History for December 20

History for December 20 - On-This-Day.com
Samuel Mudd 1833 - Physician that set John Wilkes Booth's leg after the assissination of President Lincoln, Harvey Firestone 1868 - Founder Firestone Tire and Rubber Company, Max Lerner 1902


Sidney Hook 1902, George Roy Hill 1922 - Director, John Hillerman 1932 - Actor ("Magnum, p.i.")


1606 - The "Susan Constant," "Godspeed" and "Discovery" set sail from London. Their landing at Jamestown, VA, was the start of the first permanent English settlement in America.


1803 - The United States Senate ratified a treaty that included the Louisiana Territories from France for $15 million. The transfer was completed with formal ceremonies in New Orleans.


1820 - The state of Missouri enacted legislation to tax bachelors between the ages of 21-50 for being unmarried. The tax was $1 a year.


1860 - South Carolina became the first state to secede from the American Union.


1880 - New York's Broadway became known as the "Great White Way" when it was lighted by electricity.


1938 - Vladimir Kosma Zworykin patented the iconoscope television system.


1946 - The Frank Capra film "It's A Wonderful Life" had a preview showing for charity at New York City's Globe Theatre, a day before its "official" world premiere. James Stewart and Donna Reed star in the film.


1990 - The world's first website and server go live at CERN. The first website was http://info.cern.ch/hypertext/WWW/TheProject.html.