On this day: December 20th

On this day: December 20th

There are many and several events on this day in history. Read and discover what happened on this day: On this day: December 20th

1606: The Virginia Company expedition to America began as three small ships, the Susan Constant, Godspeed and Discovery, departed London under the command of Captain Christopher Newport. In May of 1607, the royally chartered company established the first permanent English settlement in America at Jamestown, Virginia.
1699: Czar Peter the Great changed the Russian New Year from September 1 to January 1 as part of his reorganization of the Russian calendar.
1803: Louisiana Purchase completed at a ceremony in New Orleans.
1860: South Carolina becomes first state to secede from the United States.
1951: Nuclear power is first used. It lights up four light bulbs.
1956: The Montgomery bus boycott ended after the U.S. Supreme Court ruling integrating the Montgomery bus system was implemented. The boycott by African Americans had begun on December 5, 1955, after Rosa Parks was arrested for refusing to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus to a white man.
1957: Elvis Presley given his draft notice to join U.S. Army
1973: Spanish Prime Minister Carrero Blanco assassinated. A confidant of dictator Francisco Franco, Blanco was assassinated by the Basque nationalist and separatist group Euskadi Ta Askatasuna or ETA.

1989: The U.S. invaded Panama attempting to capture Manuel Noriega on charges of narcotics trafficking. Operation Just Cause occurred seven months after Noriega had declared unfavorable election results in his country to be null and void. The invasion toppled the Noriega government and resulted in the installation of Guillermo Endara as president. Noriega temporarily eluded capture, but surrendered a few weeks later to U.S. troops. He was then tried, convicted, and imprisoned in the U.S.
1999: Portuguese transfer sovereignty of Macau to China. Portugal ruled over the special administrative region of China from the mid-16th century to 1999. Macau has a high degree of independence from China, and has control over its legal system, monetary system, and immigration policy.
2007: Queen Elizabeth becomes the longest-living British monarch. The previous longest living monarch – Queen Victoria – died on Jan 22, 1901, when she was 81 years, 7 months, and 29 days old. Queen Elizabeth, who was born on 21 April 1926, turned 81 years, 7 months and 30 days on this day.

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