On This Day
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Classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life," directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lion

Classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life," directed by Frank Capra and starring James Stewart, Donna Reed, and Lionel Barrymore, premieres in New York

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra. It is based on the short story and booklet "The Greatest Gift", self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943, which itself is loosely based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol.

The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams to help others in his community and whose intended suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody.

Historical Significance

It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra.

Key People

Frank Capra

Italian-born American film director

Italian-born American film director

–

James Stewart

actor and military officer

American actor and military officer

–

Lionel Barrymore

actor, director, screenwriter

American actor, director, screenwriter

–

Events Before

  1. German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels

    German air raid on Allied airfields at Eindhoven, Saint-Trond, and Brussels

  2. Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President

    Franklin D. Roosevelt is sworn in for an unprecedented and never-to-be-repeated fourth term as US President

  3. Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocau

    Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz and Birkenau Concentration Camps in Poland - now commemorated as International Holocaust Remembrance Day [1]

  4. WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three

    WWII: US troops under General Douglas MacArthur enter Manila in the Philippines after a month-long battle, ending three years of Japanese military occupation

  5. Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Josep

    Declaration of Liberated Europe is signed at the Yalta Conference by Franklin D. Roosevelt, Winston Churchill, and Joseph Stalin, declaring that liberated nations are to establish democratic governments through free elections

Events After

  1. Mahatma Gandhi begins a march for peace in East Bengal

    Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign…

  2. Benelux agrees to work on related issues

    Benelux agrees to work on related issues

  3. Britain nationalizes its coal industry

    The Coal Industry Nationalisation Act 1946 (9 & 10 Geo. 6. c. 59) was an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which nationalised, or brought into state control, the coal industry in the United…

  4. French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

    French fashion designer Christian Dior presents his first influential collection, named the "New Look"

  5. Earl Mountbatten of Burma is appointed the last viceroy of India to oversee the move to independence

    The partition of India in 1947 was the division of British India into two independent dominion states, the Union of India and Dominion of Pakistan.

More from the 1940s

D-Day: The Normandy Landings

Allied forces launch the largest amphibious invasion in history on the beaches of Normandy, France, marking the beginning of the liberation of Western Europe from Nazi occupation.

wars conflicts

World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pled

World War II: Representatives of 26 nations at war with the Axis powers sign the Declaration of the United Nations, pledging to make no separate peace deals

Mahatma Gandhi begins a march for peace in East Bengal

Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948) was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist, and political thinker who employed nonviolent resistance to lead the successful campaign…

birth

Omar al-Bashir is born

Omar al-Bashir is born

Frequently Asked Questions

What happened on December 20, 1946?
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra. It is based on the short story and booklet "The Greatest Gift", self-published by Philip Van Doren Stern in 1943, which itself is loosely based on the 1843 Charles Dickens novella A Christmas Carol. The film stars James Stewart as George Bailey, a man who has given up his personal dreams to help others in his community and whose intended suicide on Christmas Eve brings about the intervention of his guardian angel, Clarence Odbody.
Why is Classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life," directed by Frank Capra and s... significant?
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas fantasy drama film directed and produced by Frank Capra.
Who was involved in Classic Christmas film "It's a Wonderful Life," directed by Frank Capra and s...?
Key figures include Frank Capra (Italian-born American film director), James Stewart (actor and military officer), Lionel Barrymore (actor, director, screenwriter).

Explore More

December 20 in HistoryYear 1946