Date·Lore

On This Day · The 354th day of the year

December 20

75 years on from Experimental Breeder Reactor I, December 20 is a date with an anniversary worth pausing on. Most of the weight falls in the 20th century, where conflict is a recurring thread.

♐ZodiacSagittarius ◈BirthstoneTurquoise ❀Birth flowerHolly

Sagittarius is the sign for December 20 — read more on the Sagittarius page, or see December's birthstone & birth flower.

Compiled & reviewed by · Last reviewed September 6, 2026

What happened on December 20?

December 20 is the 354th day of the year. It marks 10 notable events in history, dated between 1860 and 1995. Famous people born on December 20 include Martin Schulz, Martyn Lloyd-Jones and Uri Geller.

Events

10 notable moments
  1. 1860

    South Carolina

  2. 1915

    World War I

  3. 1924

    Adolf Hitler

  4. 1941

    World War II

  5. 1951

    Experimental Breeder Reactor I

  6. 1957

    Boeing 707

  7. 1960

    Vietnam War

  8. 1984

    Murder of Jonelle Matthews

  9. 1985

    Pope John Paul II

  10. 1995

    American Airlines Flight 965

Famous birthday twins

Born on December 20

Martin Schulz

b. 1955

Martyn Lloyd-Jones

b. 1899

Uri Geller

b. 1946

George Roy Hill

b. 1921

John III of Sweden

b. 1537

Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz

b. 1959

Otto Graf Lambsdorff

b. 1926

Karl Wendlinger

b. 1968

Deaths

  • 1996Carl Sagan
  • 1984Dmitry Ustinov
  • 1968John Steinbeck
  • 1954James Hilton (novelist)
  • 1722Kangxi Emperor

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)

The factual record above — event titles, dates, names, and observances — is drawn from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike (CC BY-SA) license. DateLore adds curation, structure, and original editorial commentary. DateLore is not affiliated with the Wikimedia Foundation.

About the author

Roman Tailor compiles and reviews every date on DateLore. He's the writer and editor behind the site's editorial essays and the day-by-day almanac. Corrections and questions are welcome — read more about DateLore or get in touch.

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