This Day in History

11/24/1859: Origin of Species Is Published​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/origin-of-species-is-published

On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection, a groundbreaking scientific work by British naturalist Charles Darwin, is published in England. Darwin's theory argued that organisms gradually evolve through a process he called "natural selection." In natural selection, organisms with genetic variations that suit their environment tend to propagate more descendants than organisms of the same species that lack the variation, thus influencing the overall genetic makeup of the species.

Darwin, who was influenced by the work of French naturalist Jean-Baptiste de Lamarck and the English economist Thomas Mathus, acquired most of the evidence for his theory during a five-year surveying expedition aboard the HMS Beagle in the 1830s. Visiting such diverse places as the Galapagos Islands and New Zealand, Darwin acquired an intimate knowledge of the flora, fauna, and geology of many lands. This information, along with his studies in variation and interbreeding after returning to England, proved invaluable in the development of his theory of organic evolution.

The idea of organic evolution was not new. It had been suggested earlier by, among others, Darwin's grandfather Erasmus Darwin, a distinguished English scientist, and Lamarck, who in the early 19th century drew the first evolutionary diagram—a ladder leading from one-celled organisms to man. However, it was not until Darwin that science presented a practical explanation for the phenomenon of evolution.

Darwin had formulated his theory of natural selection by 1844, but he was wary to reveal his thesis to the public because it so obviously contradicted the biblical account of creation. In 1858, with Darwin still remaining silent about his findings, the British naturalist Alfred Russel Wallace independently published a paper that essentially summarized his theory. Darwin and Wallace gave a joint lecture on evolution before the Linnean Society of London in July 1858, and Darwin prepared On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection for publication.

Published on November 24, 1859, Origin of Species sold out immediately. Most scientists quickly embraced the theory that solved so many puzzles of biological science, but orthodox Christians condemned the work as heresy. Controversy over Darwin's ideas deepened with the publication of The Descent of Man, and Selection in Relation to Sex (1871), in which he presented evidence of man's evolution from apes.

By the time of Darwin's death in 1882, his theory of evolution was generally accepted. In honor of his scientific work, he was buried in Westminster Abbey beside kings, queens, and other illustrious figures from British history. Subsequent developments in genetics and molecular biology led to modifications in accepted evolutionary theory, but Darwin's ideas remain central to the field.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Mohawk Chief Joseph Brant dies, 1807

Automotive
- John Froelich, inventor of the gas-powered tractor, is born, 1849

Civil War
- Union troops prevail at the Battle of Lookout Mountain, 1863

Cold War
- "Hollywood 10" cited for contempt of Congress, 1947

Crime
- The FBI Crime Lab opens its doors for business, 1932

Disaster
- Ferry sinks in Yellow Sea, killing hundreds, 1999

General Interest
- Irish author and nationalist executed, 1922
- Jack Ruby kills Lee Harvey Oswald, 1963
- Hijacker parachutes into thunderstorm, 1971

Hollywood
- Robin Williams stars in Mrs. Doubtfire, 1993

Literary
- Origin of Species is published, 1859

Music
- Ringo Starr earns a solo #1 hit with "Photograph", 1973

Old West
- John Neihardt, ghostwriter of Black Elk Speaks, dies, 1973

Presidential
- Zachary Taylor is born, 1784

Sports
- Wilt Chamberlain sets NBA rebounds record, 1960

Vietnam War
- LBJ to continue Kennedy policy in Vietnam, 1963
- U.S. casualty rates hit new high, 1965
- U.S. Army announces Calley will be tried, 1969

World War I
- Yugoslav National Council expresses concerns about post-war boundaries , 1918

World War II
- U.S. B-29s raid Tokyo, 1944

11/25/1952: Mousetrap Opens in London​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mousetrap-opens-in-london

"The Mousetrap," a murder-mystery written by the novelist and playwright Agatha Christie, opens at the Ambassadors Theatre in London. The crowd-pleasing whodunit would go on to become the longest continuously running play in history, with more than 10 million people to date attending its more than 20,000 performances in London's West End.

When "The Mousetrap" premiered in 1952, Winston Churchill was British prime minister, Joseph Stalin was Soviet ruler, and Dwight D. Eisenhower was president-elect. Christie, already a hugely successful English mystery novelist, originally wrote the drama for Queen Mary, wife of the late King George V. Initially called "Three Blind Mice," it debuted as a 30-minute radio play on the queen's 80th birthday in 1947. Christie later extended the play and renamed it "The Mousetrap"—a reference to the play-within-a-play performed in William Shakespeare's "Hamlet."

On November 25, 1952, 453 people took their seats in the Ambassadors Theatre for the London premiere of Christie's "Mousetrap." The drama is played out at "Monkswell Manor," whose hosts and guests are snowed in among radio reports of a murderer on the loose. Soon a detective shows up on skis with the terrifying news that the murderer, and probably the next victim, are likely both among their number. Soon the clues and false leads pile as high as the snow. At every curtain call, the individual who has been revealed as the murderer steps forward and tells the audience that they are "partners in crime" and should "keep the secret of the whodunit locked in their heart."

Richard Attenborough and his wife, Sheila Sim, were the first stars of "The Mousetrap." To date, more than 300 actors and actresses have appeared in the roles of the eight characters. David Raven, who played "Major Metcalf" for 4,575 performances, is in the "Guinness Book of World Records" as the world's most durable actor, while Nancy Seabrooke is noted as the world's most patient understudy for 6,240 performances, or 15 years, as the substitute for "Mrs. Boyle."

"The Mousetrap" is not considered Christie's best play, and a prominent stage director once declared that "'The Mousetrap'" should be abolished by an act of Parliament." Nevertheless, the show's popularity has not waned. Asked about its enduring appeal, Christie said, "It is the sort of play you can take anyone to. It is not really frightening. It is not really horrible. It is not really a farce, but it has a little bit of all these things, and perhaps that satisfies a lot of different people." In 1974, after almost 9,000 shows, the play was moved to St. Martin's Theatre, where it remains today. Agatha Christie, who wrote scores of best-selling mystery novels, died in 1976.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Last British soldiers leave New York, 1783

Automotive
- Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge sinks to the bottom of Lake Washington, 1990

Civil War
- Yankees rout Rebels at the Battle of Missionary Ridge, 1863

Cold War
- London Council of Foreign Ministers meeting begins, 1947

Crime
- International day to eliminate violence against women, 1999

Disaster
- Storm of the century hits eastern U.S., 1950

General Interest
- Last British soldiers leave New York, 1783
- JFK buried at Arlington National Cemetery, 1963
- Mishima commits ritual suicide, 1970
- Iran-Contra connection revealed, 1986

Hollywood
- Agatha Christie’s long-running play The Mousetrap opens, 1952

Literary
- Nathanael West flunks out of Tufts, 1921
- Charlaine Harris, author of Sookie Stackhouse books, is born, 1951

Music
- Singer-songwriter Nick Drake dies, 1974

Old West
- U.S. Army retaliates for the Little Bighorn massacre, 1876

Presidential
- Kennedy laid to rest at Arlington, 1963

Sports
- Sugar Ray takes his title back, 1980

Vietnam War
- Catholic official reports support provided to North Vietnam, 1967
- Communist activity increases along Cambodian border, 1969

World War I
- German commander in East Africa surrenders , 1918

World War II
- A "war warning" is sent to commanders in the Pacific, 1941

 

11/26/1941: FDR Establishes Modern Thanksgiving Holiday​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/fdr-establishes-modern-thanksgiving-holiday

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signs a bill officially establishing the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

The tradition of celebrating the holiday on Thursday dates back to the early history of the Plymouth and Massachusetts Bay colonies, when post-harvest holidays were celebrated on the weekday regularly set aside as "Lecture Day," a midweek church meeting where topical sermons were presented. A famous Thanksgiving observance occurred in the autumn of 1621, when Plymouth governor William Bradford invited local Indians to join the Pilgrims in a three-day festival held in gratitude for the bounty of the season.

Thanksgiving became an annual custom throughout New England in the 17th century, and in 1777 the Continental Congress declared the first national American Thanksgiving following the Patriot victory at Saratoga. In 1789, President George Washington became the first president to proclaim a Thanksgiving holiday, when, at the request of Congress, he proclaimed November 26, a Tuesday, as a day of national thanksgiving for the U.S. Constitution. However, it was not until 1863, when President Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving to fall on the last Thursday of November, that the modern holiday was celebrated nationally.

With a few deviations, Lincoln's precedent was followed annually by every subsequent president--until 1939. In 1939, Franklin D. Roosevelt departed from tradition by declaring November 23, the next to last Thursday that year, as Thanksgiving Day. Considerable controversy surrounded this deviation, and some Americans refused to honor Roosevelt's declaration. For the next two years, Roosevelt repeated the unpopular proclamation, but on November 26, 1941, he admitted his mistake and signed a bill into law officially making the fourth Thursday in November the national holiday of Thanksgiving Day.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Peyton Randolph laid to rest at William and Mary, 1776

Automotive
- First U.S. "cloverleaf" appears on the cover of the Engineering News-Record, 1931

Civil War
- Mine Run campaign begins in Virginia, 1863

Cold War
- Chinese counterattacks in Korea change nature of war, 1950

Crime
- Vigilantes in California lynch two suspected murderers, 1933

Disaster
- Winter storm paralyzes southern New England, 1898

General Interest
- Archaeologists enter tomb of King Tut, 1922

Hollywood
- Casablanca premieres in NYC, 1942

Literary
- Alice in Wonderland manuscript is sent as a Christmas present, 1862

Music
- MTV Unplugged premieres, 1989

Old West
- The Great Diamond Hoax is exposed, 1872

Presidential
- George W. Bush pardons a turkey, 2002

Sports
- Football trailblazer Art Shell is born, 1946

Vietnam War
- Air Force helicopter pilot rescues Special Forces team, 1968

World War I
- T.E. Lawrence reports on Arab affairs, 1916

World War II
- Japanese task force leaves for Pearl Harbor, 1941

 

11/27/1095: Pope Urban II Orders First Crusade​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/pope-urban-ii-orders-first-crusade

On November 27, 1095, Pope Urban II makes perhaps the most influential speech of the Middle Ages, giving rise to the Crusades by calling all Christians in Europe to war against Muslims in order to reclaim the Holy Land, with a cry of "Deus vult!" or "God wills it!"

