WEDNESDAY, Dec. 20, 2023

1699 — Peter the Great ordered Russian New Year changed-Sept 1 to Jan 1

1780 — England declares war on Netherlands

1790 — First successful U.S. cotton mill to spin yarn (Pawtucket RI)

1820 — Missouri imposes a $1 bachelor tax on unmarried men between 21 & 50

1830 — England, France, Prussia, Austria & Russia recognize Belgium

1850 — Hawaiian post office established

1883 — International cantilever railway bridge opens at Niagara Falls

1892 — Pneumatic automobile tire patented, Syracuse NY

1900 — Giacobini discovers a comet (will be first comet visited by spacecraft)

1919 — Canadian National Railways established (North America's longest, 50,000 KM)

1919 — U.S. House of Representatives restricts immigration

1922 — 14 republics form Union of Soviet Socialistic Republics (USSR)

1924 — Adolf Hitler freed from jail early

1944 — Bishop forbids membership in non Catholic unions

1960 — Auschwitz-commandant Richard Bär arrested in German Federal Republic

1963 — Berlin Wall opens for first time to West Berliners

1966 — Brussels: Nuclear Planning Group established

1974 — Ethiopia becomes socialist one-party state

1983 — PLO chairman Yasser Arafat & 4,000 loyalists evacuate Lebanon

1999 — Portugal returns Macau to China