songwriter and bass player

Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz, Mauritanian general and politician, President of Mauritania

Guy Babylon, American keyboard player and songwriter (died 2009)

Blanche Baker, American actress and screenwriter

Junji Hirata, Japanese wrestler

Andrew Mackenzie, Scottish geologist and businessman

Anita Ward, American disco/R&B singer

Martin Schulz, German politician

Binali Yıldırım, Turkish lawyer and politician, Turkish Minister of Transport

Michael Badalucco, American actor

Sandra Cisneros, American author and poet

Jenny Agutter, English actress

Nuala O'Loan, Baroness O'Loan, Northern Irish academic and police ombudsman

Marta Russell, American author and activist (died 2013)

Arturo Márquez, Mexican-American composer

Soumaïla Cissé, Malian engineer and politician (died 2020)

Cecil Cooper, American baseball player and manager

Alan Parsons, English keyboard player and producer

Mitsuko Uchida, Japanese pianist

Gigliola Cinquetti, Italian singer-songwriter

Uri Geller, Israeli-English magician and psychic

Bill Hosket Jr., American basketball player

Sonny Perdue, American politician, 31st United States Secretary of Agriculture, 81st Governor of Georgia

Dick Wolf, American director, producer, and screenwriter

Peter Criss, American singer-songwriter, drummer, and producer

Sivakant Tiwari, Indian-Singaporean lawyer and author (died 2010)

Ray Martin, Australian television host and journalist

Rana Bhagwandas, Pakistani lawyer and judge, Chief Justice of Pakistan (died 2015)

Bob Hayes, American sprinter and football player (died 2002)

Jean-Claude Trichet, French banker and economist

Roger Woodward, Australian classical pianist, composer, conductor, teacher and human rights activist.

Kathryn Joosten, American actress (died 2012)

Kim Weston, American soul singer

Khalid Ibadulla, Pakistani cricketer and sportscaster (died 2024)

Olavi Salonen, Finnish runner (died 2025)

Rik Van Looy, Belgian cyclist (died 2024)

Antoine Mbary-Daba, Central African politician, bureaucrat, and diplomat (died c. 1997).

John Hillerman, American actor (died 2017)

Mala Powers, American actress (died 2007)

Hristina Obradović, Serbian hegumenia and abbess (died 2026)

Don Sunderlage, American basketball player (died 1961)

John Menkes, Austrian-American pediatric and writer (died 2008)

Michael Beaumont, 22nd Seigneur of Sark, English engineer and politician (died 2016)

Jim Simpson, American sportscaster (died 2016)

Kim Young-sam, South Korean soldier and politician, 7th President of South Korea (died 2015)

James Lawrence King, American jurist (died 2026)

Marcel Douzima, Central African lawyer and politician (died 2012)

Geoffrey Howe, Welsh lawyer and politician, Deputy Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (died 2015)

Otto Graf Lambsdorff, German lawyer and politician, German Federal Minister of Economics (died 2009)

Benito Lorenzi, Italian footballer (died 2007)

Charlie Callas, American actor and comedian (died 2011)

Judy LaMarsh, Canadian soldier, lawyer, and politician, 42nd Secretary of State for Canada (died 1980)

Beverly Pepper, American sculptor and painter (died 2020)

William Soeryadjaya, Chinese-Indonesian businessman and co-founder of Astra International (died 2010)

George Roy Hill, American director, producer, and screenwriter (died 2002)

Väinö Linna, Finnish author (died 1992)

Jean Marchand, Canadian trade union leader and politician, 43rd Secretary of State for Canada (died 1988)

David Bohm, American-English physicist, neuropsychologist, and philosopher (died 1992)

Cahit Külebi, Turkish poet and author (died 1997)

Audrey Totter, American actress (died 2013)

Michel Chartrand, Canadian trade union leader and activist (died 2010)

Aziz Nesin, Turkish author and poet (died 1995)

Harry F. Byrd Jr., American lieutenant, publisher, and politician (died 2013)

Hortense Calisher, American author (died 2009)

Vakkom Majeed, Indian journalist and politician (died 2000)

Dennis Morgan, American actor and singer (died 1994)

Paul Francis Webster, American soldier and songwriter (died 1984)

Bill O'Reilly, Australian cricketer and sportscaster (died 1992)

Spud Davis, American baseball player, coach, and manager (died 1984)