Born Odo of Lagery in 1042, Urban was a protege of the great reformer Pope Gregory VII. Like Gregory, he made internal reform his main focus, railing against simony (the selling of church offices) and other clerical abuses prevalent during the Middle Ages. Urban showed himself to be an adept and powerful cleric, and when he was elected pope in 1088, he applied his statecraft to weakening support for his rivals, notably Clement III.

By the end of the 11th century, the Holy Land—the area now commonly referred to as the Middle East—had become a point of conflict for European Christians. Since the 6th century, Christians frequently made pilgrimages to the birthplace of their religion, but when the Seljuk Turks took control of Jerusalem, Christians were barred from the Holy City. When the Turks then threatened to invade the Byzantine Empire and take Constantinople, Byzantine Emperor Alexius I made a special appeal to Urban for help. This was not the first appeal of its kind, but it came at an important time for Urban. Wanting to reinforce the power of the papacy, Urban seized the opportunity to unite Christian Europe under him as he fought to take back the Holy Land from the Turks.

At the Council of Clermont, in France, at which several hundred clerics and noblemen gathered, Urban delivered a rousing speech summoning rich and poor alike to stop their in-fighting and embark on a righteous war to help their fellow Christians in the East and take back Jerusalem. Urban denigrated the Muslims, exaggerating stories of their anti-Christian acts, and promised absolution and remission of sins for all who died in the service of Christ.

Urban's war cry caught fire, mobilizing clerics to drum up support throughout Europe for the crusade against the Muslims. All told, between 60,000 and 100,000 people responded to Urban's call to march on Jerusalem. Not all who responded did so out of piety: European nobles were tempted by the prospect of increased land holdings and riches to be gained from the conquest. These nobles were responsible for the death of a great many innocents both on the way to and in the Holy Land, absorbing the riches and estates of those they conveniently deemed opponents to their cause. Adding to the death toll was the inexperience and lack of discipline of the Christian peasants against the trained, professional armies of the Muslims. As a result, the Christians were initially beaten back, and only through sheer force of numbers were they eventually able to triumph.

Urban died in 1099, two weeks after the fall of Jerusalem but before news of the Christian victory made it back to Europe. His was the first of seven major military campaigns fought over the next two centuries known as the Crusades, the bloody repercussions of which are still felt today. Urban was beatified by the Roman Catholic Church in 1881.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- "The Chancellor" is born, 1746

Automotive
- Indy 500 champ Hélio Castroneves wins "Dancing with the Stars", 2007

Civil War
- John Hunt Morgan escapes from the Ohio Penitentiary, 1863

Cold War
- Alger Hiss released from prison, 1954

Crime
- San Francisco leaders George Moscone and Harvey Milk are murdered, 1978

Disaster
- Freak storm dissipates over England, 1703

General Interest
- Iron Guard massacres former Romanian government, 1940
- Nehru appeals for disarmament, 1957

Hollywood
- Bruce Lee born, 1940

Literary
- Robert Burns postpones emigration to Jamaica, 1786

Music
- Jimi Hendrix born, 1942
- Aerosmith and 50 Cent headline a $10 million bar mitzvah, 2005

Old West
- Custer massacres Cheyenne on Washita River, 1868

Presidential
- White House housekeeper frets over presidential waistline, 1911

Sports
- Gordie Howe scores his 600th goal, 1965

Vietnam War
- Pentagon calls for troop increase, 1965
- South Vietnamese forces attacked near Cambodian border, 1970

World War I
- Hindenburg celebrates Warsaw campaign, 1914

World War II
- French scuttle their fleet, 1942

11/28/1520: Magellan Reaches the Pacific​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/magellan-reaches-the-pacific

After sailing through the dangerous straits below South America that now bear his name, Portuguese navigator Ferdinand Magellan enters the Pacific Ocean with three ships, becoming the first European explorer to reach the Pacific from the Atlantic.

On September 20, 1519, Magellan set sail from Spain in an effort to find a western sea route to the rich Spice Islands of Indonesia. In command of five ships and 270 men, Magellan sailed to West Africa and then to Brazil, where he searched the South American coast for a strait that would take him to the Pacific. He searched the Rio de la Plata, a large estuary south of Brazil, for a way through; failing, he continued south along the coast of Patagonia. At the end of March 1520, the expedition set up winter quarters at Port St. Julian. On Easter day at midnight, the Spanish captains mutinied against their Portuguese captain, but Magellan crushed the revolt, executing one of the captains and leaving another ashore when his ship left St. Julian in August.

On October 21, he finally discovered the strait he had been seeking. The Strait of Magellan, as it became known, is located near the tip of South America, separating Tierra del Fuego and the continental mainland. Only three ships entered the passage; one had been wrecked and another deserted. It took 38 days to navigate the treacherous strait, and when ocean was sighted at the other end Magellan wept with joy. His fleet accomplished the westward crossing of the ocean in 99 days, crossing waters so strangely calm that the ocean was named "Pacific," from the Latin word pacificus, meaning "tranquil." By the end, the men were out of food and chewed the leather parts of their gear to keep themselves alive. On March 6, 1521, the expedition landed at the island of Guam.

Ten days later, they dropped anchor at the Philippine island of Cebu—they were only about 400 miles from the Spice Islands. Magellan met with the chief of Cebu, who after converting to Christianity persuaded the Europeans to assist him in conquering a rival tribe on the neighboring island of Mactan. In fighting on April 27, Magellan was hit by a poisoned arrow and left to die by his retreating comrades.

After Magellan's death, the survivors, in two ships, sailed on to the Moluccas and loaded the hulls with spice. One ship attempted, unsuccessfully, to return across the Pacific. The other ship, the Vittoria, continued west under the command of Basque navigator Juan Sebastian de Elcano. The vessel sailed across the Indian Ocean, rounded the Cape of Good Hope, and arrived at the Spanish port of Sanlucar de Barrameda on September 6, 1522, becoming the first ship to circumnavigate the globe.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- John Adams replaces Silas Deane, 1777

Automotive
- Duryea Motor Wagon wins first car race in U.S., 1895

Civil War
- North and South skirmish at the Battle of Cane Hill, 1862

Cold War
- Czechoslovakian Communist Party gives up monopoly on political power, 1989

Crime
- A media controversy ignites over the case of Tawana Brawley, 1987

Disaster
- Plane crashes over Antarctica, 1979

General Interest
- Lady Astor becomes MP, 1919
- Jeffrey Dahmer murdered in prison, 1994

Hollywood
- Talk-show host and comedian Jon Stewart born, 1962

Literary
- William Shakespeare marries Anne Hathaway, 1582

Music
- The Shangri-Las score a #1 hit with "Leader Of The Pack", 1964

Old West
- The Grand Ole Opry begins broadcasting, 1925

Presidential
- FDR attends Tehran Conference, 1943

Sports
- Frank Duryea wins first U.S. horseless-carriage race, 1895

Vietnam War
- Johnson advised to bomb North Vietnam, 1964
- The Philippines agrees to send troops to South Vietnam, 1965

World War I
- New York Stock Exchange resumes bond trading , 1914

World War II
- Enrico Fermi, architect of the nuclear age, dies, 1954

 

11/29/1947: U.N. Votes for Partition of Palestine​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/un-votes-for-partition-of-palestine

Despite strong Arab opposition, the United Nations votes for the partition of Palestine and the creation of an independent Jewish state.

The modern conflict between Jews and Arabs in Palestine dates back to the 1910s, when both groups laid claim to the British-controlled territory. The Jews were Zionists, recent emigrants from Europe and Russia who came to the ancient homeland of the Jews to establish a Jewish national state. The native Palestinian Arabs sought to stem Jewish immigration and set up a secular Palestinian state.

Beginning in 1929, Arabs and Jews openly fought in Palestine, and Britain attempted to limit Jewish immigration as a means of appeasing the Arabs. As a result of the Holocaust in Europe, many Jews illegally entered Palestine during World War II. Radical Jewish groups employed terrorism against British forces in Palestine, which they thought had betrayed the Zionist cause. At the end of World War II, in 1945, the United States took up the Zionist cause. Britain, unable to find a practical solution, referred the problem to the United Nations, which on November 29, 1947, voted to partition Palestine.

The Jews were to possess more than half of Palestine, though they made up less than half of Palestine's population. The Palestinian Arabs, aided by volunteers from other countries, fought the Zionist forces, but the Jews secured full control of their U.N.-allocated share of Palestine and also some Arab territory. On May 14, 1948, Britain withdrew with the expiration of its mandate, and the State of Israel was proclaimed by Jewish Agency Chairman David Ben-Gurion. The next day, forces from Egypt, Transjordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Iraq invaded.

