Fun On this date in history...

2014: Norman Birdwell, creator of Clifford, the Big Red Dog, dies at age 86.

 

That's very sad news. I read Clifford books back when I was a kid, and I'm always glad to see kids today are still reading them.

 

Watched Clifford the Big Red Dog on TV as a kid. Mr. Birdwell won't go unknown.

 

Agreed, his legacy will live on with future generations.

 

If I may...

ON DECEMBER 17th:

In 1777, France recognized American independence.

In 1843, Charles Dickens' classic story "A Christmas Carol" was published.

In 1865, Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8, known as the "Unfinished" (because only two movements had been completed) was first performed publicly in Vienna, 37 years after the composer's death.

In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, NC, using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.

In 1914, during World War I, Britain declared Egypt an official protectorate.

In 1925, Col. William "Billy" Mitchell was convicted at his court-martial in Washington of insubordination for accusing senior military officials of incompetence and criminal negligence; he was suspended from active duty.

In 1929, actress Jacqueline Hill was born in Birmingham, England. One of her characters would later teach history to a certain unearthly child.

In 1938, Otto Hahn discovered the nuclear fission of the heavy element uranium, the scientific and technological basis of nuclear energy.

In 1939, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by its crew, ending the World War II Battle of the River Plate off Uruguay.

In 1944, during the Battle of the Bulge, American 285th Field Artillery Observation Battalion POWs were shot by Waffen-SS Kampfgruppe Peiper. It was one of a series of incidents later known as the Malmedy Massacre.

Also in 1944, the U.S. War Department announced it was ending its policy of excluding people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.

In 1945, actor Ernie Hudson was born in Benton Harbor, MI. He’s best-known for playing Ghostbuster Winston Zeddemore. Reports of a later appearance in a “Torchwood” serial have been questioned by those who believe that serial doesn’t actually exist.

In 1946, actor/comedian/writer/director Eugene levy was born in Hamilton, Ontario. His appearances on a certain Melonville-based TV station would lead to much bigger things.

In 1953, actor Bill Pullman was born in Hornell, NY. His inspiring July 4th speech would come years later. Reports of a later appearance in a “Torchwood” serial have been questioned by those who believe that serial doesn’t actually exist.

In 1957, the United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

In 1962, the Beatles made their first TV appearance in Manchester, England on the local Granada Television program “People & Places”.

In 1966, on “Doctor Who”, part one of “The Highlanders” was broadcast on BBC 1. It featured the first appearance of Frazier Hines as Jamie MacCrimmon.

In 1969, an estimated 50 million TV viewers watched as singer Tiny Tim married Miss Vicki on NBC-TV's "Tonight Show." The event earned the show its highest ratings to that date.

In 1975, a federal jury in Sacramento, CA sentenced Lynette Alice Fromme, also known as "Squeaky" Fromme, to life in prison for her attempted assassination of President Gerald R. Ford.

In 1976, Atlanta-based WTCG-TV became the first commercial “superstation” when its programming was beamed via satellite to cable systems across the U.S. The station would change its call letters to WTBS in 1979.

In 1989, the animated TV series "The Simpsons" premiered on Fox with the Christmas-themed episode, “Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire”.

In 1994, North Korea shot down a U.S. Army helicopter which had strayed north of the demilitarized zone. The co-pilot, Chief Warrant Officer David Hilemon, was killed; the pilot, Chief Warrant Officer Bobby Hall, was captured and held for nearly two weeks.

In 2003, “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King”, the final film in the trilogy based on the best-selling fantasy novels by J.R.R. Tolkien, opened in theaters in the U.S.

In 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died after more than a decade of iron rule; he was 69, according to official records, but some reports indicated he was 70.

 

On This Day...


1787 - New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1796 - The "Monitor," of Baltimore, MD, was published as the first Sunday newspaper.

1862 - The first orthopedic hospital was organized in New York City. It was called the Hospital for Ruptured and Crippled.

1865 - U.S. Secretary of State William Seward issued a statement verifying the ratification of the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. The amendment abolished slavery with the declaration: "Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

1898 - A new automobile speed record was set at 39 mph (63 kph).

1903 - The Panama Canal Zone was acquired 'in perpetuity' by the U.S. for an annual rent.

1912 - The discovery of the Piltdown Man in East Sussex was announced. It was proved to be a hoax in 1953.

1915 - U.S. President Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.

1916 - During World War I, after 10 months of fighting the French defeated the Germans in the Battle of Verdun.

