12/20

On this day...
0069 General Vespasianus occupies Rome
1046 Synod of Sutri: German king Henry III removes Popes Gregory VI, Benedictus IX & Silvester III & names Bishop Siutger, Pope Clemens II
1192 Richard the Lionhearted captured in Vienna
1606 Virginia Company settlers leave London to establish Jamestown VA
1626 Emperor Ferdinand II/Transylvanian monarch Gábor Betlen signs Peace of Pressburg
1669 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery
1688 Prince Willem III's troops pull into London
1699 Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed-Sept 1 to Jan 1
1745 Bonnie Prince Charlie's army meets de Esk
1780 England declares war on Netherlands DAMN DUTCH
1790 1st successful US cotton mill to spin yarn (Pawtucket RI)
1803 Louisiana Purchase formally transferred from France to US for $27 million
1820 Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men between 21 & 50

1830 England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium
1850 Hawaiian post office established
1860 South Carolina votes 169-0 for Ordinance of Secession, 1st state to secede
1861 Battle of Dranesville VA
1862 Battle of Holly Spring MS
1862 Battle of Kelly's Ford VA
1862 Brigadier-General Nathan B Forrest occupies Trenton KY
1862 Vicksburg campaign
1864 Battle of Fort Fisher NC
1865 De Clear-Alkmaar railway opens
1879 Tom Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park
1880 New York's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way"
1883 International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls
1892 Phileas Fogg completes around world trip, according to Verne
1892 Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse NY
1893 1st state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia
1894 Day Six 1T Australia vs England Australia need 177 to win, all out 166
1894 England beat Australia by 10 runs in the 1st six-day Test Cricket
1900 Giacobini discovers a comet (will be 1st comet visited by spacecraft)
1906 Venezuela (under Vice-President Gomez) attacks Dutch fleet

