Epic Idiot's what happened
On This Day

December 20

1993
Marine ban on marriage: The Defense Department rejects a four-month-old Marine Corps proposal to stop accepting married enlistees after September 30, 1995.

1962
The Osmonds: The Osmonds make their debut on The Andy Williams Show, singing I'm a Ding Dong Daddy from Dumas.

1944
Dwight D. Eisenhower makes the rank of general in the Army.

1929
James A. DeLacy is given a $500 fine and sentenced to a month in jail for selling the book Lady Chatterly's Loves by D.H. Lawrence.

1880
Broadway lighted with electric arc lights, invented by Charles F. Brush.

1879
Thomas A. Edison makes the first public demonstration his incandescent lamp.

1870
Impeachment proceedings begin against North Carolina governor William Woods Holden. He became the first U.S. governor to be removed from office by impeachment.

1860
Civil War: South Carolina becomes the first state to secede from the Union.

1946
Uri Geller, Israeli-born psychic, clairvoyant. Famous for bending spoons.

1932
John Hillerman, American Emmy-winning actor. TV: Magnum P.I. (Emmy, Higgins).

1922     d. 1985
Charita Bauer, American Emmy-winning actress. TV and radio: The Guiding Light (Bert Bauer, which she played for 35 years).

1914
Harry Flood Byrd Jr., American politician, Virginian Democratic senator.

1912     d. 1989
Sunshine Sammy Morrison (Ernest Fredric Morrison), American actor. Film: The Little Rascals (Booker T.) and the East Side Kids movies. He was the first black performer signed to a long-term Hollywood contract (1919).

1907     d. 1984
Paul Francis Webster, American Oscar-winning lyricist. Film: Calamity Jane (1953, Oscar), Love is a Many Splendored Thing (1955, Oscar), and The Sandpiper (1965, Oscar).

1902     d. 1989
Sidney Hook, American author, political philosopher.

1902     d. 1992
Max Lerner, Russian-born journalist, educator.

1898     d. 1990
Irene Dunne, American actress. Film: Show Boat (1936) and I Remember Mama (1948).

1868     d. 1938
Harvey Samuel Firestone, American rubber manufacturer, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Co. (1900).

2001     b. 1912
Foster Brooks, comic, "The Lovable Lush." TV: The drunk on Dean Martin's celebrity roasts. Quote: "I never drew a sober breath from Friday night to Monday. Eight years ago, I quit. Fellow made me a $10 bet I couldn't quit, and I haven't had a drink since. At the time I needed the $10." -Interview with the Los Angeles Times in 1972.

1988     b. 1939
Max Robinson, American newscaster, the first U.S. black network news anchor.

1976     b. 1902
Richard Joseph Daley, American politician, mayor of Chicago (1955-76). After the 1968 race riots he commented "the police aren't here to create disorder, the police are here to preserve disorder." He ordered police to shoot to kill arsonists and to maim looters.

1973     b. 1936
Bobby Darin (Walden Robert Cassotto), American pop singer. Music: Splish Splash (1958) and Mack the Knife (1959).

1970     b. 1897
Max Lincoln Schuster, Austrian-born American publisher, co-founder of the publishing house of Simon and Schuster (1924). Their first book was the world's first crossword puzzle book.

1968     b. 1902
John Ernst Steinbeck, American Nobel-winning novelist. Writings: The Grapes of Wrath.

1849     b. 1782
William Miller, American religious leader of the Second Adventists in America. He and his followers believed the world would end on Oct 22, 1844. Many supposedly gave away their earthly possessions in preparation for the event.

1046     b. ????
Gregory VI, Italian religious leader, 148th Pope (1045-46).

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