Tidbits of History, December 20

December 20 is:

National Sangria Day

Go Caroling Day

A Swedish explorer living in Delaware, Marcus Jacobson, aka Long Finn, managed to convince some townsfolk to rebel against English authority so that the Swedes could rule the province. Of course, he was taken to court and found guilty in the first trial by jury in Delaware. He was sentenced to a severe public whipping, branded on the face and chest with the letter “R” (for “Rogue”) and, finally, sold to a plantation and became a slave in Barbados.

The first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, R.I. in 1790.

Louisiana Purchase Day The Treaty was signed in April, announced to the people in July, ratified by the Senate in October, and New Orleans was turned over to the U.S. on December 20, 1803. France got about $15 million; the U.S. got about 828,000 square miles (less than 3 cents per acre).

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.

New York’s Broadway became known as the “Great White Way” when it was lighted by electricity in 1880.

The film “Flying Down to Rio” was first shown in New York in 1933. It was the first screen pairing of Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. It was the only film in which screen veteran Ginger Rogers was billed above famed Broadway dancer Fred Astaire.

The popular Christmas film It’s a Wonderful Life was first released in New York in 1946.

On December 20, 2007, – Elizabeth II became the oldest monarch of the United Kingdom, surpassing Queen Victoria, who lived for 81 years, 7 months and 29 days.