1917 Russian secret police in Czechoslovakia forms under Felix Dzerzjinski
1919 Canadian National Railways established (North America's longest, 50,000 KM)
1919 US House of Representatives restricts immigration
1920 Bob Hope becomes an American citizen
1921 American League votes to return to best-of-7 World Series, while National League votes best-of-9 Judge Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts deciding vote for best-of-7
1922 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR)
1924 Adolf Hitler freed from jail early
1926 Cardinals trade Roger Hornsby to Giants for Frankie Frisch & Jimmy Ring
1926 Sidney Howard's "Silver Cord" premieres in New York NY
1928 1st international dogsled mail leaves Minot ME for Montréal, Québec
1928 Ethel Barrymore Theater opens at 243 W 47th St NYC
1929 Heinie Wagner replaces Bill Carrigan as Red Sox manager
1933 Bolivia & Paraguay sign weapon cease fire
1938 Vladimir K Zworykin (Pennsylvania) receives patent on the Iconoscope TV system
1939 Radio Australia begins overseas short-wave service
1940 Connie Mack acquires controlling interest in the Athletics for $42,000
1941 Free France under Admiral Muselier occupies St-Pierre et Miquélon
1941 Japanese troops lands on Mindanao
1942 1st Japanese bombing of Calcutta
1943 "International" is no longer USSR National Anthem
1944 Battle of Bastogne, Nazis surround 101st Airborne (NUTS!)
1944 Bishop forbids membership in non Catholic unions
1945 Rationing of auto tires ends in US
1950 "Harvey", starring James Stewart, premieres in New York
1952 KHQ TV channel 6 in Spokane WA (NBC) begins broadcasting
1953 KID (now KIDK) TV channel 3 in Idaho Falls ID (CBS) 1st broadcasting
1953 KWTV TV channel 9 in Oklahoma City OK (CBS) begins broadcasting
1956 Military coup under colonel Simbolon in Sumatra
1956 Montgomery AL, removed race-based seat assignments on its buses
1957 Elvis Presley given draft notice to join US Army for National Service
1960 Auschwitz-commandant Richard Bär arrested in German Federal Republic
1962 The Osmond brothers debut on the Andy Williams Show
1963 Berlin Wall opens for 1st time to West Berliners
1963 Trial against 21 camp guards of Auschwitz begins
1964 Levi Eshkol forms Israeli government
1966 NBA awards Seattle Supersonics a franchise for 1967-68 season
1966 Brussels: Nuclear Planning Group established
1966 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1967 "The Graduate", starring Dustin Hoffman & Anne Bancroft, premieres
1967 474,300 US soldiers in Vietnam
1967 Ian Anderson & Glenn Cornick form rock group Jethro Tull
1969 Peter, Paul & Mary's "Leaving on a Jet Plane" reaches #1
1972 Neil Simons "Sunshine Boys" premieres in New York NY
1973 American League President Joe Cronin refuses to allow Dick Williams to manage Yankees
1973 Montréal Canadien Henri Richard scores his 1,000th NHL point
1973 Dutch Antillean government of Evertsz forms
1974 George Harrison releases his "Dark Horse" album in UK
1974 Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state
1975 Joe Walsh recruited to join Eagles
1975 Pope Paul VI named J Willebrands archbishop of Utrecht
1976 Israel's PM Yitzhak Rabin resigns
1977 1st Space walk made by G Grechko from Salyut
1978 H R Haldeman, Nixon's White House chief of staff released from jail
1980 USSR formally announces death of Alexei Kosygin
1980 NBC broadcasts New York Jets' 24-17 win over Dolphins without audio
1981 Doug Small (Winnipeg Jets) ties NHL record scoring at 5 second mark
1981 Browns set team records for most fumbles (9) & most turnovers (10)
1983 Guy Lafleur, Montréal, becomes 10th NHLer to score 500 goals
1983 New York Islanders score their most goals (11) vs Pittsburgh Penguins
1983 PLO chairman Yasser Arafat & 4,000 loyalists evacuate Lebanon
1984 33 unknown Bach keyboard works found in the Yale library
1984 US performs nuclear test at Nevada Test Site
1985 Denis Potvin passes Bobby Orr as NHL defenseman scorer (916 points)
1985 Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC
1985 Position of American Poet Laureate established (Robert Warren is 1st)
1986 White teenagers beat blacks in Howard Beach NY
1987 Worst peacetime shipping disaster, Dona Paz ferry sinks after collision with oil tanker Vector; 1,749 confirmed deaths (probably closer to 3,000)
1987 "Nuts" with Barbra Streisand premieres
1988 Animal rights terrorists fire-bomb Harrod's department store, London
1988 NBC signs lease to stay in NYC, 33 more years
1989 US troops invade Panamá & oust Manuel Noriega, but don't catch him EVENTUALLY THEY DO THANKS TO THE POWER OF GUNS AND ROSES
1990 Pentagon warns Saddam Hussein that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15 –HOW DID THAT WORK OUT?
1990 Robert F X Sillerman purchases WAFL New York-New Jersey Knights for $11 million –WAFL?
1991 NHL grants permanent membership to Tampa Lightning & Ottawa Senators
1991 Paul Keating installed as premier of Australia
1992 Northwest & KLM introduce a new joint logo "Worldwide Reliability"
1992 Slobodan Milosevic re-elected President of Serbia-NOW DEAD BY FIRING SQUAD
1993 Donald Trump weds Marla Maples –NOW DIVORCED
1995 American Flight 965 crashes in Colombia, 159 die, 5 survive
1999 Portugal returns Macau to China
2002 Hacienda hosts holiday event to celebrate 5 month anniversary of Alfords first gaining carnal knowledge of each other.

2005 KW bitches that women don't do anything on 12/20!


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Holidays
Note: Some Holidays are only applicable on a given "day of the week"

Taiwan : Bank Holiday
World : Underdog Day - - - - - ( Friday )-OUR 12/20 FELL ON A FRIDAY! COINCIDENCE?
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Thought for the day :
" To criticize the incompetent is easy; it is more difficult, to criticize the competent. "

December 2005
Denver, Colorado

Sun Rise: 7:16am
Sun Set: 4:37pm 20
SHORTEST DAY OF THE YEAR!!!