December 20
1790 - The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
1803 - The Louisiana Purchase was completed as ownership of the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States for $15 million.
1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union as all 169 delegates to a special convention in Charleston voted in favor of separation.
1864 - Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Georgia as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman nearly completed his "March to the Sea."
1879 - Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1924 - Adolf Hitler was released from prison after serving nine months for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch.
1963 - The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.
1978 - Former White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman was released from prison after serving 18 months for his role in the Watergate cover-up.
1987 - More than 4,300 people were killed when the Dona Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collided with the tanker Vector off Mindoro island.
1989 - The United States launched Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the government of Gen. Manuel Noriega.
1995 - An American Airlines Boeing 757 en route to Cali, Colombia, slammed into a mountain, killing all but four of the 163 people on board.
1996 - In Bosnia-Herzegovina, NATO began its peacekeeping mission, taking over from the United Nations.
1999 - The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples were entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded heterosexual couples.
2002 - Trent Lott resigned as Senate Republican leader two weeks after igniting a political firestorm with racially charged remarks.
2005 - A federal judge ruled that "intelligent design" could not be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, delivering a stinging attack on the Dover Area School Board.
2010 - In the biggest anti-terrorist sweep in Britain in nearly two years, police arrested a dozen men accused of plotting a large-scale terror attack on targets inside the United Kingdom.
2015 - Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines was crowned Miss Universe at the pageant in Las Vegas (in a bizarre finale, first-time host Steve Harvey mistakenly identified first-runner up Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo of Colombia as the winner before correcting himself and apologizing for the error).
2017 - Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced former archbishop of Boston, died in Rome at the age of 86; his failure to stop child molesters in the priesthood had triggered a crisis in American Catholicism.
2019 - President Donald Trump signed a Defense Authorization Act that included Space Force, the first new military service in more than 70 years.
2019 - Police in Cockeye said they had charged a woman with attempted murder after she told police that she intentionally ran over a 14-year-old girl because she believed the teenager was Mexican; she was also accused of driving over a curb to hit a 12-year-old Black boy. (Both children survived; the suspect, Nicole Poole, was ruled incompetent for trial.)
Birthdays
26 - DaniLeigh (singer)
29 - Colin Woodell (actor)
30 - India Reynolds (model)
29 - Isabel Durant (actress)
30 - JoJo (singer)
36 - Bob Morley (actor)
37 - Jonah Hill (actor)
37 - Lara Stone (model)
37 - Lucy Pinder (model)
38 - David Cook (singer)
50 - Todd Phillips (director)
50 - Nicole deBoer (actress)
56 - Kris Tyler (country singer)
57 - Joel Gretsch (actor)
63 - Billy Bragg (singer)
64 - Blanche Baker (actress)
66 - Michael Badalucco (actor)
68 - Jenny Agutter (actor)
72 - Alan Parsons (musician)
74 - Dick Wolf (producer)
75 - Peter Criss (musician)
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Today in Sports History - December 20
1921 - The American League votes to return the World Series to a best-of-7 format, while the National League votes to remain at best-of-9; Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts the deciding vote and goes with the best-of-7 format.
1966 - The NBA granted a franchise to the Seattle SuperSonics.
1969 - #14 Nebraska defeats Georgia 45-6 to win the Sun Bowl. NU finishes the season ranked 11th (AP) and 12th (UPI) and with a record of (9-2).
1980 - NBC broadcasts a game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins with no broadcasters, only game play audio.
1983 - Guy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens) became the 10th NHL player to score 500 goals.
1985 - Denis Potvin became the highest defenseman scorer when he got his 916th point.
1985 - Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC.
1991 - The NHL grants permanent membership to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators.
1994 - Ivan Lendl retired after a 17-year tennis career.
1998 - Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers became the first player in NFL history to throw at least 30 touchdown passes for five seasons.
1790 - The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.
1803 - The Louisiana Purchase was completed as ownership of the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States for $15 million.
1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union as all 169 delegates to a special convention in Charleston voted in favor of separation.
1864 - Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Georgia as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman nearly completed his "March to the Sea."