1917 - The Eighteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was passed by the U.S. Senate and then officially proposed the states.

1935 - A $1 silver certificate was issued for the first time in the U.S.

1936 - Su-Lin, the first giant panda to come to the U.S. from China, arrived in San Francisco, CA. The bear was sold to the Brookfield Zoo for $8,750.

1940 - Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. Operation "Barbarossa" was launched in June 1941.

1944 - The U.S. Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also stated that undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not be detained.

1950 - NATO foreign ministers approved plans to defend Western Europe, including the use of nuclear weapons, if necessary.

1953 - WPTZ, in Philadelphia, PA, presented a Felso commercial, it was the first color telecast seen on a local station.

1956 - "To Tell the Truth" debuted on CBS-TV.

1956 - Japan was admitted to the United Nations.

1957 - The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania went online. It was the first nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States. It was taken out of service in 1982.

1963 - Ron Clarke set a world record when he ran six miles in 28 minutes and 15.6 seconds.

1965 - Kenneth LeBel jumped 17 barrels on ice skates.

1969 - Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.

1970 - Divorce became legal in Italy.

1972 - The United States began the heaviest bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War. The attack ended 12 days later.

1973 - The IRA launched its Christmas bombing campaign in London.

1979 - The sound barrier was broken on land for the first time by Stanley Barrett when he drove at 739.6 mph.

1983 - Wayne Gretzky (Edmonton Oilers) scored his 100th point in the 34th game of the season.

1984 - Christopher Guest and Jamie Lee Curtis were married.

1987 - Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street's biggest insider-trading scandal. He only served about two years of the sentence.

1996 - Despite a U.N. truce, factional fighting in the Somali capital of Mogadishu, broke out in which at least 300 fighters and civilians were killed.

1998 - The U.S. House of Representatives began the debate on the four articles of impeachment concerning U.S. President Bill Clinton. It was only the second time in U.S. history that process had begun.

1998 - Russia recalled its U.S. ambassador in protest of the U.S. attacks on Iraq.

1998 - South Carolina proceeded with the U.S.' 500th execution since capital punishment was restored.

1999 - After living atop an ancient redwood in Humboldt County, CA, for two years, environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill came down, ending her anti-logging protest.

2001 - Mark Oliver Gebel, a Ringling Bros. Circus star, went on trial for animal abuse. The charges stemmed from an incident with an elephant that was marching too slowly into a circus performance on August 25, 2001. He was acquitted on December 21, 2001.

2001 - A fire damaged New York City's St. John Cathedral. The cathedral is the largest in the United States.

2001 - In Seattle, WA, Gary Leon Ridgeway pled innocent to the charge of murder for four of the Green River serial killings. He had been arrested on November 30, 2001.

2002 - Nine competing designs for the World Trade Center site were unveiled. The Lower Manhattan Development Corp. expected to choose a design by January 31, 2003.

2003 - Adam Rich was arrested for driving onto a closed section of Interstate 10 and nearly struck a California Highway Patrol car.

2009 - General Motors announced that it would shut down its Saab brand.

2009 - A Paris court ruled that Google was breaking French law with its policy of digitizing books and fined the company a $14,300-a-day fine until it rids its search engine of the literary extracts.

2009 - James Cameron's movie "Avatar" was released in the United States. On January 26, the movie became the highest-grossing film worldwide.

 

In 1878, John Kehoe, the last of the Molly Maguires was executed in Pennsylvania.

In 1943, singer/musician/songwriter Keith Richards was born in Dartford, Kent, England. The secret of his continued survival remains unclear.

In 1946, filmmaker Steven Spielberg was born in Cincinnati, OH.

In 1950, film critic Leonard Maltin was born in New York City. The “two-and-a-half stars” controversy would come later.

In 1964, first unit filming for “The Cage”, the original pilot for “Star Trek”, wrapped.

In 1966, the animated special “How the Grinch Stole Christmas”, featuring the voice of Boris Karloff, was first broadcast on CBS-TV.

In 1991, actor Deforest Kelley got a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

In 1997, actor/comedian Chris Farley was found dead in his apartment in Chicago of a cocaine and morphine overdose. He was 33.

In 2008, actress/producer Majel Barrett died in Los Angeles at age 76.

In 2014, the countdown to the release of Ep. VII reached “One Year and Counting”.

 

If I may...

ON DECEMBER 19th:

In 1777, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.

In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

In 1916, producer/director Roy Ward Baker was born in London.