The Israelis, though less well equipped, managed to fight off the Arabs and then seize key territories, such as Galilee, the Palestinian coast, and a strip of territory connecting the coastal region to the western section of Jerusalem. In 1949, U.N.-brokered cease-fires left the State of Israel in permanent control of those conquered areas. The departure of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian Arabs from Israel during the war left the country with a substantial Jewish majority.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Congress creates Committee of Secret Correspondence, 1775

Automotive
- Last day at VW for Jose Ignacio Lopez, 1996

Civil War
- Native Americans are massacred at Sand Creek, Colorado, 1864

Cold War
- Eisenhower goes to Korea, 1952

Crime
- A Florida man is allegedly assaulted by police, 1998

Disaster
- Dust storm causes massive pileup in California, 1991

General Interest
- Byrd flies over South Pole, 1929
- Chinese overwhelm Allies in North Korea, 1950
- Johnson establishes Warren Commission, 1963

Hollywood
- Actress Natalie Wood drowns, 1981

Literary
- Sue Miller is born, 1943

Music
- Silver Convention "earn" a #1 pop hit with "Fly, Robin, Fly", 1975

Old West
- Colorado militia massacre Cheyenne at Sand Creek, 1864

Presidential
- LBJ forms commission to investigate Kennedy assassination, 1963

Sports
- The legendary Eddie Robinson coaches his last game, 1997

Vietnam War
- McNamara resigns as Secretary of Defense, 1967
- Communists vow to smash Phoenix program, 1968
- Americal Division stands down and departs, 1971

World War I
- American nurse Maude Fisher writes to mother of war casualty, 1918

World War II
- Coffee rationing begins, 1942

11/30/1886: Folies Bergère Stage First Revenue​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/folies--bergere-stage-first-revue

Once a hall for operettas, pantomime, political meetings, and vaudeville, the Folies Bergère in Paris introduces an elaborate revue featuring women in sensational costumes. The highly popular "Place aux Jeunes" established the Folies as the premier nightspot in Paris. In the 1890s, the Folies followed the Parisian taste for striptease and quickly gained a reputation for its spectacular nude shows. The theater spared no expense, staging revues that featured as many as 40 sets, 1,000 costumes, and an off-stage crew of some 200 people.

The Folies Bergère dates back to 1869, when it opened as one of the first major music halls in Paris. It produced light opera and pantomimes with unknown singers and proved a resounding failure. Greater success came in the 1870s, when the Folies Bergère staged vaudeville. Among other performers, the early vaudeville shows featured acrobats, a snake charmer, a boxing kangaroo, trained elephants, the world's tallest man, and a Greek prince who was covered in tattoos allegedly as punishment for trying to seduce the Shah of Persia's daughter. The public was allowed to drink and socialize in the theater's indoor garden and promenade area, and the Folies Bergère became synonymous with the carnal temptations of the French capital. Famous paintings by Édouard Manet and Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec were set in the Folies.

In 1886, the Folies Bergère went under new management, which, on November 30, staged the first revue-style music hall show. The "Place aux Jeunes," featuring scantily clad chorus girls, was a tremendous success. The Folies women gradually wore less and less as the 20th century approached, and the show's costumes and sets became more and more outrageous. Among the performers who got their start at the Folies Bergère were Yvette Guilbert, Maurice Chevalier, and Mistinguett. The African American dancer and singer Josephine Baker made her Folies debut in 1926, lowered from the ceiling in a flower-covered sphere that opened onstage to reveal her wearing a G-string ornamented with bananas.

The Folies Bergère remained a success throughout the 20th century and still can be seen in Paris today, although the theater now features many mainstream concerts and performances. Among other traditions that date back more than a century, the show's title always contains 13 letters and includes the word "Folie."

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Howe brothers offer amnesty, 1776

Automotive
- Unsafe at Any Speed hits bookstores, 1965

Civil War
- Rebels are defeated at the Battle of Franklin, 1864

Cold War
- The United States and U.S.S.R. open talks to reduce intermediate-range nuclear forces, 1981

Crime
- "America's First Female Serial Killer" strikes, 1989

Disaster
- Achille Lauro sinks near Somalia, 1994

General Interest
- Winston Churchill born, 1874
- Meteorite strikes Alabama woman, 1954
- Brady Bill signed into law, 1993

Hollywood
- Jeopardy! contestant's record winning streak ends, 2004

Literary
- Mark Twain is born, 1835

Music
- Elton John's Greatest Hits hits #1, 1974

Old West
- Harvey "Kid Curry" Logan sentenced, 1902

Presidential
- Truman refuses to rule out atomic weapons, 1950

Sports
- Football coach Bill Walsh is born, 1931

Vietnam War
- McNamara warns Johnson that communists are gaining strength in South Vietnam, 1965
- South Vietnamese draft articles for new constitution, 1966
- McCarthy to enter Democratic presidential primary, 1967
- White House announces no full withdrawal until final truce agreement signed, 1972

World War I
- German foreign minister celebrates revolution in Russia, 1917

World War II
- USSR attacks Finland, 1939

 

12/1/1990: Chunnel Makes Breakthrough​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/chunnel--makes-breakthrough

Shortly after 11 a.m. on December 1, 1990, 132 feet below the English Channel, workers drill an opening the size of a car through a wall of rock. This was no ordinary hole--it connected the two ends of an underwater tunnel linking Great Britain with the European mainland for the first time in more than 8,000 years.

The Channel Tunnel, or "Chunnel," was not a new idea. It had been suggested to Napoleon Bonaparte, in fact, as early as 1802. It wasn't until the late 20th century, though, that the necessary technology was developed. In 1986, Britain and France signed a treaty authorizing the construction of a tunnel running between Folkestone, England, and Calais, France.

Over the next four years, nearly 13,000 workers dug 95 miles of tunnels at an average depth of 150 feet (45 meters) below sea level. Eight million cubic meters of soil were removed, at a rate of some 2,400 tons per hour. The completed Chunnel would have three interconnected tubes, including one rail track in each direction and one service tunnel. The price? A whopping $15 billion.

After workers drilled that final hole on December 1, 1990, they exchanged French and British flags and toasted each other with champagne. Final construction took four more years, and the Channel Tunnel finally opened for passenger service on May 6, 1994, with Britain's Queen Elizabeth II and France's President Francois Mitterrand on hand in Calais for the inaugural run. A company called Eurotunnel won the 55-year concession to operate the Chunnel, which is the crucial stretch of the Eurostar high-speed rail link between London and Paris. The regular shuttle train through the tunnel runs 31 miles in total--23 of those underwater--and takes 20 minutes, with an additional 15-minute loop to turn the train around. The Chunnel is the second-longest rail tunnel in the world, after the Seikan Tunnel in Japan.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Washington establishes winter quarters at Morristown, 1779

Automotive
- Ford's assembly line starts rolling, 1913

Civil War
- Lincoln gives State of the Union address, 1862

Cold War
- Antarctica made a military-free continent, 1959

Crime
- Defense presents its case in Hamptons murder trial, 2004

Disaster
- Students die in Chicago school fire, 1958

General Interest
- Presidential election goes to the House, 1824
- Sergey Kirov murdered, 1934
- Rosa Parks ignites bus boycot, 1955

Hollywood
- Trailblazing comic Richard Pryor born, 1940

Literary
- Due date for Victor Hugo, 1830

Music
- Bette Midler is born in Honolulu, Hawaii, 1945

Old West
- Elfego Baca battles Anglo cowboys, 1884

Presidential
- Congress decides outcome of presidential election, 1824

Sports
- Lee Trevino is born, 1939

Vietnam War
- Johnson Administration makes plans to bomb North Vietnam, 1964
- Situation in Cambodia worsens, 1971

World War I
- New state declared in the Balkans, 1919

World War II
- Stettinius succeeds Hull as secretary of state, 1944

 

12/2/2001: Enron Files for Bankruptcy​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/enron-files-for-bankruptcy

On this day in 2001, the Enron Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in a New York court, sparking one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history.

An energy-trading company based in Houston, Texas, Enron was formed in 1985 as the merger of two gas companies, Houston Natural Gas and Internorth. Under chairman and CEO Kenneth Lay, Enron rose as high as number seven on Fortune magazine's list of the top 500 U.S. companies. In 2000, the company employed 21,000 people and posted revenue of $111 billion. Over the next year, however, Enron's stock price began a dramatic slide, dropping from $90.75 in August 2000 to $0.26 by closing on November 30, 2001.

As prices fell, Lay sold large amounts of his Enron stock, while simultaneously encouraging Enron employees to buy more shares and assuring them that the company was on the rebound. Employees saw their retirement savings accounts wiped out as Enron's stock price continued to plummet. After another energy company, Dynegy, canceled a planned $8.4 billion buy-out in late November, Enron filed for bankruptcy. By the end of the year, Enron's collapse had cost investors billions of dollars, wiped out some 5,600 jobs and liquidated almost $2.1 billion in pension plans.

Over the next several years, the name "Enron" became synonymous with large-scale corporate fraud and corruption, as an investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission and the U.S. Justice Department revealed that Enron had inflated its earnings by hiding debts and losses in subsidiary partnerships. The government subsequently accused Lay and Jeffrey K. Skilling, who served as Enron's CEO from February to August 2001, of conspiring to cover up their company's financial weaknesses from investors. The investigation also brought down accounting giant Arthur Anderson, whose auditors were found guilty of deliberately destroying documents incriminating to Enron.

In July 2004, a Houston court indicted Skilling on 35 counts including fraud, conspiracy and insider trading. Lay was charged with 11 similar crimes. The trial began on January 30, 2006, in Houston. A number of former Enron employees appeared on the stand, including Andrew Fastow, Enron's ex-CFO, who early on pleaded guilty to two counts of conspiracy and agreed to testify against his former bosses. Over the course of the trial, the defiant Skilling--who unloaded almost $60 million worth of Enron stock shortly after his resignation but refused to admit he knew of the company's impending collapse--emerged as the figure many identified most personally with the scandal. In May 2006, Skilling was convicted of 19 of 35 counts, while Lay was found guilty on 10 counts of fraud and conspiracy. When Lay died from heart disease just two months later, a Houston judge vacated the counts against him. That October, the 52-year-old Skilling was sentenced to more than 24 years in prison.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Philadelphia nurse overhears British plans to attack Washington, 1777

Automotive
- Toyota's first hydrogen fuel-cell vehicles arrive in California, 2002

Civil War
- Confederate General Gracie killed at Petersburg, 1864

Cold War
- Castro declares himself a Marxist-Leninist, 1961

Crime
- Kennedy cousin rape trial begins, 1991

Disaster
- Dam collapses in France, killing 412, 1959

General Interest
- Napoleon crowned emperor, 1804
- Monroe Doctrine declared, 1823
- John Brown hanged, 1859
- McCarthy condemned by Senate, 1954

Hollywood
- Affleck and Damon’s Good Will Hunting debuts, 1997

Literary
- Coleridge joins the cavalry, 1793

Music
- The Temptations earn their final #1 hit with "Papa Was A Rolling Stone", 1972

Old West
- Polk affirms Monroe Doctrine, 1845

Presidential
- Monroe introduces bold new foreign policy, 1823

Sports
- Archie Griffin wins second consecutive Heisman Trophy, 1975

Vietnam War
- Senator Mansfield pronounces American aid to South Vietnam wasted, 1962
- South Vietnamese leaders order a temporary halt to the strategic hamlet program, 1963

World War I
- Russia reaches armistice with the Central Powers, 1917

World War II
- Fermi produces the first nuclear chain reaction, 1942

12/3/1947: A Streetcar Named Desire Opens on Broadway​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/a-streetcar-named-desire-opens-on-broadway

On this day in 1947, Marlon Brando's famous cry of "STELLA!" first booms across a Broadway stage, electrifying the audience at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre during the first-ever performance of Tennessee Williams' play A Streetcar Named Desire.

