December 20: Facts & Historical Events On This Day

The Taliban suspended all university education for women in Afghanistan.

Lady Gaga signed a Las Vegas residency deal for $75 million at MGM Park Theatre.

US President Barack Obama received a vaccine jab against the swine flu.

Pablo Picasso’s “Portrait of Suzanne Bloch” was stolen from the São Paulo Museum of Art, along with O Lavrador de Café by Candido Portinari.

Gangs of New York, starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Cameron Diaz, was released.

The horror film classic “Scream,” starring Neve Campbell and Courteney Cox, was released.

A Palestinian couple was convicted of first-degree murder for the honor killing on their daughter.

In St. Louis, Missouri, Zein Isa and his wife Maria performed an honor killing on their daughter, with Maria holding her while Zein stabbed her. The FBI had already been monitoring Zein due to terrorist suspicion, and her death was recorded on audiotape from a bug.

Pope John Paul II established World Youth Day, an event for young Christians around the world.

The first spacewalk was made by the Soviet cosmonaut Georgy Grechko during Salyut 6 EO-1 mission.

During the 96-day mission, Grechko used an Orlan spacesuit (still used today) to inspect if there was damage on the forward docking port.

The Zodiac Killer claimed two more victims.

Although Betty Lou Jensen and David Faraday were the first confirmed Zodiac victims, it's impossible to say if they were his first kills. Betty and David were high school students on their first date in Vallejo, California, when the Zodiac Killer murdered them.

Cardiff was proclaimed the capital of Wales by the UK’s Minister for Welsh Affairs.

The Christmas classic directed by Frank Capra, “It’s a Wonderful Life,” premiered in New York.

Adolf Hitler was freed from jail early.

After an unsuccessful attempt to seize Munich, Adolf Hitler was arrested and charged with high treason. He was sentenced to five years; however, he only served nine months after being released early for good behavior.

The last Australian troops were evacuated from Gallipoli during World War I.

South Carolina seceded from the United States of America.

Voters in South Carolina were almost all on the wrong side of history when they rejected the election of Abraham Lincoln and left the US in a fuss. They became one of the founding members of the Confederate States of America before ultimately being readmitted to the US less than eight years later.