In 1917, four teams of the National Hockey League played in the league’s first two games. The Montreal Canadiens beat the Ottawa Senators 7-4, and the Montreal Wanderers beat the Toronto Arenas 10-9.

In 1924, the last Rolls-Royce Silver Ghost was sold in London, England.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corp. began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service (later known as the BBC World Service) to Australia.

In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

In 1950, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In 1957, “The Music Man”, starring Robert Preston, opened on Broadway at the Majestic Theater.

In 1961, former U.S. Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy Sr., 73, suffered a debilitating stroke while in Palm Beach, Florida.

Also in 1961, actor/author Matthew Waterhouse, best-known for playing ill-fated Companion Adric on “Doctor Who”, was born in Hertford, Hertfordshire, England.

In 1965, “Kaiju Daisenso”, later titled “Monster Zero”, was released in Japan. It starred Godzilla, Rodan and Ghidora.

In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States in the U.S. Senate chamber by Chief Justice Warren Burger with President Gerald R. Ford looking on (in a first for the Senate, the proceeding was televised live).

In 1984, a coal fire at the Wilberg Mine near Orangeville, Utah, killed 27 people.

Also in 1984, Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.

In 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.

In 1997, “Titanic” went into wide release in the U.S.

In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was subsequently acquitted by the Senate).

In 1999, actor Desmond Llewelyn, best-known for playing Q in the James Bond movies, died in Firle, East Sussex, England at age 85.

In 2001, the movie “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring” was released in the U.S. and Canada.

In 2013, Discount retailer Target announced that data connected to about 40 million credit and debit card accounts had been stolen as part of a breach that began over the Thanksgiving weekend.

 

In 1606, the Virginia Company loaded three ships with settlers and set sail to establish Jamestown, the first permanent English settlement in the Americas.

In 1790, the first successful cotton mill in the United States began operating at Pawtucket, Rhode Island.

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

In 1812, German authors Jacob and Wilhelm Grimm published the first volume of the first edition of their collection of folk stories, "Children's and Household Tales."

In 1860, South Carolina became the first state to secede from the Union as all 169 delegates to a special convention in Charleston voted in favor of separation.

In 1864, Confederate forces evacuated Savannah, Georgia, as Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman nearly completed his "March to the Sea."

In 1924, Adolf Hitler was released from prison after serving nine months for his role in the Beer Hall Putsch; during his time behind bars, he'd written his autobiographical screed, "Mein Kampf."

In 1941, during World War II, the American Volunteer Group, better known as the “Flying Tigers” fought their first battle in Kunming, China.

In 1943, actress Jacqueline Pearce, best-known as Servalan on “Blake’s 7”, was born in Woking, Surrey, England.

In 1945, the Office of Price Administration announced the end of tire rationing, effective Jan. 1, 1946.

In 1946, the popular Christmas film “It’s a Wonderful Life” was first released in New York City. Decades later, “Saturday Night Live” would discover the “lost” ending to the film.

In 1955, Cardiff was proclaimed the capital city of Wales, United Kingdom.

In 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley received his draft notice for the U.S. Army.

In 1963, the Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners, who were allowed one-day visits to relatives in the Eastern sector for the holidays.

In 1987, more than 4,300 people were killed when the Dona Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collided with the tanker Vector off Mindoro Island.

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

In 1991, Oliver Stone’s controversial movie “JFK” was released.

 

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q...&mid=3C53DB765BF54BA5D3263C53DB765BF54BA5D326

(Sorry, couldn't directly post it.)

 

If I may...

ON DECEMBER 21st:

In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their "March to the Sea," which had begun in Atlanta on Nov. 15 and ended with the capture of Savannah, Georgia.

In 1879, the Henrik Ibsen play "A Doll's House" premiered at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen. “Cinematic Titanic” would later riff on a scene from this play as part of the pre-show during their (supposed) farewell tour.

In 1913, the first newspaper crossword puzzle, billed as a "Word-Cross Puzzle," was published in the New York World.

In 1914, the first feature-length silent film comedy, Mack Sennett's "Tillie's Punctured Romance," starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin, premiered.

In 1922, ventriloquist/actor/comedian Paul Winchell was born in New York City. In addition to his show biz career, he would later design and patent a mechanical artificial heart.

In 1927, producer/director/executive Michael Carreras, best-known for his work with Hammer Films, was born in London.

In 1933, five-year-old Shirley Temple signed a movie contract with Fox. Her age was later changed to make her appear a year younger.

In 1937, Walt Disney's first animated feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," had its world premiere in Los Angeles.