The 23-year-old Brando played the rough, working-class Polish-American Stanley Kowalski, whose violent clash with Blanche DuBois (played on Broadway by Jessica Tandy), a Southern belle with a dark past, is at the center of Williams' famous drama. Blanche comes to stay with her sister Stella (Kim Hunter), Stanley's wife, at their home in the French Quarter of New Orleans; she and Stanley immediately despise each other. In the climactic scene, Stanley rapes Blanche, causing her to lose her fragile grip on sanity; the play ends with her being led away in a straitjacket.

Streetcar, produced by Irene Mayer Selznick and directed by Elia Kazan, shocked mid-century audiences with its frank depiction of sexuality and brutality onstage. When the curtain went down on opening night, there was a moment of stunned silence before the crowd erupted into a round of applause that lasted 30 minutes. On December 17, the cast left New York to go on the road. The show would run for more than 800 performances, turning the charismatic Brando into an overnight star. Tandy won a Tony Award for her performance, and Williams was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for Drama.

In 1951, Kazan made Streetcar into a movie. Brando, Hunter and Karl Malden (as Stanley's friend and Blanche's love interest) reprised their roles. The role of Blanche went to Vivien Leigh, the scenery-chewing star of Gone with the Wind. Controversy flared when the Catholic Legion of Decency threatened to condemn the film unless the explicitly sexual scenes--including the climactic rape--were removed. When Williams, who wrote the screenplay, refused to take out the rape, the Legion insisted that Stanley be punished onscreen. As a result, the movie (but not the play) ends with Stella leaving Stanley.

A Streetcar Named Desire earned 12 Oscar nominations, including acting nods for each of its four leads. The movie won for Best Art Direction, and Leigh, Hunter and Malden all took home awards; Brando lost to Humphrey Bogart in The African Queen.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Washington arrives at the banks of the Delaware, 1776

Automotive
- Last AMC Pacer rolls off assembly line, 1979

Civil War
- Union General George McClellan is born, 1826

Cold War
- Bush and Gorbachev suggest Cold War is coming to an end, 1989

Crime
- The clothes make the man . . . guilty, 1989

Disaster
- Explosion kills 2,000 at pesticide plant, 1984

General Interest
- First Balkan War ends, 1912
- First human heart transplant, 1967
- The Bhopal-Union Carbide disaster, 1984

Hollywood
- Heavy-metal legend Ozzy Osbourne born, 1948

Literary
- Joseph Conrad's birthday, 1857

Music
- Eleven people killed in a stampede outside Who concert in Cincinnati, Ohio, 1979

Old West
- Illinois becomes the 21st state, 1818

Presidential
- Lincoln reaches legal milestone, 1839

Sports
- Indian field hockey gold medalist Dhyan Chand dies, 1979

Vietnam War
- Report maintains that Viet Cong are prepared for a long war, 1962
- Memorandum outlines terms for bombing halt, 1965

World War I
- Nivelle replaces Joffre as French commander, 1916

World War II
- Civil war breaks out in Athens, 1944

 

12/4/1991: Hostage Terry Anderson Freed in Lebanon​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/hostage-terry-anderson-freed-in-lebanon

On this day in 1991, Islamic militants in Lebanon release kidnapped American journalist Terry Anderson after 2,454 days in captivity.

As chief Middle East correspondent for the Associated Press, Anderson covered the long-running civil war in Lebanon (1975-1990). On March 16, 1985, he was kidnapped on a west Beirut street while leaving a tennis court. His captors took him to the southern suburbs of the city, where he was held prisoner in an underground dungeon for the next six-and-a-half years.

Anderson was one of 92 foreigners (including 17 Americans) abducted during Lebanon's bitter civil war. The kidnappings were linked to Hezbollah, or the Party of God, a militant Shiite Muslim organization formed in 1982 in reaction to Israel's military presence in Lebanon. They seized several Americans, including Anderson, soon after Kuwaiti courts jailed 17 Shiites found guilty of bombing the American and French embassies there in 1983. Hezbollah in Lebanon received financial and spiritual support from Iran, where prominent leaders praised the bombers and kidnappers for performing their duty to Islam.

U.S. relations with Iran--and with Syria, the other major foreign influence in Lebanon--showed signs of improving by 1990, when the civil war drew to a close, aided by Syria's intervention on behalf of the Lebanese army. Eager to win favor from the U.S. in order to promote its own economic goals, Iran used its influence in Lebanon to engineer the release of nearly all the hostages over the course of 1991.

Anderson returned to the U.S. and was reunited with his family, including his daughter Suleme, born three months after his capture. In 1999, he sued the Iranian government for $100 million, accusing it of sponsoring his kidnappers; he received a multi-million dollar settlement.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Washington's cousin tricks Loyalists, 1780

Automotive
- "Irish Godfather" killed by car bomb in St. Paul, 1928

Civil War
- North and South skirmish at Waynesboro, Georgia, 1864

Cold War
- Senate approves U.S. participation in United Nations, 1945

Crime
- Police kill two members of the Black Panther Party, 1969
- Amanda Knox convicted of murder in Italy, 2009

Disaster
- Smog kills thousands in England, 1952

General Interest
- The mystery of the Mary Celeste, 1872
- President Wilson travels to Europe, 1918
- Bush orders U.S. troops to Somalia, 1992

Hollywood
- Warren Beatty writes, directs, stars in Oscar-winning Reds, 1981

Literary
- Somerset Maugham sails for Pago Pago, 1916

Music
- The "Million Dollar Quartet" convenes at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, 1956

Old West
- Oliver Kelley organizes the Grange, 1867

Presidential
- Washington bids farewell to his officers, 1783

Sports
- NBA suspends Latrell Sprewell for attacking coach, 1997

Vietnam War
- Viet Cong attack Tan Son Nhut airport, 1966
- Riverine force surrounds Viet Cong battalion, 1967

World War I
- Psychiatrist reports on the phenomenon of shell shock, 1917

World War II
- Polish Christians come to the aid of Polish Jews, 1944

 

12/5/1945: Aircraft Squadron Lost in the Bermuda Triangle​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/aircraft-squadron-lost-in-the-bermuda-triangle

At 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120 miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would return them to the naval base. They never returned.

Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who had been flying in the area for more than six months, reported that his compass and back-up compass had failed and that his position was unknown. The other planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land were contacted to find the location of the lost squadron, but none were successful. After two more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20 p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft simultaneously because of lack of fuel.

By this time, several land radar stations finally determined that Flight 19 was somewhere north of the Bahamas and east of the Florida coast, and at 7:27 p.m. a search and rescue Mariner aircraft took off with a 13-man crew. Three minutes later, the Mariner aircraft radioed to its home base that its mission was underway. The Mariner was never heard from again. Later, there was a report from a tanker cruising off the coast of Florida of a visible explosion seen at 7:50 p.m.

The disappearance of the 14 men of Flight 19 and the 13 men of the Mariner led to one of the largest air and seas searches to that date, and hundreds of ships and aircraft combed thousands of square miles of the Atlantic Ocean, the Gulf of Mexico, and remote locations within the interior of Florida. No trace of the bodies or aircraft was ever found.

Although naval officials maintained that the remains of the six aircraft and 27 men were not found because stormy weather destroyed the evidence, the story of the "Lost Squadron" helped cement the legend of the Bermuda Triangle, an area of the Atlantic Ocean where ships and aircraft are said to disappear without a trace. The Bermuda Triangle is said to stretch from the southern U.S. coast across to Bermuda and down to the Atlantic coast of Cuba and Santo Domingo.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Phi Beta Kappa is founded while army flounders, 1776

Automotive
- Last segment of the Dan Ryan Expressway opens in Chicago, 1970

Civil War
- Union General George Custer is born, 1839

Cold War
- USSR and Afghanistan sign "friendship treaty", 1978

Crime
- The Boston Belfry Murderer kills his first victim, 1873

Disaster
- Hundreds die in Brooklyn theater fire, 1876

General Interest
- Prohibition ends, 1933

Hollywood
- Eddie Murphy stars in Beverly Hills Cop, 1984

Literary
- Steinbeck's Sea of Cortez is published, 1941

Music
- O Brother, Where Art Thou? soundtrack released, 2000

Old West
- Rodeo star Bill Pickett born in Texas, 1871

Presidential
- Van Buren is born, 1782

Sports
- Roone Arledge dies, 2002

Vietnam War
- Army Captain awarded first Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam, 1964
- North Vietnam announces it will not be intimidated by U.S. bombing, 1970

World War I
- Siege of British-occupied Kut, Mesopotamia begins, 1915

World War II
- American carrier Lexington heads to Midway, 1941

 

12/6/1884: Washington Monument Completed​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/washington-monument-completed

On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction of an impressive monument to the city's namesake and the nation's first president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L'Enfant left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall (near the monument's present location).