Yevgenia Ginzburg, Russian author (died 1977)

Prince George, Duke of Kent (died 1942)

Sidney Hook, American philosopher and author (died 1989)

Robert J. Van de Graaff, American physicist and academic, invented the Van de Graaff generator (died 1967)

Lissy Arna, German actress (died 1964)

Gabby Hartnett, American baseball player and manager (died 1972)

Martyn Lloyd-Jones, Welsh preacher and physician (died 1981)

Konstantinos Dovas, Greek general and politician, 156th Prime Minister of Greece (died 1973)

Irene Dunne, American actress and singer (died 1990)

Robert Menzies, Australian lawyer and politician, 12th Prime Minister of Australia (died 1978)

Erik Almlöf, Swedish triple jumper (died 1971)

Yvonne Arnaud, French pianist, actress and singer (died 1958)

Jaroslav Heyrovský, Czech chemist and academic, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1967)

Yitzhak Baer, German-Israeli historian and academic (died 1980)

Fred Merkle, American baseball player and manager (died 1956)

Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis player and businessman (died 1974)

Ruhana Kuddus, Indonesian activist and journalist (died 1972)

Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager (died 1965)

Mary Ann Bevan, English nurse who, after developing acromegaly, toured the circus sideshow circuit as "the ugliest woman in the world" (died 1933)

Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian, author, and academic (died 1948)

Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, academic, and politician (died 1936)

Henry Kimball Hadley, American composer and conductor (died 1937)

Charley Grapewin, American actor (died 1956)

Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company (died 1938)

Elsie de Wolfe, American actress and interior decorator (died 1950)

Ferdinand Bonn, German actor (died 1933)

Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter (died 1926)

Knut Wicksell, Swedish economist (died 1926)

Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate (died 1932)

Edwin Abbott Abbott, English theologian, author, and educator (died 1926)

Laura M. Hawley Thurston, American poet and educator (died 1842)

Martín Carrera, Mexican general and president (1855) (died 1871)

Nicolas Toussaint Charlet, French painter and educator (died 1845)

Pietro Raimondi, Italian composer (died 1853)

Arthur Lee, American physician and diplomat (died 1792)

Urban Hjärne, Swedish chemist, geologist, and physician (died 1724)

Pieter de Hooch, Dutch painter (died 1684)

Veit Ludwig von Seckendorff, German scholar and politician (died 1692)

John Sarkander, Moravian priest and saint (died 1620)

John III, king of Sweden (died 1592)

Joseph ha-Kohen, historian and physician (died 1575)

Oronce Finé, French mathematician and cartographer (died 1555)

Casey Chaos, American singer (born 1965)

George Eastham, English footballer (born 1936)

Rickey Henderson, American baseball player (born 1958)

Franco Harris, American football player (born 1950)

Fanny Waterman, British pianist (born 1920)

Ezra Vogel, American sociologist (born 1930)

Per-Ingvar Brånemark, Swedish surgeon and academic (born 1929)

John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (born 1915)

Pyotr Bolotnikov, Russian runner (born 1930)

Stan Charlton, English footballer and manager (born 1929)

Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (born 1929)

Victor Merzhanov, Russian pianist and educator (born 1919)

Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright and screenwriter (born 1926)

K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (born 1914)

Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (born 1977)

Arnold Stang, American actor (born 1918)

Adrian Mitchell, English author, poet, and playwright (born 1932)

Robert Mulligan, American director and producer (born 1925)

Igor Troubetzkoy, Russian aristocrat and racing driver (born 1912)

Anne Rogers Clark, American dog breeder and trainer (born 1929)

Raoul Bott, Hungarian-American mathematician and academic (born 1923)

Léopold Sédar Senghor, Senegalese poet and politician, 1st President of Senegal (born 1906)

Riccardo Freda, Egyptian-Italian director and screenwriter (born 1909)

Hank Snow, Canadian-American singer-songwriter and guitarist (born 1914)

Alan Lloyd Hodgkin, English physiologist and biophysicist, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1916)

Denise Levertov, English-American poet and translator (born 1923)

Dick Spooner, English cricketer (born 1919)

Dawn Steel, American film producer (born 1946)

Carl Sagan, American astronomer, astrophysicist, and cosmologist (born 1934)

Madge Sinclair, Jamaican-American actress (born 1938)

Dean Rusk, American lawyer, and politician, 54th United States Secretary of State (born 1909)