In 1940, musician/songwriter/composer Frank Zappa was born in Baltimore, MD.

In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Williams v. North Carolina, ruled 6-2 that all states had to recognize divorces granted in Nevada.

In 1945, Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident, at age 60.

In 1948, actor Samuel L. Jackson was born in Washington, D.C. Years later, he’d be granted a Jedi Knighthood, and would later say he’d had with…you know the rest.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France.

In 1963, on “Doctor Who”, the episode “The Dead Planet” was broadcast on BBC 1. It was the first appearance of the Daleks, and they’ve been EX-TER-MIN-A-TING ever since.

In 1968, Apollo 8, crewed by Frank Borman, James A. Lovell and William Anders, was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

In 1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island, off Massachusetts, almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.


In 1979, the movie "The Black Hole" was released in the U.S.

In 1988, 270 people were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pam Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, sending wreckage crashing to the ground.

In 1991, in a final step signifying the dismemberment of the Soviet Union, 11 of the 12 Soviet republics declared that they were forming the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

In 1991, the movie “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians” was shown on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” over Comedy Central. The episode also saw the introduction of the Christmas song, “Let’s Have a Patrick Swayze Christmas”.

In 2004, a suicide bombing at a mess hall tent near Mosul, Iraq, killed 22 people, including 14 U.S. service members and three American contractors.

In 2012, the Walt Disney Company completed its acquisition of Lucasfilm, Ltd. and of the “Star Wars” franchise.

 

Hard to believe it's been that long since that happened.

 

Same. Still feels like it was just yesterday sometimes.

 

In 1775, the Continental Congress created a Continental Navy, naming Esek Hopkins, Esq., as commander in chief of the fleet.

In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C Minor, Op. 67—the "Fifth Symphony"—which received its world premiere.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman said in a message to President Abraham Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas-gift the city of Savannah."

In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.)

In 1910, a fire lasting more than 26 hours broke out at the Chicago Union Stock Yards; 21 firefighters were killed in the collapse of a burning building.

In 1915, actress Barbara Billingsley was born in Los Angeles. Year later, she’d demonstrate her fluency in Jive.

In 1937, the first, center tube of the Lincoln Tunnel connecting New York City and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River was opened to traffic. (The second tube opened in 1945, the third in 1957.)

In 1941, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill arrived in Washington, D.C. for a series of meetings with President Franklin Delano Roosevelt on a unified Anglo-American war strategy and a future peace.

In 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brig. Gen. Anthony C. McAuliffe rejected a German demand for surrender, writing "Nuts!" in his official reply.

In 1947, author Brian Daley, one of the pioneering authors of the “Star Wars” Expanded Universe, was born in Englewood, NJ.

In 1949, singer/songwriters Maurice and Robin Gibb, who’d later join with brother Barry in the Bee Gees, were born in Douglas on the Isle of Man.

In 1954, actor Hugh Quarshie, who played Capt. Panaka in “Star Wars: Episode I- The Phantom Menace”, was born in Accra, Ghana.

In 1977, three dozen people were killed when a 250-foot-high grain elevator at the Continental Grain Company plant in Westwego, Louisiana, exploded.

In 1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot and wounded four youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him.

In 1989, the Romanian army defected to the cause of anti-communist demonstrators, and the government of Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown.

Also in 1989, Berlin's Brandenburg Gate re-opened after nearly 30 years, effectively ending the division of East and West Germany.

In addition in 1989, poet/playwright Samuel Beckett died in Paris, France at age 83.

In 1990, Lech Walesa, well-known Polish labor leader and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, is sworn in as the first noncommunist president of Poland since the end of World War II.

In 2001, Richard C. Reid, a passenger on an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami, tried to ignite explosives in his shoes, but was subdued by flight attendants and fellow passengers. (Reid is serving a life sentence in federal prison.)

In 2014, singer Joe Cocker died in Crawford, CO at age 70.

 

ADDENDUM:
In 1917, cinematographer/director Freddie Francis, winner of two Oscars for his camera work, was born in Islington, London.

 

On This Day...


1783 - George Washington returned home to Mount Vernon, after the disbanding of his army following the Revolutionary War.

1788 - Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the seat of the national government. About two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.

1823 - The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore (" 'Twas the night before Christmas...") was published.

1834 - English architect Joseph Hansom patented his 'safety cab', better known as the Hansom cab.

1852 - The Theatre of Celestial John opened on Telegraph Hill in San Francisco, CA. It was the first Chinese theatre in the U.S.