It wasn't until 1832, however--33 years after Washington's death--that anyone really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills, the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue's construction. These efforts--including appeals to the nation's schoolchildren--raised some $230,000, far short of the $1 million needed. Construction began anyway, on July 4, 1848, as representatives of the society laid the cornerstone of the monument: a 24,500-pound block of pure white marble.

Six years later, with funds running low, construction was halted. Around the time the Civil War began in 1861, author Mark Twain described the unfinished monument as looking like a "hollow, oversized chimney." No further progress was made until 1876--the centennial of American independence--when President Ulysses S. Grant authorized construction to be completed.

Made of some 36,000 blocks of marble and granite stacked 555 feet in the air, the monument was the tallest structure in the world at the time of its completion in December 1884. In the six months following the dedication ceremony, over 10,000 people climbed the nearly 900 steps to the top of the Washington Monument. Today, an elevator makes the trip far easier, and more than 800,000 people visit the monument each year. A city law passed in 1910 restricted the height of new buildings to ensure that the monument will remain the tallest structure in Washington, D.C.--a fitting tribute to the man known as the "Father of His Country."

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Whitemarsh skirmishes turn in Americans' favor, 1777

Automotive
- Deaf stuntwoman Kitty O'Neil sets women's land-speed record, 1976

Civil War
- The 13th Amendment is ratified, 1865

Cold War
- Protests against Soviet treatment of Jews take place in Washington and Moscow, 1987

Crime
- Train robbers reach the end of the line, 1868

Disaster
- Ships explode in Canadian harbor, 1917

General Interest
- The Monongah coal mine disaster, 1907
- The Great Halifax Explosion, 1917
- Irish Free State declared, 1921

Hollywood
- Brokeback Mountain premieres, 2005

Literary
- Ulysses is ruled not obscene, 1933

Music
- The Altamont Festival brings the 1960s to a violent end, 1969

Old West
- French-Canadian explorer La Verendrye dies, 1749

Presidential
- Monument to Washington completed, 1884

Sports
- Jerry Rice scores record-breaking touchdown, 1992

Vietnam War
- Operation Farm Gate combat missions authorized, 1961
- Fighting continues in South Vietnam while negotiators talk in Paris, 1972

World War I
- Munitions ship explodes in Halifax, 1917

World War II
- Roosevelt to Japanese emperor: "Prevent further death and destruction", 1941

 

12/8/1980: John Lennon Shot​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/john-lennon-shot

John Lennon, a former member of the Beatles, the rock group that transformed popular music in the 1960s, is shot and killed by an obsessed fan in New York City. The 40-year-old artist was entering his luxury Manhattan apartment building when Mark David Chapman shot him four times at close range with a .38-caliber revolver. Lennon, bleeding profusely, was rushed to the hospital but died en route. Chapman had received an autograph from Lennon earlier in the day and voluntarily remained at the scene of the shooting until he was arrested by police. For a week, hundreds of bereaved fans kept a vigil outside the Dakota--Lennon's apartment building--and demonstrations of mourning were held around the world.

John Lennon was one half of the singing-songwriting team that made the Beatles the most popular musical group of the 20th century. The other band leader was Paul McCartney, but the rest of the quartet--George Harrison and Ringo Starr--sometimes penned and sang their own songs as well. Hailing from Liverpool, England, and influenced by early American rock and roll, the Beatles took Britain by storm in 1963 with the single "Please Please Me." "Beatlemania" spread to the United States in 1964 with the release of "I Want to Hold Your Hand," followed by a sensational U.S. tour. With youth poised to break away from the culturally rigid landscape of the 1950s, the "Fab Four," with their exuberant music and good-natured rebellion, were the perfect catalyst for the shift.

The Beatles sold millions of records and starred in hit movies such as A Hard Day's Night (1964). Their live performances were near riots, with teenage girls screaming and fainting as their boyfriends nodded along to the catchy pop songs. In 1966, the Beatles gave up touring to concentrate on their innovative studio recordings, such as 1967's Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart's Club Band, a psychedelic concept album that is regarded as a masterpiece of popular music. The Beatles' music remained relevant to youth throughout the great cultural shifts of the 1960s, and critics of all ages acknowledged the songwriting genius of the Lennon-McCartney team.

Lennon was considered the intellectual Beatle and certainly was the most outspoken of the four. He caused a major controversy in 1966 when he declared that the Beatles were "more popular than Jesus," prompting mass burnings of Beatles' records in the American Bible Belt. He later became an anti-war activist and flirted with communism in the lyrics of solo hits like "Imagine," recorded after the Beatles disbanded in 1970. In 1975, Lennon dropped out of the music business to spend more time with his Japanese-born wife, Yoko Ono, and their son, Sean. In 1980, he made a comeback with Double-Fantasy, a critically acclaimed album that celebrated his love for Yoko and featured songs written by her.

On December 8, 1980, their peaceful domestic life on New York's Upper West Side was shattered by 25-year-old Mark David Chapman. Psychiatrists deemed Chapman a borderline psychotic. He was instructed to plead insanity, but instead he pleaded guilty to murder. He was sentenced to 20 years to life. In 2000, New York State prison officials denied Chapman a parole hearing, telling him that his "vicious and violent act was apparently fueled by your need to be acknowledged." He remains behind bars at Attica Prison in New York State.

John Lennon is memorialized in "Strawberry Fields," a section of Central Park across the street from the Dakota that Yoko Ono landscaped in honor of her husband.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Americans begin siege of Quebec, 1775

Automotive
- Auto-factory architect Albert Kahn dies, 1942

Civil War
- Lincoln issues Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, 1863

Cold War
- Chinese Nationalists move capital to Taiwan, 1949

Crime
- John Lennon is murdered, 1980

Disaster
- Theater fire kills hundreds in Vienna, 1881

General Interest
- Mary Queen of Scots born, 1542
- Superpowers agree to reduce nuclear arsenals, 1987
- NAFTA signed into law, 1993

Hollywood
- Meryl Streep stars in Sophie’s Choice, 1982

Literary
- James Thurber is born, 1894

Music
- John Lennon is assassinated in New York City, 1980

Old West
- Jeanette Rankin casts sole vote against WWII, 1941

Presidential
- Roosevelt asks Congress to declare war on Japan, 1941

Sports
- Bears beat Redskins 73-0 in NFL Championship game, 1940

Vietnam War
- Operation Tiger Hound launched, 1965
- North Vietnam rejects Johnson's prisoner exchange proposal, 1966
- Nixon declares Vietnam War is ending, 1969

World War I
- The Battle of the Falkland Islands, 1914

World War II
- The United States declares war on Japan, 1941

 

12/9/1992: U.S. Marines Storm Mogadishu, Somalia​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/us-marines-storm-mogadishu-somalia

On this day in 1992, 1,800 United States Marines arrive in Mogadishu, Somalia, to spearhead a multinational force aimed at restoring order in the conflict-ridden country.

Following centuries of colonial rule by countries including Portugal, Britain and Italy, Mogadishu became the capital of an independent Somalia in 1960. Less than 10 years later, a military group led by Major General Muhammad Siad Barre seized power and declared Somalia a socialist state. A drought in the mid-1970s combined with an unsuccessful rebellion by ethnic Somalis in a neighboring province of Ethiopia to deprive many of food and shelter. By 1981, close to 2 million of the country's inhabitants were homeless. Though a peace accord was signed with Ethiopia in 1988, fighting increased between rival clans within Somalia, and in January 1991 Barre was forced to flee the capital. Over the next 23 months, Somalia's civil war killed some 50,000 people; another 300,000 died of starvation as United Nations peacekeeping forces struggled in vain to restore order and provide relief amid the chaos of war.

In early December 1992, outgoing U.S. President George H.W. Bush sent the contingent of Marines to Mogadishu as part of a mission dubbed Operation Restore Hope. Backed by the U.S. troops, international aid workers were soon able to restore food distribution and other humanitarian aid operations. Sporadic violence continued, including the murder of 24 U.N. soldiers from Pakistan in 1993. As a result, the U.N. authorized the arrest of General Mohammed Farah Aidid, leader of one of the rebel clans. On October 3, 1993, during an attempt to make the arrest, rebels shot down two of the U.S. Army's Black Hawk helicopters and killed 18 American soldiers.

As horrified TV viewers watched images of the bloodshed—-including footage of Aidid's supporters dragging the body of one dead soldier through the streets of Mogadishu, cheering—-President Bill Clinton immediately gave the order for all American soldiers to withdraw from Somalia by March 31, 1994. Other Western nations followed suit. When the last U.N. peacekeepers left in 1995, ending a mission that had cost more than $2 billion, Mogadishu still lacked a functioning government. A ceasefire accord signed in Kenya in 2002 failed to put a stop to the violence, and though a new parliament was convened in 2004, rival factions in various regions of Somalia continue to struggle for control of the troubled nation.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Patriots gain control of Virginia, 1775

Automotive
- GM engineers discover that leaded gas reduces "knock" in auto engines, 1921

Civil War
- Joint Committee on the Conduct of the War created, 1861

Cold War
- Harry Gold sent to prison for his role in atomic espionage, 1950

Crime
- Policeman Daniel Faulkner found dead, 1981

Disaster
- Cold spell leads to tragedy in Iran, 2003

General Interest
- John Birch Society founded, 1958
- Intifada begins on Gaza Strip, 1987
- Walesa elected president of Poland, 1990
- Separation of Charles and Diana announced, 1992

Hollywood
- Pacino stars in Scarface, 1983

Literary
- "The Charge of the Light Brigade" by Alfred Lord Tennyson is published, 1854

Music
- "I Am Woman" by Helen Reddy tops the U.S. pop charts, 1972

Old West
- The Texan Army captures San Antonio, 1835

Presidential
- Johnson discusses daughters, 1967

Sports
- Reds trade Frank Robinson to Orioles, 1965

Vietnam War
- Newspaper reports on bombing over North Vietnam, 1965
- Paris peace talks break down, 1971

World War I
- Jerusalem surrenders to British troops, 1917

World War II
- Brits launch offensive against Italians in North Africa, 1940

12/10/1901: First Nobel Prizes Awarded​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-nobel-prizes-awarded

The first Nobel Prizes are awarded in Stockholm, Sweden, in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The ceremony came on the fifth anniversary of the death of Alfred Nobel, the Swedish inventor of dynamite and other high explosives. In his will, Nobel directed that the bulk of his vast fortune be placed in a fund in which the interest would be "annually distributed in the form of prizes to those who, during the preceding year, shall have conferred the greatest benefit on mankind." Although Nobel offered no public reason for his creation of the prizes, it is widely believed that he did so out of moral regret over the increasingly lethal uses of his inventions in war.

