Today is Friday, Dec. 20, the 355th day of 2024. There are 11 days left in the year.

On Dec. 20, 1989, the United States launched Operation Just Cause, sending troops into Panama to topple the government of Gen. Manuel Noriega.

In 1803, the Louisiana Purchase was completed as ownership of the territory was formally transferred from France to the United States.

In 1986, three Black men were attacked by a group of white youths in the Howard Beach neighborhood of Queens, New York, resulting in the death of one of the men, Michael Griffith.

In 1987, more than 4,300 people were killed when the Doña Paz (DOHN’-yuh pahz), a Philippine passenger ship, collided with the tanker Vector off Mindoro island.

In 2019, the United States Space Force was established when President Donald Trump signed the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2020.