December 20

AD 69 – Antonius Primus enters Rome to claim the title of Emperor for Nero's former general Vespasian. 1192 – Richard I of England is captured and imprisoned by Leopold V of Austria on his way home to England after the Third Crusade. 1334 – Cardinal Jacques Fournier, a Cistercian monk, is elected Pope Benedict XII. 1803 – The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans. 1808 – Peninsular War: The Siege of Zaragoza begins. 1832 – HMS Clio under the command of Captain Onslow arrives at Port Egmont under orders to take possession of the Falkland Islands. 1860 – South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States with the South Carolina Declaration of Secession. 1915 – World War I: The last Australian troops are evacuated from Gallipoli. 1917 – Cheka, the first Soviet secret police force, is founded. 1924 – Adolf Hitler is released from Landsberg Prison. 1940 – Captain America Comics #1, containing the first appearance of the superhero Captain America, is published. 1941 – World War II: First battle of the American Volunteer Group, better known as the "Flying Tigers", in Kunming, China. 1942 – World War II: Japanese air forces bomb Calcutta, India. 1946 – It's a Wonderful Life premieres at the Globe Theatre in New York to mixed reviews. [1] 1946 – An earthquake in Nankaidō, Japan causes a tsunami which kills at least one thousand people and destroys 36,000 homes. 1948 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Dutch military captures Yogyakarta, the temporary capital of the newly formed Republic of Indonesia. 1951 – The EBR-1 in Arco, Idaho becomes the first nuclear power plant to generate electricity. The electricity powered four light bulbs. 1952 – A United States Air Force C-124 crashes and burns in Moses Lake, Washington, killing 87 of the 115 people on board. 1955 – Cardiff is proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom. 1957 – The initial production version of the Boeing 707 makes its first flight.