Unforgettable Events: December 20 in History

69 General Vespasian's troops occupy Rome after defeating the Emperor Vitellius
1192 Richard the Lionhearted captured near Vienna by Leopold of Austria on his way home from the Third Crusade (released 1194)
1606 The English colonial expedition to America, consisting of the ships Discovery, Godspeed and Susan Constant, departs Blackwall, London to found Jamestown, Virginia
1669 1st jury trial in Delaware; Marcus Jacobson condemned for insurrection & sentenced to flogging, branding & slavery
1780 Britain declares war on Holland
1790 1st successful US cotton mill begins spinning yarn in Pawtucket, Rhode Island built by Samuel Slater based on Richard Arkwright's design
1803 French flag lowered in New Orleans to mark the formal transfer of the Louisiana Purchase from France to USA, purchased for $15M
1812 "Grimm's Fairy Tales" or "Children's and Household Tales" by Jacob Grimm and Wilhelm Grimm is first published
1820 Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men aged between 21 & 50
1860 South Carolina declared an "independent commonwealth" and secedes from the Union (US Civil War)
1879 Thomas Edison privately demonstrated incandescent light at Menlo Park
1880 NY's Broadway lit by electricity, becomes known as "Great White Way”
1893 1st state anti-lynching statute approved, in Georgia
1919 US House of Representatives restricts immigration
1920 Bob Hope becomes an American citizen aged 17 (emigrated from England aged four)
1946 Christmas classic "It's a Wonderful Life" film, directed by Frank Capra, starring James Stewart, Donna Reed and Lionel Barrymore premieres in New York
1951 Walter Zinn's Experimental Breeder Reactor I, the first nuclear reactor to produce electric power, goes live at the Argonne National Laboratory, USA
1956 Montgomery, Alabama removes race-based seat assignments on its buses
1957 Elvis Presley receives his draft notice to join the US Army for national service
1971 First preview issue of "Ms." magazine is published in the US launched by Gloria Steinem
1975 Joe Walsh recruited to join Eagles
1990 Pentagon warns Saddam that US air power is ready to attack on 1/15
1990 The world's first website and server go live at CERN
2007 Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II becomes the oldest ever monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
2009 US President Barack Obama receives his vaccine jab against swine flu
2012 Apple is denied a patent for mobile pinch-to-zoom gestures by the US patent authorities
2017 US House and Senate pass $1.5 trillion tax and jobs bill, the biggest tax overhaul for decades
2018 New figures show average US male weighs 198 pounds and stands 5 feet 9 inches, women 171 pounds and 5 feet 4 inches
2018 US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announces his resignation after disagreements with President Donald Trump
2019 United States Space Force founded, an armed forces branch dedicated to space warfare
2022 Multinational company 3M says it will stop making and using "forever chemicals", linked to health problems such as cancer
2022 The ruling Taliban suspend university education for female students in Afghanistan, part of a wider crackdown on women's rights in the country