Alfred Bernhard Nobel was born in Stockholm in 1833, and four years later his family moved to Russia. His father ran a successful St. Petersburg factory that built explosive mines and other military equipment. Educated in Russia, Paris, and the United States, Alfred Nobel proved a brilliant chemist. When his father's business faltered after the end of the Crimean War, Nobel returned to Sweden and set up a laboratory to experiment with explosives. In 1863, he invented a way to control the detonation of nitroglycerin, a highly volatile liquid that had been recently discovered but was previously regarded as too dangerous for use. Two years later, Nobel invented the blasting cap, an improved detonator that inaugurated the modern use of high explosives. Previously, the most dependable explosive was black powder, a form of gunpowder.

Nitroglycerin remained dangerous, however, and in 1864 Nobel's nitroglycerin factory blew up, killing his younger brother and several other people. Searching for a safer explosive, Nobel discovered in 1867 that the combination of nitroglycerin and a porous substance called kieselguhr produced a highly explosive mixture that was much safer to handle and use. Nobel christened his invention "dynamite," for the Greek word dynamis, meaning "power." Securing patents on dynamite, Nobel acquired a fortune as humanity put his invention to use in construction and warfare.

In 1875, Nobel created a more powerful form of dynamite, blasting gelatin, and in 1887 introduced ballistite, a smokeless nitroglycerin powder. Around that time, one of Nobel's brothers died in France, and French newspapers printed obituaries in which they mistook him for Alfred. One headline read, "The merchant of death is dead." Alfred Nobel in fact had pacifist tendencies and in his later years apparently developed strong misgivings about the impact of his inventions on the world. After he died in San Remo, Italy, on December 10, 1896, the majority of his estate went toward the creation of prizes to be given annually in the fields of physics, chemistry, medicine, literature, and peace. The portion of his will establishing the Nobel Peace Prize read, "[one award shall be given] to the person who has done the most or best work for fraternity among nations, for the abolition or reduction of standing armies, and for the holding and promotion of peace congresses." Exactly five years after his death, the first Nobel awards were presented.

Today, the Nobel Prizes are regarded as the most prestigious awards in the world in their various fields. Notable winners have included Marie Curie, Theodore Roosevelt, Albert Einstein, George Bernard Shaw, Winston Churchill, Ernest Hemingway, Martin Luther King, Jr., the Dalai Lama, Mikhail Gorbachev, and Nelson Mandela. Multiple leaders and organizations sometimes receive the Nobel Peace Prize, and multiple researchers often share the scientific awards for their joint discoveries. In 1968, a Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Science was established by the Swedish national bank, Sveriges Riksbank, and first awarded in 1969.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences decides the prizes in physics, chemistry, and economic science; the Swedish Royal Caroline Medico-Surgical Institute determines the physiology or medicine award; the Swedish Academy chooses literature; and a committee elected by the Norwegian parliament awards the peace prize. The Nobel Prizes are still presented annually on December 10, the anniversary of Nobel's death. In 2006, each Nobel Prize carried a cash prize of nearly $1,400,000 and recipients also received a gold medal, as is the tradition.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- John Jay is elected president of the Continental Congress, 1778

Automotive
- Ford builds its 1 millionth car, 1915

Civil War
- Sherman arrives in front of Savannah, 1864

Cold War
- Soviets arrest dissidents on United Nations Human Rights Day, 1977

Crime
- Frank Sinatra Jr. endures a frightening ordeal, 1963

Disaster
- Music star dies in Wisconsin plane crash, 1967

General Interest
- Treaty of Paris ends Spanish-American War, 1898
- Bunche receives Nobel Peace Prize, 1950
- Sex scandal involving Arkansas politician, 1974

Hollywood
- Mike Myers stars in Wayne's World 2, 1993
- Avatar makes its world premiere, 2009

Literary
- Emily Dickinson is born, 1830

Music
- Soul legend Otis Redding dies in a plane crash near Madison, Wisconsin, 1967

Old West
- Wyoming grants women the vote, 1869

Presidential
- Wilson awarded Nobel Peace Prize, 1920

Sports
- LaDainian Tomlinson breaks single-season touchdown record, 2006

Vietnam War
- Calley trial defense begins, 1970
- Breakthrough appears near in Paris peace talks, 1972

World War I
- Red Cross is awarded Nobel Peace Prize, 1917

World War II
- Japan becomes master of the Pacific and South China Sea, 1941

 

12/11/1936: Edward VIII Abdicates​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/edward-viii-abdicates

After ruling for less than one year, Edward VIII becomes the first English monarch to voluntarily abdicate the throne. He chose to abdicate after the British government, public, and the Church of England condemned his decision to marry the American divorcée Wallis Warfield Simpson. On the evening of December 11, he gave a radio address in which he explained, "I have found it impossible to carry on the heavy burden of responsibility and to discharge the duties of king, as I would wish to do, without the help and support of the woman I love." On December 12, his younger brother, the duke of York, was proclaimed King George VI.

Edward, born in 1894, was the eldest son of King George V, who became the British sovereign in 1910. Still unmarried as he approached his 40th birthday, he socialized with the fashionable London society of the day. By 1934, he had fallen deeply in love with American socialite Wallis Warfield Simpson, who was married to Ernest Simpson, an English-American businessman who lived with Mrs. Simpson near London. Wallis, who was born in Pennsylvania, had previously married and divorced a U.S. Navy pilot. The royal family disapproved of Edward's married mistress, but by 1936 the prince was intent on marrying Mrs. Simpson. Before he could discuss this intention with his father, George V died, in January 1936, and Edward was proclaimed king.

The new king proved popular with his subjects, and his coronation was scheduled for May 1937. His affair with Mrs. Simpson was reported in American and continental European newspapers, but due to a gentlemen's agreement between the British press and the government, the affair was kept out of British newspapers. On October 27, 1936, Mrs. Simpson obtained a preliminary decree of divorce, presumably with the intent of marrying the king, which precipitated a major scandal. To the Church of England and most British politicians, an American woman twice divorced was unacceptable as a prospective British queen. Winston Churchill, then a Conservative backbencher, was the only notable politician to support Edward.

Despite the seemingly united front against him, Edward could not be dissuaded. He proposed a morganatic marriage, in which Wallis would be granted no rights of rank or property, but on December 2, Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin rejected the suggestion as impractical. The next day, the scandal broke on the front pages of British newspapers and was discussed openly in Parliament. With no resolution possible, the king renounced the throne on December 10. The next day, Parliament approved the abdication instrument, and Edward VIII's reign came to an end. The new king, George VI, made his older brother the duke of Windsor. On June 3, 1937, the duke of Windsor and Wallis Warfield married at the Château de Cande in France's Loire Valley.

For the next two years, the duke and duchess lived primarily in France but visited other European countries, including Germany, where the duke was honored by Nazi officials in October 1937 and met with Adolf Hitler. After the outbreak of World War II, the duke accepted a position as liaison officer with the French. In June 1940, France fell to the Nazis, and Edward and Wallis went to Spain. During this period, the Nazis concocted a scheme to kidnap Edward with the intention of returning him to the British throne as a puppet king. George VI, like his prime minister, Winston Churchill, was adamantly opposed to any peace with Nazi Germany. Unaware of the Nazi kidnapping plot but conscious of Edward's pre-war Nazi sympathies, Churchill hastily offered Edward the governorship of the Bahamas in the West Indies. The duke and duchess set sail from Lisbon on August 1, 1940, narrowly escaping a Nazi SS team sent to seize them.

In 1945, the duke resigned his post, and the couple moved back to France. They lived mainly in Paris, and Edward made a few visits to England, such as to attend the funerals of King George VI in 1952 and his mother, Queen Mary, in 1953. It was not until 1967 that the duke and duchess were invited by the royal family to attend an official public ceremony, the unveiling of a plaque dedicated to Queen Mary. Edward died in Paris in 1972 but was buried at Frogmore, on the grounds of Windsor Castle. In 1986, Wallis died and was buried at his side.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- British delay Washington's march to Valley Forge, 1777

Automotive
- NYC authorities jettison plans for expressway across Lower Manhattan, 1962

Civil War
- The Federals occupy Fredericksburg, 1862

Cold War
- Soviets declare nudity a sign of "western decadence", 1969

Crime
- Billionaire conman Bernard Madoff arrested, 2008

Disaster
- Toronto endures record snowstorm, 1944

General Interest
- UNICEF founded, 1946
- Yeltsin orders Russian forces into Chechnya, 1994

Hollywood
- Tootsie actress Teri Garr born, 1944

Literary
- Alexander Solzhenitsyn is born, 1918

Music
- Sam Cooke dies under suspicious circumstances in LA, 1964

Old West
- Buffalo Bill Cody makes his first stage appearance, 1872

Presidential
- Madison presents trade agreement to Congress, 1815

Sports
- Muhammad Ali vs. Trevor Berbick, 1981

Vietnam War
- First U.S. helicopters arrive in South Vietnam., 1961
- Paratroopers depart South Vietnam, 1969

World War I
- Yuan Shih-kai accepts Chinese throne, 1915

World War II
- Germany declares war on the United States, 1941

 

12/13/2000: Al Gore Concedes Presidential Election​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/al-gore-concedes-presidential-election

Vice President Al Gore reluctantly concedes defeat to Texas Governor George W. Bush in his bid for the presidency, following weeks of legal battles over the recounting of votes in Florida, on this day in 2000.

