20 December
December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. There are 11 days remaining.
Events
Births
- 1537 - King John III of Sweden (d. 1592)
- 1579 - (baptized) John Fletcher, playwright (d. 1625)
- 1629 - Pieter de Hooch, painter (d. 1684)
- 1792 - Nicolas Charlet, painter (d. 1845)
- 1805 - Thomas Graham, Father of colloid chemistry (d. 1869)
- 1833 - Samuel Mudd, physician, possible conspirator in the assassination of Abraham Lincoln (d. 1883)
- 1856 - Ferdinand Avenarius, author (d. 1923)
- 1860 - Dan Leno, English entertainer (d. 1904)
- 1861 - Ivana Kobilca, Slovene painter (+ 1926)
- 1868 - Harvey Firestone, automobile pioneer (d. 1938)
- 1881 - Branch Rickey, baseball executive (d. 1965)
- 1886 - Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman, American tennis star (d. 1974)
- 1890 - Yvonne Arnaud, actress
- 1893 - Charlotte Bühler, psychologist
- 1894 - Sir Robert Menzies, twelfth Prime Minister of Australia (d. 1978)
- 1898 - Irene Dunne, actress (d. 1990)
- 1901 - Robert Van de Graaff, physicist, inventor (d. 1967)
- 1902 - Sidney Hook, American philosopher (d. 1989)
- 1902 - Max Lerner, American educator (d. 1992)
- 1902 - George Edward Alexander Windsor, Duke of Kent (d. 1942)
- 1922 - George Roy Hill, film director (d. 2002)
- 1923 - James Leasor, writer, mystery
- 1924 - Friederike Mayröcker, author
- 1926 - Sir Geoffrey Howe (Lord Howe of Aberavon), UK politician
- 1926 - Otto Graf Lambsdorff, politician
- 1927 - Kim Young-sam, President of South Korea
- 1930 - Noel Ferrier, producer and actress
- 1933 - Jean Carnahan, US Senator
- 1942 - Bob Hayes, track and field star, American football star (d. 2002)
- 1946 - Uri Geller, psychic TV presenter
- 1952 - Jenny Agutter, actress
- 1954 - Michael Badalucco, actor (The Practice)
- 1955 - Lonesome Bob, singer, songwriter
- 1957 - Anna Vissi, Greek singer
- 1957 - Billy Bragg, singer, songwriter
- 1957 - Mike Watt, bassist
- 1959 - Tracey Ullman, actress, comedienne
- 1970 - Nicole DeBoer, actress (Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, The Dead Zone)
Deaths
- 1939 - Nazi Captain Hans Langsdorff (suicide) (b. 1894)
- 1954 - James Hilton, author (b. 1900)
- 1961 - Moss Hart, author (b. 1904)
- 1961 - Earle Page, eleventh Prime Minister of Australia (b. 1880)
- 1968 - John Steinbeck, writer (b. 1902)
- 1973 - Luis Carrero Blanco, Spanish prime minister (assassination) (b. 1903)
- 1973 - Bobby Darin, singer (b. 1936)
- 1976 - Richard J. Daley, mayor of Chicago, Illinois (b. 1902)
- 1982 - Artur Rubinstein, musician (b. 1887)
- 1994 - Dean Rusk, former United States Secretary of State (b. 1909)
- 1996 - Carl Sagan, astronomer, writer (b. 1934)
- 1998 - Irene Hervey, actress (b. 1910)
- 1999 - Hank Snow, country music singer (b. 1914)
December 19 - December 21 - November 20 - January 20 -- listing of all days