1856 - Ralph Collier was issued a U.S. patent for the first rotary egg beater with rotating parts.

1880 - Thomas Edison incorporated the Edison Electric Light Company of Europe.

1888 - Following a quarrel with Paul Gauguin, Dutch painter Vincent Van Gogh cut off part of his own earlobe.

1893 - The Engelbert Humperdinck opera "Hansel und Gretel" was first performed, in Weimar, Germany.

1913 - The Federal Reserve Bill was signed into law by U.S. President Woodrow Wilson. The act established 12 Federal Reserve Banks.

1919 - The first ship designed to be used as an ambulance for the transport patients was launched. The hospital ship was named USS Relief and had 515 beds.

1922 - The British Broadcasting Corporation began daily news broadcasts.

1930 - Ruth Elizabeth Davis, an unknown actress, arrived in Hollywood, under contract to Universal Studios. Universal changed her name to Bette Davis for the movies.

1938 - "Mrs. Wiggs of the Cabbage Patch" was heard for the final time on the radio.

1941 - During World War II, American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.

1942 - Bob Hope agreed to entertain U.S. airmen in Alaska. It was the first of the traditional Christmas shows.

1943 - "Hansel and Gretel," the opera, was televised on New York's WRBG. It was the first complete opera to be televised.

1947 - John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley invented the transistor.

1948 - Former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo. They had been found guilty of crimes against humanity.

1951 - A National Football League (NFL) championship game was televised nationally for the first time. The Los Angeles Rams beat the Cleveland Browns 24-17. The DuMont Network had paid $75,000 for the rights to the game.

1953 - Soviet secret police chief Lavrenti Beria and six of his associates were shot for treason following a secret trial.

1954 - The Walt Disney movie "20,000 Leagues Under the Sea" was released.
Disney movies, music and books

1957 - Dan Blocker made his acting debut on television in the "Restless Gun."

1965 - A 70-mph speed limit was introduced in Britain.

1968 - Eighty-two crewmembers of the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.

1972 - The Pittsburgh Steelers beat the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an NFL playoff game on a last-second play that was dubbed the "Immaculate Reception." Pittsburgh's Franco Harris caught a deflected pass and ran it in for the winning touchdown.

1981 - NASA approved a plan to continue the Voyager II spacecraft on a trajectory that would take it within 66,000 miles of Uranus on July 24, 1986.

1986 - The experimental airplane Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling as it landed safely at Edwards Air Force Base in California.

1987 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme, serving a life sentence for the attempted assassination of U.S. President Ford in 1975, escaped from the Alderson Federal Prison for Women in West Virginia. She was recaptured two days later.

1989 - Ousted Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, were captured as they were attempting to flee their country.

1990 - Elections in Yugoslavia ended, leaving four of its six republics with non-Communist governments.

1995 - A fire in Dabwali, India, killed 540 people, including 170 children, during a year-end party being held near the children's school.

1995 - The bodies of 16 members of the Solar Temple religious sect were found in a clearing near Grenoble, France. 14 were presumed shot by two people who then committed suicide.

1997 - Terry Nichols was convicted by a Denver jury on charges of conspiracy and involuntary manslaughter in the 1995 federal building bombing in Oklahoma City. The bomb killed 168 people.

1998 - Guerrillas in south Lebanon fired dozens of rockets at northern Israel.

 

In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent, coast-to-coast network.
In 1933, President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored the civil rights of about 1,500 people who'd been jailed for opposing the (First) World War.
In 1943, actor/comedian/writer/director Harry Shearer, who performs maybe a quarter of the voices on "The Simpsons", was born in Los Angeles.
In 1954, the first successful human kidney transplant took place at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston as a surgical team led by Dr. Joseph Murray removed a kidney from 23-year-old Ronald Herrick and implanted it in Herrick's twin brother, Richard, who was dying of chronic nephritis.
In 1970, The North Tower of the World Trade Center in Manhattan was topped out at 1,368 feet (417 m), making it, at the time, the tallest building in the world.
In 1982, actor/producer/director/screenwriter Jack Webb died in West Hollywood, CA at age 62.

 

If I may...

ON DECEMBER 24th:

In 1814, the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of 1812 following ratification by both the British Parliament and the U.S. Senate.

In 1818, the first performance of “Silent Night” took place in the church of St. Nikolaus in Oberndorf, Austria.

In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., destroying about 35,000 volumes.

In 1871, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt.

In 1914, during World War I, impromptu Christmas truces began to take hold along parts of the Western Front between British and German soldiers who, in some cases, exchanged gifts and even played soccer with each other.

