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20th December

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1989: U.S. invades Panama


The United States invades Panama in an attempt to overthrow military dictator Manuel Noriega. The American government originally favoured Noriega because of his anti-communist beliefs, but U.S. policy changed in 1989 as communism collapsed in Europe and it was no longer as important to give unqualified support to anti-communist regimes. In the attack, the U.S. invaders promptly crushed Noriega’s Panamanian Defence Forces, and the dictator himself sought asylum in the Papal Nuncio in Panama City. He surrendered in January and was taken to the United States where he was indicted on drug trafficking charges and accused of suppressing democracy and endangering U.S. nationals. Noriega was found guilty of drug trafficking and sentenced to 40 years in prison.


1999

Portugal relinquishes sovereignty over Macau to China.  

1995

In a formal ceremony in Sarajevo, Bosnia-Herzegovina NATO assumes responsibility foe peacekeeping duties in Bosnia.

1995

In Britain, Queen Elizabeth II urges the Prince and Princess of Wales to get an early divorce.

1991

Paul Keating becomes Prime Minister of Australia.

1987

A passenger ferry the ‘Dona Paz’ collides with an oil tanker near Manila in the Philippines leaving 4,000 people dead.

1979

In Britain, the introduction of the Housing Bill - forcing local councils to sell their houses to any tenants who wish to buy them.

1973

Spanish Prime Minister Admiral Luis Carrero Blanco is assassinated in a bomb explosion while driving back from church. The Basque separatist movement, ETA, claims responsibility.

1963

The first West Berliners are allowed to cross into East Berlin to visit relatives since the construction of the Berlin Wall in 1963.

1960

The National Front for the Liberation of the South (NLF) is formed in Vietnam.

1957

American rock and roll star Elvis Presley is called up to join the U.S. Army.

1955

Yugoslavia is elected to serve in the non-permanent seat on the U.N. Security Council. In an unusual move, Yugoslavia who had only been a member of the UN for a year and not the two years which is required to sit on the Security Council, allowed the Philippines to take the seat for the second and last year of the term.  

1946

The morning after Viet Minh forces under Ho Chi Minh launched a revolt in the Vietnamese capital of Hanoi, French colonial troops crack down on the communist rebels forcing them to flee Hanoi.

1917

The Soviet secret police the Cheka is established.  

1860

South Carolina secedes from the American Union and joins the Confederacy.

1803

The French hand over New Orleans and Lower Louisiana to the United States.

1952

English actress Jenny Agutter.

1946

Illusionist Uri Geller.

1973

Singer Bobby Darin dies during a hospital operation.

1968

Writer John Steinbeck.

1937

German commander Erich von Ludendorff.