In a televised speech from his ceremonial office next to the White House, Gore said that while he was deeply disappointed and sharply disagreed with the Supreme Court verdict that ended his campaign, ''partisan rancor must now be put aside.''

"I accept the finality of the outcome, which will be ratified next Monday in the Electoral College'' he said. "And tonight, for the sake of our unity as a people and the strength of our democracy, I offer my concession.''

Gore had won the national popular vote by more than 500,000 votes, but narrowly lost Florida, giving the Electoral College to Bush 271 to 266.

Gore said he had telephoned Bush to offer his congratulations, honoring him, for the first time, with the title ''president-elect.''

''I promised that I wouldn't call him back this time'' Gore said, referring to the moment on election night when he had called Bush to tell him he was going to concede, then called back a half hour later to retract that concession.

Gore only hinted at what he might do in the future. ''I've seen America in this campaign and I like what I see. It's worth fighting for—and that's a fight I'll never stop.''

Among the friends and family beside Gore were his wife, Tipper, and his running mate, Senator Joseph I. Lieberman of Connecticut, and his wife, Hadassah.

A little more than an hour later, Bush addressed the nation for the first time as president-elect, declaring that the "nation must rise above a house divided." Speaking from the podium of the Texas House of Representatives, Bush devoted his speech to themes of reconciliation following one of the closest and most disputed presidential elections in U.S. history. ''I was not elected to serve one party, but to serve one nation,'' Bush said.

Bush and his running mate, Dick Cheney, took office on January 20, 2001. They were re-elected in 2004 over Democrats John Kerry and John Edwards.

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Civil War
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Crime
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
- Goebbels complains of Italians' treatment of Jews, 1942

 

12/14/1911: Amundsen Reaches South Pole​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/amundsen-reaches-south-pole

Norwegian Roald Amundsen becomes the first explorer to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival, Robert Falcon Scott.

Amundsen, born in Borge, near Oslo, in 1872, was one of the great figures in polar exploration. In 1897, he was first mate on a Belgian expedition that was the first ever to winter in the Antarctic. In 1903, he guided the 47-ton sloop Gjöa through the Northwest Passage and around the Canadian coast, the first navigator to accomplish the treacherous journey. Amundsen planned to be the first man to the North Pole, and he was about to embark in 1909 when he learned that the American Robert Peary had achieved the feat.

Amundsen completed his preparations and in June 1910 sailed instead for Antarctica, where the English explorer Robert F. Scott was also headed with the aim of reaching the South Pole. In early 1911, Amundsen sailed his ship into Antarctica's Bay of Whales and set up base camp 60 miles closer to the pole than Scott. In October, both explorers set off--Amundsen using sleigh dogs, and Scott employing Siberian motor sledges, Siberian ponies, and dogs. On December 14, 1911, Amundsen's expedition won the race to the Pole and returned safely to base camp in late January.

Scott's expedition was less fortunate. The motor sleds broke down, the ponies had to be shot, and the dog teams were sent back as Scott and four companions continued on foot. On January 18, 1912, they reached the pole only to find that Amundsen had preceded them by over a month. Weather on the return journey was exceptionally bad--two members perished--and a storm later trapped Scott and the other two survivors in their tent only 11 miles from their base camp. Scott's frozen body was found later that year.

After his historic Antarctic journey, Amundsen established a successful shipping business. He later made attempts to become the first explorer to fly over the North Pole. In 1925, in an airplane, he flew within 150 miles of the goal. In 1926, he passed over the North Pole in a dirigible just three days after American explorer Richard E. Byrd had apparently done so in an aircraft. In 1996, a diary that Byrd had kept on the flight was found that seemed to suggest that the he had turned back 150 miles short of its goal because of an oil leak, making Amundsen's dirigible expedition the first flight over the North Pole.

In 1928, Amundsen lost his life while trying to rescue a fellow explorer whose dirigible had crashed at sea near Spitsbergen, Norway.

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Automotive
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Civil War
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Cold War
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Crime
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
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12/15/2001: Leaning Tower of Pisa Reopens​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/leaning-tower-of-pisa-reopens

On this day in 2001, Italy's Leaning Tower of Pisa reopens after a team of experts spent 11 years and $27 million to fortify the tower without eliminating its famous lean.

In the 12th century, construction began on the bell tower for the cathedral of Pisa, a busy trade center on the Arno River in western Italy, some 50 miles from Florence. While construction was still in progress, the tower's foundation began to sink into the soft, marshy ground, causing it to lean to one side. Its builders tried to compensate for the lean by making the top stories slightly taller on one side, but the extra masonry required only made the tower sink further. By the time it was completed in 1360, modern-day engineers say it was a miracle it didn't fall down completely.

Though the cathedral itself and the adjoining baptistery also leaned slightly, it was the Torre Pendente di Pisa, or Leaning Tower of Pisa, that became the city's most famous tourist attraction. By the 20th century, the 190-foot-high white marble tower leaned a dramatic 15 feet off the perpendicular. In the year before its closing in 1990, 1 million people visited the old tower, climbing its 293 weathered steps to the top and gazing out over the green Campo dei Miracoli (Field of Miracles) outside. Fearing it was about to collapse, officials appointed a group of 14 archeologists, architects and soil experts to figure out how to take some--but not all--of the famous tilt away.

Though an initial attempt in 1994 almost toppled the tower, engineers were eventually able to reduce the lean by between 16 and 17 inches by removing earth from underneath the foundations. When the tower reopened on December 15, 2001, engineers predicted it would take 300 years to return to its 1990 position. Though entrance to the tower is now limited to guided tours, hordes of tourists can still be found outside, striking the classic pose--standing next to the tower pretending to hold it up--as cameras flash.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
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Automotive
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Civil War
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Cold War
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Crime
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Disaster
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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World War I
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World War II
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12/16/1773: Boston Tea Party​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/the-boston-tea-party

In Boston Harbor, a group of Massachusetts colonists disguised as Mohawk Indians board three British tea ships and dump 342 chests of tea into the harbor.

The midnight raid, popularly known as the "Boston Tea Party," was in protest of the British Parliament's Tea Act of 1773, a bill designed to save the faltering East India Company by greatly lowering its tea tax and granting it a virtual monopoly on the American tea trade. The low tax allowed the East India Company to undercut even tea smuggled into America by Dutch traders, and many colonists viewed the act as another example of taxation tyranny.

When three tea ships, the Dartmouth, the Eleanor, and the Beaver, arrived in Boston Harbor, the colonists demanded that the tea be returned to England. After Massachusetts Governor Thomas Hutchinson refused, Patriot leader Samuel Adams organized the "tea party" with about 60 members of the Sons of Liberty, his underground resistance group. The British tea dumped in Boston Harbor on the night of December 16 was valued at some $18,000.

Parliament, outraged by the blatant destruction of British property, enacted the Coercive Acts, also known as the Intolerable Acts, in 1774. The Coercive Acts closed Boston to merchant shipping, established formal British military rule in Massachusetts, made British officials immune to criminal prosecution in America, and required colonists to quarter British troops. The colonists subsequently called the first Continental Congress to consider a united American resistance to the British.

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Music
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12/17/1903: First Airplane Flies​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/first-airplane-flies

Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft. Orville piloted the gasoline-powered, propeller-driven biplane, which stayed aloft for 12 seconds and covered 120 feet on its inaugural flight.

Orville and Wilbur Wright grew up in Dayton, Ohio, and developed an interest in aviation after learning of the glider flights of the German engineer Otto Lilienthal in the 1890s. Unlike their older brothers, Orville and Wilbur did not attend college, but they possessed extraordinary technical ability and a sophisticated approach to solving problems in mechanical design. They built printing presses and in 1892 opened a bicycle sales and repair shop. Soon, they were building their own bicycles, and this experience, combined with profits from their various businesses, allowed them to pursue actively their dream of building the world's first airplane.

After exhaustively researching other engineers' efforts to build a heavier-than-air, controlled aircraft, the Wright brothers wrote the U.S. Weather Bureau inquiring about a suitable place to conduct glider tests. They settled on Kitty Hawk, an isolated village on North Carolina's Outer Banks, which offered steady winds and sand dunes from which to glide and land softly. Their first glider, tested in 1900, performed poorly, but a new design, tested in 1901, was more successful. Later that year, they built a wind tunnel where they tested nearly 200 wings and airframes of different shapes and designs. The brothers' systematic experimentations paid off--they flew hundreds of successful flights in their 1902 glider at Kill Devils Hills near Kitty Hawk. Their biplane glider featured a steering system, based on a movable rudder, that solved the problem of controlled flight. They were now ready for powered flight.

In Dayton, they designed a 12-horsepower internal combustion engine with the assistance of machinist Charles Taylor and built a new aircraft to house it. They transported their aircraft in pieces to Kitty Hawk in the autumn of 1903, assembled it, made a few further tests, and on December 14 Orville made the first attempt at powered flight. The engine stalled during take-off and the plane was damaged, and they spent three days repairing it. Then at 10:35 a.m. on December 17, in front of five witnesses, the aircraft ran down a monorail track and into the air, staying aloft for 12 seconds and flying 120 feet. The modern aviation age was born. Three more tests were made that day, with Wilbur and Orville alternately flying the airplane. Wilbur flew the last flight, covering 852 feet in 59 seconds.

During the next few years, the Wright brothers further developed their airplanes but kept a low profile about their successes in order to secure patents and contracts for their flying machines. By 1905, their aircraft could perform complex maneuvers and remain aloft for up to 39 minutes at a time. In 1908, they traveled to France and made their first public flights, arousing widespread public excitement. In 1909, the U.S. Army's Signal Corps purchased a specially constructed plane, and the brothers founded the Wright Company to build and market their aircraft. Wilbur Wright died of typhoid fever in 1912; Orville lived until 1948.