W. Edwards Deming, American statistician, author, and academic (born 1900)

Nazife Güran, Turkish composer and educator (born 1921)

Simone Beck, French chef and author (born 1904)

Sam Rabin, English wrestler, singer, and sculptor (born 1903)

Albert Van Vlierberghe, Belgian cyclist (born 1942)

Joe DeSa, American baseball player (born 1959)

Stanley Milgram, American psychologist and academic (born 1933)

Dmitry Ustinov, Minister of Defence of the Soviet Union (1976–84) (born 1908)

Arthur Rubinstein, Polish-American pianist and composer (born 1887)

Dimitris Rontiris, Greek actor and director (born 1899)

Richard J. Daley, American lawyer and politician, 48th Mayor of Chicago (born 1902)

Soetardjo Kartohadikusumo, Indonesian politician, 1st Governor of West Java (born 1890)

Rajani Palme Dutt, English journalist and politician (born 1896)

André Jolivet, French composer and conductor (born 1905)

Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish admiral and politician, 69th President of the Government of Spain (born 1904; assassinated)

Bobby Darin, American singer-songwriter and actor (born 1936)

Adolfo Orsi, Italian businessman (born 1888)

Roy O. Disney, American banker and businessman, co-founded The Walt Disney Company (born 1893)

John Steinbeck, American novelist and short story writer, Nobel Prize laureate (born 1902)

Moss Hart, American director and playwright (born 1904)

Earle Page, Australian soldier and politician, 11th Prime Minister of Australia (born 1880)

Juhan Simm, Estonian composer and conductor (born 1885)

Ramón Carrillo, Argentinian neurologist and physician (born 1906)

James Hilton, English-American author and screenwriter (born 1900)

Enrico Mizzi, Maltese lawyer and politician, 6th Prime Minister of Malta (born 1885)

Igor Severyanin, Russian-Estonian poet and author (born 1887)

Sarita Colonia, Peruvian folk saint (born 1914)

Hans Langsdorff, German captain (born 1894)

Annie Armstrong, American missionary (born 1850)

Lida Howell, American archer (born 1859)

Erich Ludendorff, German general (born 1865)

Martin O'Meara, Irish-Australian sergeant, Victoria Cross recipient (born 1882)

Émile Loubet, French lawyer and politician, 8th President of France (born 1838)

Frederick Semple, American golfer and tennis player (born 1872)

João Ferreira Sardo, the founder of Gafanha da Nazaré, also known as Prior Sardo (born 1873).

Julius Richard Petri, German microbiologist (born 1852)

Linton Hope, English sailor and architect (born 1863)

Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (born 1835)

Lucien Petit-Breton, French-Argentinian cyclist (born 1882)

Arthur Morgan, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Queensland (born 1856)

Upendrakishore Ray, Indian painter and composer (born 1863)

George C. Magoun, American businessman (born 1840)

George F. Durand, Canadian architect (born 1850)

Gaspar Tochman, Polish-American colonel and lawyer (born 1797)

Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (born 1791)

Francesco Bentivegna, Italian activist (born 1820)

Kyai Maja, Javanese ulama and commander of Java War (born 1792)

John Bell, American farmer (born 1750)

Sacagawea, American explorer (born 1788)

Antonio Soler, Spanish priest and composer (born 1729)

Carlo Innocenzo Frugoni, Italian poet and academic (born 1692)

Louis-Ferdinand, Dauphin of France (born 1729)

Richard Boyle, 2nd Viscount Shannon, English field marshal and politician, Governor of Portsmouth (born 1675)

Augustus Quirinus Rivinus, German physician and botanist (born 1652)

Kangxi, emperor of the Qing Dynasty (born 1654)

Jean Jannon, French designer and typefounder (born 1580)

Ambroise Paré, French physician and surgeon (born 1510)

Katharina von Bora, wife of Martin Luther (born 1499)

Johannes Lupi, Flemish composer (born 1506)

Stefan Dušan, emperor of Serbia (born 1308)

John I, duke of Bavaria (born 1329)

Peter of Moscow, Russian metropolitan bishop

Margaret of Provence, French queen (born 1221)

Fujiwara no Kanemichi, Japanese statesman (born 925)

Alfonso III, king of Asturias

Zephyrinus, pope of the Catholic Church

Titus Flavius Sabinus, a Roman politician and soldier