1879 - Thomas Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent light at Menlo Park, New Jersey.
1924 - Adolf Hitler was released from prison after serving nine months for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch.
1963 - The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.
1978 - Former White House chief of staff H.R. Haldeman was released from prison after serving 18 months for his role in the Watergate cover-up.
1987 - More than 4,300 people were killed when the Dona Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collided with the tanker Vector off Mindoro island.
1989 - The United States launched Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the government of Gen. Manuel Noriega.
1995 - An American Airlines Boeing 757 en route to Cali, Colombia, slammed into a mountain, killing all but four of the 163 people on board.
1996 - In Bosnia-Herzegovina, NATO began its peacekeeping mission, taking over from the United Nations.
1999 - The Vermont Supreme Court ruled that homosexual couples were entitled to the same benefits and protections as wedded heterosexual couples.
2002 - Trent Lott resigned as Senate Republican leader two weeks after igniting a political firestorm with racially charged remarks.
2005 - A federal judge ruled that "intelligent design" could not be mentioned in biology classes in a Pennsylvania public school district, delivering a stinging attack on the Dover Area School Board.
2010 - In the biggest anti-terrorist sweep in Britain in nearly two years, police arrested a dozen men accused of plotting a large-scale terror attack on targets inside the United Kingdom.
2015 - Pia Alonzo Wurtzbach of the Philippines was crowned Miss Universe at the pageant in Las Vegas (in a bizarre finale, first-time host Steve Harvey mistakenly identified first-runner up Ariadna Gutierrez Arevalo of Colombia as the winner before correcting himself and apologizing for the error).
2017 - Cardinal Bernard Law, the disgraced former archbishop of Boston, died in Rome at the age of 86; his failure to stop child molesters in the priesthood had triggered a crisis in American Catholicism.
2019 - President Donald Trump signed a Defense Authorization Act that included Space Force, the first new military service in more than 70 years.
2019 - Police in Cockeye said they had charged a woman with attempted murder after she told police that she intentionally ran over a 14-year-old girl because she believed the teenager was Mexican; she was also accused of driving over a curb to hit a 12-year-old Black boy. (Both children survived; the suspect, Nicole Poole, was ruled incompetent for trial.)
Birthdays
26 - DaniLeigh (singer)
29 - Colin Woodell (actor)
30 - India Reynolds (model)
29 - Isabel Durant (actress)
30 - JoJo (singer)
36 - Bob Morley (actor)
37 - Jonah Hill (actor)
37 - Lara Stone (model)
37 - Lucy Pinder (model)
38 - David Cook (singer)
50 - Todd Phillips (director)
50 - Nicole deBoer (actress)
56 - Kris Tyler (country singer)
57 - Joel Gretsch (actor)
63 - Billy Bragg (singer)
64 - Blanche Baker (actress)
66 - Michael Badalucco (actor)
68 - Jenny Agutter (actor)
72 - Alan Parsons (musician)
74 - Dick Wolf (producer)
75 - Peter Criss (musician)
====================================
Today in Sports History - December 20
1921 - The American League votes to return the World Series to a best-of-7 format, while the National League votes to remain at best-of-9; Commissioner Kenesaw Mountain Landis casts the deciding vote and goes with the best-of-7 format.
1966 - The NBA granted a franchise to the Seattle SuperSonics.
1969 - #14 Nebraska defeats Georgia 45-6 to win the Sun Bowl. NU finishes the season ranked 11th (AP) and 12th (UPI) and with a record of (9-2).
1980 - NBC broadcasts a game between the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins with no broadcasters, only game play audio.
1983 - Guy Lafleur (Montreal Canadiens) became the 10th NHL player to score 500 goals.
1985 - Denis Potvin became the highest defenseman scorer when he got his 916th point.
1985 - Sportscaster Howard Cosell retires from television sports after 20 years with ABC.
1991 - The NHL grants permanent membership to the Tampa Bay Lightning and Ottawa Senators.
1994 - Ivan Lendl retired after a 17-year tennis career.
1998 - Brett Favre of the Green Bay Packers became the first player in NFL history to throw at least 30 touchdown passes for five seasons.
