About the day » Friday December 20, 1861Calender converter

• Annie SMUIN, London, Middlesex, ENGLAND († 1861)
• Abraham van Steenbergen, Leiden (Zuid-Holland) († 1937)
• Adriaan SLOB, Hoogblokland
• Anthonetta Maartje van der Flier, Willemstad († 1863)
• Agnes, Ernestina, Maria, Geertruida VAN BIJLEVELT, Vleuten
• Adolf Jacobus Leijgrave, Arnhem († 1886)
• Anna Maria van Brandenburg, Elst, Gelderland, Nederland († 1886)
• Aaltje de Vries, Weesp, Noord-Holland, Nederland († 1907)
• Alberta van Ommen, Gemeente Utrecht, Utrecht, Nederland († 1938)
• Albert (Allert) Lunenborg, Tiendeveen, Beilen, Drenthe, Nederland († 1888)

• Anna Josepha van SCHAEYBROECK (75), Rillaar Vlaams Brabant *
• Apolonia van den Nieuwendijk (49), Zoeterwoude
• Alexandre Alexis Duhon (60), Lafayette Parish, Lafayette, Louisiana, United States
• Adrianus Carel van Ogten (67), 's-Gravenhage
• Apollonia van den Nieuwendijk (49), Zoeterwoude
• Aalt van de Kooij (6), Putten
• Aleijda Maria Krul (62), Rheden (Gelderland)
• Anna Abrahams van Cleef (95), Meppel
• Alida Henderika Kiers (3), Smilde, Drenthe, Nederland
• Anna Cornelia Nelemaat (26), Maassluis, Zuid-Holland, Nederland

• 1841 » Ferdinand Buisson, French academic and politician, Nobel Prize laureate († 1932)
• 1861 » Ferdinand Bonn, German actor († 1933)
• 1861 » Ivana Kobilca, Slovenian painter († 1926)
• 1865 » Elsie de Wolfe, American actress and interior decorator († 1950)
• 1868 » Harvey Samuel Firestone, American businessman, founded the Firestone Tire and Rubber Company († 1938)
• 1869 » Charley Grapewin, American actor († 1956)
• 1871 » Henry Kimball Hadley, American composer and conductor († 1937)
• 1873 » Kan'ichi Asakawa, Japanese historian, author, and academic († 1948)
• 1873 » Mehmet Akif Ersoy, Turkish poet, academic, and politician († 1936)
• 1881 » Branch Rickey, American baseball player and manager († 1965)

• 1812 » Sacagawea, American explorer (b. 1788)
• 1820 » John Bell, American farmer (b. 1750)
• 1856 » Francesco Bentivegna, Italian activist (b. 1820)
• 1862 » Robert Knox, Scottish surgeon and zoologist (b. 1791)
• 1880 » Gaspar Tochman, Polish-American colonel and lawyer (b. 1797)
• 1893 » George C. Magoun, American businessman (b. 1840)
• 1915 » Upendrakishore Ray, Indian painter and composer (b. 1863)
• 1916 » Arthur Morgan, Australian politician, 16th Premier of Queensland (b. 1856)
• 1917 » Lucien Petit-Breton, French-Argentinian cyclist (b. 1882)
• 1919 » Philip Fysh, English-Australian politician, 12th Premier of Tasmania (b. 1835)

1. Jan
2. Johannes
3. Cornelis
4. Hendrik
5. Pieter
6. Willem
7. Gerrit
8. Jacob
9. Petrus
10. Jacobus
11. Dirk
12. Adrianus
13. Arie
14. Klaas
15. Hendrikus
16. Albert

1. Maria
2. Johanna
3. Anna
4. Cornelia
5. Elisabeth
6. Catharina
7. Adriana
8. Hendrika
9. Wilhelmina
10. Aaltje
11. Grietje
12. Trijntje
13. Neeltje
14. Antje
15. Elizabeth
16. Mary

• Koning Willem III (Huis van Oranje-Nassau) was from 1849 till 1890 sovereign of the Netherlands (also known as Koninkrijk der Nederlanden)
• From February 23, 1860 till March 14, 1861 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Hall - Van Heemstra with the prime ministers Mr. F.A. baron Van Hall (conservatief-liberaal) and Mr. S. baron Van Heemstra (liberaal).
• From March 14, 1861 till January 31, 1862 the Netherlands had a cabinet Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt - Loudon with the prime ministers Mr. J.P.P. baron Van Zuijlen van Nijevelt (conservatief-liberaal) and Mr. J. Loudon (liberaal).
• The Netherlands had about 3.6 million citizens.
• March 19 » The First Taranaki War ends in New Zealand.
• May 13 » American Civil War: Queen Victoria of the United Kingdom issues a "proclamation of neutrality" which recognizes the Confederacy as having belligerent rights.
• May 20 » American Civil War: The state of Kentucky proclaims its neutrality, which will last until September 3 when Confederate forces enter the state. Meanwhile, the State of North Carolina secedes from the Union.
• August 10 » American Civil War: Battle of Wilson's Creek: A mixed force of Confederate, Missouri State Guard, and Arkansas State troops defeat outnumbered attacking Union forces in the southwestern part of the state.
• September 6 » American Civil War: Forces under Union General Ulysses S. Grant bloodlessly capture Paducah, Kentucky, giving the Union control of the Tennessee River's mouth.
• December 4 » The 109 Electors of the several states of the Confederate States of America unanimously elect Jefferson Davis as President and Alexander H. Stephens as Vice President.

The temperature on December 20, 1861 was about 1.0 °C. The airpressure was 77 cm mercury. The atmospheric humidity was 81%.