The historic Wright brothers' aircraft of 1903 is on permanent display at the National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.

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Disaster
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General Interest
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
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12/18/1620: Mayflower Docks at Plymouth Harbor​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/mayflower-passengers-come-ashore-at-plymouth-harbor

On December 18, 1620, the British ship Mayflower docked at modern-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, and its passengers prepared to begin their new settlement, Plymouth Colony.

The famous Mayflower story began in 1606, when a group of reform-minded Puritans in Nottinghamshire, England, founded their own church, separate from the state-sanctioned Church of England. Accused of treason, they were forced to leave the country and settle in the more tolerant Netherlands. After 12 years of struggling to adapt and make a decent living, the group sought financial backing from some London merchants to set up a colony in America. On September 6, 1620, 102 passengers–dubbed Pilgrims by William Bradford, a passenger who would become the first governor of Plymouth Colony–crowded on the Mayflower to begin the long, hard journey to a new life in the New World.

On November 11, 1620, the Mayflower anchored at what is now Provincetown Harbor, Cape Cod. Before going ashore, 41 male passengers–heads of families, single men and three male servants–signed the famous Mayflower Compact, agreeing to submit to a government chosen by common consent and to obey all laws made for the good of the colony. Over the next month, several small scouting groups were sent ashore to collect firewood and scout out a good place to build a settlement. Around December 10, one of these groups found a harbor they liked on the western side of Cape Cod Bay. They returned to the Mayflower to tell the other passengers, but bad weather prevented them from docking until December 18. After exploring the region, the settlers chose a cleared area previously occupied by members of a local Native American tribe, the Wampanoag. The tribe had abandoned the village several years earlier, after an outbreak of European disease. That winter of 1620-1621 was brutal, as the Pilgrims struggled to build their settlement, find food and ward off sickness. By spring, 50 of the original 102 Mayflower passengers were dead. The remaining settlers made contact with returning members of the Wampanoag tribe and in March they signed a peace treaty with a tribal chief, Massasoit. Aided by the Wampanoag, especially the English-speaking Squanto, the Pilgrims were able to plant crops–especially corn and beans–that were vital to their survival. The Mayflower and its crew left Plymouth to return to England on April 5, 1621.

Over the next several decades, more and more settlers made the trek across the Atlantic to Plymouth, which gradually grew into a prosperous shipbuilding and fishing center. In 1691, Plymouth was incorporated into the new Massachusetts Bay Association, ending its history as an independent colony.

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Automotive
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Civil War
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Cold War
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Crime
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Disaster
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
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World War I
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World War II
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12/19/1998: President Clinton Impeached​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/president-clinton-impeached

After nearly 14 hours of debate, the House of Representatives approves two articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton, charging him with lying under oath to a federal grand jury and obstructing justice. Clinton, the second president in American history to be impeached, vowed to finish his term.

In November 1995, Clinton began an affair with Monica Lewinsky, a 21-year-old unpaid intern. Over the course of a year and a half, the president and Lewinsky had nearly a dozen sexual encounters in the White House. In April 1996, Lewinsky was transferred to the Pentagon. That summer, she first confided in Pentagon co-worker Linda Tripp about her sexual relationship with the president. In 1997, with the relationship over, Tripp began secretly to record conversations with Lewinsky, in which Lewinsky gave Tripp details about the affair.

In December, lawyers for Paula Jones, who was suing the president on sexual harassment charges, subpoenaed Lewinsky. In January 1998, allegedly under the recommendation of the president, Lewinsky filed an affidavit in which she denied ever having had a sexual relationship with him. Five days later, Tripp contacted the office of Kenneth Starr, the Whitewater independent counsel, to talk about Lewinsky and the tapes she made of their conversations. Tripp, wired by FBI agents working with Starr, met with Lewinsky again, and on January 16, Lewinsky was taken by FBI agents and U.S. attorneys to a hotel room where she was questioned and offered immunity if she cooperated with the prosecution. A few days later, the story broke, and Clinton publicly denied the allegations, saying, "I did not have sexual relations with that woman, Ms. Lewinsky."

In late July, lawyers for Lewinsky and Starr worked out a full-immunity agreement covering both Lewinsky and her parents, all of whom Starr had threatened with prosecution. On August 6, Lewinsky appeared before the grand jury to begin her testimony, and on August 17 President Clinton testified. Contrary to his testimony in the Paula Jones sexual-harassment case, President Clinton acknowledged to prosecutors from the office of the independent counsel that he had had an extramarital affair with Ms. Lewinsky.

In four hours of closed-door testimony, conducted in the Map Room of the White House, Clinton spoke live via closed-circuit television to a grand jury in a nearby federal courthouse. He was the first sitting president ever to testify before a grand jury investigating his conduct. That evening, President Clinton also gave a four-minute televised address to the nation in which he admitted he had engaged in an inappropriate relationship with Lewinsky. In the brief speech, which was wrought with legalisms, the word "sex" was never spoken, and the word "regret" was used only in reference to his admission that he misled the public and his family.

Less than a month later, on September 9, Kenneth Starr submitted his report and 18 boxes of supporting documents to the House of Representatives. Released to the public two days later, the Starr Report outlined a case for impeaching Clinton on 11 grounds, including perjury, obstruction of justice, witness-tampering, and abuse of power, and also provided explicit details of the sexual relationship between the president and Ms. Lewinsky. On October 8, the House authorized a wide-ranging impeachment inquiry, and on December 11, the House Judiciary Committee approved three articles of impeachment. On December 19, the House impeached Clinton.

On January 7, 1999, in a congressional procedure not seen since the 1868 impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson, the trial of President Clinton got underway in the Senate. As instructed in Article 1 of the U.S. Constitution, the chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court (William Rehnquist at this time) was sworn in to preside, and the senators were sworn in as jurors.

Five weeks later, on February 12, the Senate voted on whether to remove Clinton from office. The president was acquitted on both articles of impeachment. The prosecution needed a two-thirds majority to convict but failed to achieve even a bare majority. Rejecting the first charge of perjury, 45 Democrats and 10 Republicans voted "not guilty," and on the charge of obstruction of justice the Senate was split 50-50. After the trial concluded, President Clinton said he was "profoundly sorry" for the burden his behavior imposed on Congress and the American people.

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American Revolution
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Automotive
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Civil War
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Cold War
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Crime
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Disaster
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General Interest
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Hollywood
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Literary
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Music
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Old West
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Presidential
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Sports
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Vietnam War
- Another bloodless coup topples the government in Saigon, 1964
- North Vietnam condemns Linebacker raids, 1972

World War I
- Haig becomes commander-in-chief of the British army in France, 1915

World War II
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12/20/1957: Elvis Presley Is Drafted​

http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/elvis-presley-is-drafted

On this day in 1957, while spending the Christmas holidays at Graceland, his newly purchased Tennessee mansion, rock-and-roll star Elvis Presley receives his draft notice for the United States Army.

With a suggestive style--one writer called him "Elvis the Pelvis"--a hit movie, Love Me Tender, and a string of gold records including "Heartbreak Hotel," "Blue Suede Shoes," "Hound Dog" and "Don't Be Cruel," Presley had become a national icon, and the world's first bona fide rock-and-roll star, by the end of 1956. As the Beatles' John Lennon once famously remarked: "Before Elvis, there was nothing." The following year, at the peak of his career, Presley received his draft notice for a two-year stint in the army. Fans sent tens of thousands of letters to the army asking for him to be spared, but Elvis would have none of it. He received one deferment--during which he finished working on his movie King Creole--before being sworn in as an army private in Memphis on March 24, 1958.

After six months of basic training--including an emergency leave to see his beloved mother, Gladys, before she died in August 1958--Presley sailed to Europe on the USS General Randall. For the next 18 months, he served in Company D, 32nd Tank Battalion, 3rd Armor Corps in Friedberg, Germany, where he attained the rank of sergeant. For the rest of his service, he shared an off-base residence with his father, grandmother and some Memphis friends. After working during the day, Presley returned home at night to host frequent parties and impromptu jam sessions. At one of these, an army buddy of Presley's introduced him to 14-year-old Priscilla Beaulieu, whom Elvis would marry some years later. Meanwhile, Presley's manager, Colonel Tom Parker, continued to release singles recorded before his departure, keeping the money rolling in and his most famous client fresh in the public's mind. Widely praised for not seeking to avoid the draft or serve domestically, Presley was seen as a model for all young Americans. After he got his polio shot from an army doctor on national TV, vaccine rates among the American population shot from 2 percent to 85 percent by the time of his discharge on March 2, 1960.

Other Stories​

American Revolution
- Virginia cedes western land to federal government, 1783

Automotive
- "Roger & Me" opens in U.S. theaters, 1989

Civil War
- Rebels raid Union supply depot at Holly Springs, Mississippi, 1862

Cold War
- Berlin Wall opened for first time, 1963

Crime
- Man chased to his death in Howard Beach hate-crime, 1986

Disaster
- Ferry collides with oil tanker near Manila, 1987

General Interest
- French crack down on Vietnamese rebels, 1946
- The U.S. invades Panama, 1989
- NATO assumes peacekeeping duties in Bosnia, 1995

Hollywood
- Michael Moore's Roger & Me opens, 1989

Literary
- John Fletcher is baptized, 1579

Music
- "Funky Drummer" is recorded, 1969

Old West
- The French surrender Orleans to the U.S., 1803

Presidential
- Jackson submits Indian treaty to Congress, 1836

Sports
- Guy Lafleur and Steve Shutt get landmark goals in same game, 1983

Vietnam War
- National Liberation Front formed, 1960
- President Johnson visits Australia, Thailand, and Vietnam, 1967

World War I
- First Battle of Champagne begins, 1914

World War II
- Hitler to Halder: No retreat!, 1941