In 1923, President Calvin Coolidge touched a button and lights up the first national Christmas tree to grace the White House grounds.

In 1939, Pope Pius XII delivered a Christmas Eve address in which he offered a five-point program for peace and denounced "premeditated aggressions."

In 1941, actor John Levene, best-known for playing Sgt. Benton on “Doctor Who”, was born in Salisbury, Wiltshire, England.

In 1943, President Franklin D. Roosevelt appointed Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces in Europe as part of Operation Overlord.

In 1945, writer/director Nicholas Meyer was born in New York City. One of his films would later help perpetuate the odd/even theory of “Star Trek” movies.

In 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," the first opera written specifically for television, was first broadcast by NBC-TV.

In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve telecast.

In 1974, Cyclone Tracy began battering the Australian city of Darwin, resulting in widespread damage and causing some 65 deaths.

In 1979, the Soviet Union invaded Afghanistan, under the pretext of upholding the Soviet-Afghan Friendship Treaty of 1978.

In 1993, the movie “Santa Claus” was shown on “Mystery Science Theater 3000” over Comedy Central. It also featured two new Christmas songs, “Whispering Christmas Warrior” and “Merry Christmas…If That’s OK”.

 

If I may...

ON DECEMBER 25th:

In A.D. 336, the first known commemoration of Christmas on Dec. 25 took place in Rome.

In 1066, William the Conqueror was crowned king of England.

In 1492, Carrack Santa Maria, captained by Christopher Columbus ran onto reefs off Haiti due to a proper watch not being kept. Local natives helped to save food, armory and ammunition, but not the ship.

In 1776, George Washington and the Continental Army crossed the Delaware River at night to attack Hessian forces serving Great Britain at Trenton, NJ, the next day.

In 1868, U.S. President Andrew Johnson granted unconditional pardons to all Civil War Confederate soldiers.

In 1899, Humphrey Bogart was born in New York City. As far as audiences were concerned, it was the start of a beautiful friendship.

In 1906, Lord Lew Grade was born in Tokmak in the Ukraine. As a media executive, he’d be instrumental in the creation and distribution of programs like “The Prisoner”, “The Muppet Show” and productions from Gerry & Sylvia Anderson.

In 1907, singer/bandleader Cab Calloway was born in Rochester, NY.

Submitted for your approval: in 1924, producer/screenwriter/program host Rod Serling was born in Syracuse, NY.

In 1926, Hirohito became emperor of Japan, succeeding his father, Emperor Yoshihito.

In 1941, during World War II, Japan announced the surrender of the British-Canadian garrison at Hong Kong.

Also in 1941, "White Christmas," written by Irving Berlin, received its world premiere on Bing Crosby's weekly NBC radio program, “The Kraft Music Hall”.

In 1946, W.C. Fields died in Pasadena, CA at age 66.

In 1961, Pope John XXIII formally announced the upcoming convocation of the Second Vatican Council, which opened in Oct. 1962.

In 1962, the film “To Kill a Mockingbird”, based on the 1960 Pulitzer Prize-winning novel of the same name by Harper Lee, and starring Gregory Peck, premiered in Los Angeles.

In 1968, Apollo 8 performed the very first successful Trans-Earth Injection (TEI) maneuver, sending the crew and spacecraft on a trajectory back to Earth from Lunar orbit.

In 1973, the film "The Sting," starring Paul Newman and Robert Redford, premiered in Los Angeles and New York.

In 1977, actor/filmmaker Charlie Chaplin died in Corsier-sur-Vevey, Vaud, Switzerland at age 88.

In 1989, deposed Romanian President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, First-Deputy Prime-Minister Elena Ceausescu were condemned to death and executed after a summary trial.

In 1991, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev went on television to announce his resignation as the eighth and final leader of a communist superpower that had already gone out of existence.

In 1993, the animated film “Batman: Mask of the Phantasm” was released in the U.S.

In 1995, actor/singer Dean Martin died in Beverly Hills at age 78.

In 2003, the Beagle 2 probe, released from the Mars Express spacecraft on December 19th, disappeared shortly before its scheduled landing.

In 2006, singer James Brown, the Godfather of Soul, died in Atlanta, GA at age 73.

In 2008, singer/actress Eartha Kitt died in Weston, CT at age 81.

In 2013, “The Time of the Doctor”, featuring the last regular appearance of Matt Smith as the Doctor, was broadcast on BBC 1.