Summary of the Day ✨ 20 December (20/12)
Violence erupted across Europe as an anti-Islam activist attacked a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany, killing six and injuring over 200, while a stabbing at a Zagreb primary school left a 7-year-old dead and six others injured. In other developments, the U.S. Space Force was established as the newest military branch since 1947, while a rocket launch failure and a plane crash in Colombia each resulted in multiple fatalities.
Historical Events 📜
- 2024: Six people are killed and over 200 are injured when an anti-Islam activist drives a car into a crowd at a Christmas market in Magdeburg, Germany.
- 2024: A mass stabbing occurs in a primary school in Zagreb, Croatia, in which a 7-year-old pupil is killed and six more are injured by a knife-wielding 19-year-old male.
- 2022: A Vega C rocket carrying two Pléiades Neo satellites fails after liftoff.
- 2019: The United States Space Force becomes the first new branch of the United States Armed Forces since 1947.
- 2016: Aerosucre Flight 157 crashes during takeoff from Germán Olano Airport in Puerto Carreño, Colombia, killing five people.
- 2007: Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch in the history of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years and 243 days.
- 2007: The Portrait of Suzanne Bloch (1904), by the Spanish artist Pablo Picasso, and O Lavrador de Café by Brazilian modernist painter Cândido Portinari, are stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art in Brazil. Both will be recovered a few weeks later.
- 2004: A gang of thieves steal £26.5 million worth of currency from the Donegall Square West headquarters of Northern Bank in Belfast, Northern Ireland, United Kingdom, one of the largest bank robberies in British history.
- 1999: Macau is handed over to China by Portugal.
- 1995: American Airlines Flight 965, a Boeing 757, crashes into a mountain 50 km north of Cali, Colombia, killing 159 of the 163 people on board.
- 1991: A Missouri court sentences the Palestinian militant Zein Isa and his wife Maria to death for the honor killing of their daughter Palestina.
- 1989: The United States invasion of Panama deposes Manuel Noriega.
- 1988: War on drugs: The United Nations agrees upon and promulgates the United Nations Convention Against Illicit Traffic in Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances, one of three major drug control treaties currently in force.
- 1987: In the worst peacetime sea disaster, the passenger ferry Doña Paz sinks after colliding with the oil tanker MT Vector in the Tablas Strait of the Philippines, killing an estimated 4,000 people (1,749 official).
- 1985: Pope John Paul II announces the creation of World Youth Day.
Famous Births 👶
- 2001: Facundo Pellistri, Uruguayan footballer
- 2000: Gaboro, Assyrian Swedish rapper and songwriter (died 2024)
- 1998: Kylian Mbappé, French footballer
- 1997: De’Aaron Fox, American basketball player
- 1997: Suzuka Nakamoto, Japanese singer
- 1996: Jarrod Bowen, English football player
- 1995: Anžejs Pasečņiks, Latvian basketball player
- 1994: Calvin Ridley, American football player
- 1993: Andrea Belotti, Italian footballer
- 1993: Robeisy Ramírez, Cuban boxer
- 1992: Ksenia Makarova, Russian-American figure skater
- 1991: Rachael Boyle, Scottish footballer
- 1991: Jorginho, Brazilian footballer
- 1991: Jillian Rose Reed, American actress
- 1991: Fabian Schär, Swiss footballer
Notable Deaths 🕊️
- 2024: Casey Chaos, American singer (born 1965)
- 2024: George Eastham, English footballer (born 1936)
- 2024: Rickey Henderson, American baseball player (born 1958)
- 2022: Franco Harris, American football player (born 1950)
- 2020: Fanny Waterman, British pianist (born 1920)
- 2020: Ezra Vogel, American sociologist (born 1930)
- 2014: Per-Ingvar Brånemark, Swedish surgeon and academic (born 1929)
- 2014: John Freeman, English lawyer, politician, and diplomat, British Ambassador to the United States (born 1915)
- 2013: Pyotr Bolotnikov, Russian runner (born 1930)
- 2012: Stan Charlton, English footballer and manager (born 1929)
- 2012: Robert Juniper, Australian painter and sculptor (born 1929)
- 2012: Victor Merzhanov, Russian pianist and educator (born 1919)
- 2011: Barry Reckord, Jamaican playwright and screenwriter (born 1926)
- 2010: K. P. Ratnam, Sri Lankan academic and politician (born 1914)
- 2009: Brittany Murphy, American actress and singer (born 1977)
Holidays & Observances 🎉
- Abolition of Slavery Day, also known as Fête des Cafres (Réunion, French Guiana)
- Bo Aung Kyaw Day (Myanmar)
- Christian feast day:
Dominic of Silos - Christian feast day:
Blessed Michał Piaszczyński - Christian feast day:
O Clavis - Christian feast day:
Philogonius - Christian feast day:
Ursicinus of Saint-Ursanne - Christian feast day:
Katharina von Bora (Lutheran) - Christian feast day:
December 20 (Eastern Orthodox liturgics) - Earliest date for Winter solstice’s eve (Northern Hemisphere), and its related observances:
Yaldā (Iran) - International Human Solidarity Day (International)
- Macau Special Administrative Region Establishment Day (Macau)