What is December 20?
{{calendar}} {{day}} == Events == === Up to 1950 === * [[69]] &ndash; [[Vespasian]] enters [[Rome]] to claim the title of [[Emperor]]. * [[1192]] &ndash; [[Richard I of England]] is captured and imprisoned by [[Leopold V of Austria]]. * [[1522]] &ndash; [[Suleiman the Magnificent]] accepts the surrender of the surviving [[Knights of Rhodes]], who are allowed to evacuate. They eventually re–settle on [[Malta]] and become known as the [[Knights of Malta]]. * [[1606]] &ndash; The Virginia Company loads three [[ship]]s with settlers and set [[sail]] to establish [[Jamestown, Virginia|Jamestown]], [[Virginia]], the first permanent English settlement in the Americas. * [[1803]] &ndash; [[Louisiana Purchase]] is completed. * [[1808]] &ndash; [[Peninsular War]]: The [[Siege of Zaragoza]] begins. * [[1860]] &ndash; [[South Carolina]] becomes first state to secede from the [[United States]]. * [[1870]] &ndash; The Cape Blanco [[lighthouse]] goes into operation at the western tip of [[Oregon]]. * [[1915]] &ndash; The last [[Australia]]n troops are evacuated from [[Gallipoli]] during [[World War I]]. * [[1917]] &ndash; [[Cheka]], first [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] secret police, is founded. * [[1924]] &ndash; [[Adolf Hitler]] is released from Landsberg [[Prison]]. * [[1942]] &ndash; [[World War II]]: [[Japan]]ese air forces bomb [[Calcutta]]. * [[1942]] &ndash; A magnitude 7.3 [[earthquake]] in Erbaa, [[Turkey]], kills around 3,000 people. * [[1946]] &ndash; The popular [[Christmas]] [[movie]] ''[[It's a Wonderful Life]]'' is first released in [[New York City]]. * [[1946]] &ndash; The Tonankai [[earthquake]] in [[Japan]] kills around 1,300 people. === 1951 &ndash; 2000 === * [[1951]] &ndash; The EBR in Arco, [[Idaho]], becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate [[electricity]]. * [[1952]] &ndash; [[United States Air Force]] C–124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, [[Washington]], killing 87. * [[1955]] &ndash; [[Cardiff]] is officially proclaimed as the capital city of [[Wales]]. * [[1957]] &ndash; The [[European Nuclear E