21 December It Happened Today

1937  Birth of American actress Jane Fonda.

1940  Death of the American author F Scott Fitzgerald.

1945  Death of American General George S Patton. He had been injured in a car crash shortly before and died of his injuries.

1988  Two Soviet cosmonauts return to earth after a record 365 days in orbit.

1988  A Pan Am Jumbo jet is blown up over the Scottish town of Lockerbie.

1989  American troops invade Panama.