December 20: What Happened on This Day in History (Elementary Level)?

(Page last edited 10/12/2017)

1. 1803 - The Louisiana Purchase is completed at a ceremony in New Orleans, Louisiana.
2. 1860 - South Carolina becomes the first state to attempt to secede from the United States.
3. 1946 - The popular Christmas film It's a Wonderful Life is first released in New York, New York.
4. 1996 - NeXT merges with Apple Computer, starting the path to Mac OS X.
5. 2007 - Elizabeth II becomes the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.
6. Famous Birthdays: Samuel Mudd (American physician), Harvey Samuel Firestone (American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company), Jaroslav Heyrovský (Czech chemist, Nobel Prize laureate), James Thomson (American biologist), Jim Carr (American educator)

For famous birthdays and other daily events in history, visit our Daily Dose Activities.

Click Here for Yesterday in History: December 19

Click Here for Tomorrow in History: December 21

For more history resources on Internet 4 Classrooms, visit our Social Studies and History index. For Pre K-8th Grade Level History and Social Studies Resources, visit our Grade Level Index.