Today In History...

In 1612 Simon Marius, namer of Jupiter's 4 inner satellites, is the first to

observe the Andromeda galaxy through a telescope.

In 1791 The first ten amendments to the U.S. Constitution -- The Bill of

Rights -- went into effect after ratification by Virginia.

In 1836 The patent office burns in Washington, DC.

In 1854 The first mechanical street cleaning machine appears.

In 1859 G.R. Kirchoff describes the chemical composition of the sun.

In 1877 Thomas Edison patents the phonograph.

In 1890 Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 others are killed in Grand

River, South Dakota, during a fracas with Indian police working for

the U.S. government.

In 1916 The French defeat the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun.

In 1922 The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is formed.

In 1938 Groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial take place in

Washington, DC, presided over by President Franklin D. Roosevelt.

In 1939 The movie "Gone With The Wind," starring Vivien Leigh and Clark

Gable, premieres at Loew's Grand Theatre in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 1939 Nylon Yarn is commercially manufactured for the first time.

In 1944 The U.S. Senate approves the promotions of Henry H. Arnold, Dwight

D. Eisenhower, Douglas MacArthur and George C. Marshall to the

five-star rank of General of the Army.

In 1944 American forces invade Mindoro Island in the Philippines.

In 1948 Former State Department official Alger Hiss is indicted by a federal

grand jury in New York on charges of perjury.

In 1950 A 221-foot Fir, at the time the tallest (cut) Christmas tree, is

unveiled in Seattle, Washington.

In 1961 Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann is sentenced to death in

Jerusalem, Israel.

In 1964 Canada's House of Commons approves dropping of the Canadian "Red

Ensign" flag in favor of a new design.

In 1965 Two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini VI and Gemini VII, rendezvous in

orbit, coming within 10 feet of each other.

In 1966 Movie producer Walt Disney dies in Los Angeles.

In 1970 Soviet Venera 7 is the first spacecraft to land on another planet.

In 1978 President Carter announces he will grant diplomatic recognition to

Communist China on New Year's Day and sever official relations with

Taiwan.

In 1979 The deposed Shah of Iran leaves the U.S. for Panama, the same day

the International Court of Justice in The Hague rules Iran should

release all of the American hostages.

In 1982 Paul "Bear" Bryant, one of the winningest coaches in college

football, announces his retirement from the University of Alabama.

In 1983 The last 80 U.S. combat soldiers in Grenada withdrew, eight days

ahead of the final pullout schedule, just over seven weeks after the

U.S.-led invasion of the Caribbean island.

In 1984 Soviet Politburo member Mikhail Gorbachev, reputed to be the #2 man

in the Kremlin hierarchy, arrives in Britain for a week-long tour.

In 1985 Sylvester Stallone and Brigitte Nielson wed for a short time.

In 1986 CIA Director William J. Casey is hospitalized after suffering what

doctors called a minor cerebral seizure.

In 1987 Gary Hart, who had dropped out of the race for the Democratic

presidential nomination amid questions about his relationship with

Miami model Donna Rice, makes a surprise return.

In 1988 U.S. Ambassador Robert H. Pelletreau Jr. telephones the PLO's

headquarters in Tunisia, one day after President Reagan authorized

direct talks.

In 1989 Drug trafficker Gonzalo Rodriguez Gacha is killed in northern

Colombia following a shootout with police.

In 1989 An uprising that resulted in the downfall of Romania's Nicolae

Ceausescu begins as demonstrators gather in Timisoara to prevent the

arrest of the Reverend Laszlo Tokes, a dissident clergyman.

In 1991 At least 464 people are left dead or missing when an Egyptian ferry

sinks in the Red Sea.

In 1991 Russian Foreign Minister Andrei Kozyrev asks U.S. Secretary of State

James Baker for formal U.S. recognition of the various Soviet

republics that had declared independence.

In 1992 IBM announces it would eliminate 25,000 more employees in the coming

year.

In 1993 U.S. Defense Secretary Les Aspin announces his resignation, citing

"personal reasons."

In 1995 French rail workers vote to end a three-week-old strike.

In 1996 Boeing Co. announces it plans to pay $13.3 million to acquire

aircraft manufacturer McDonnell Douglas Corp.

In 1997 President Clinton appoints Bill Lann Lee as acting assistant

attorney general for civil rights despite Republican objections.

In 1998 President Clinton concludes his 3-day Middle East journey on a

disappointing note as Israel refused to resume the West Bank troop

withdrawals called for under the Wye River peace accord.

In 2000 The long-troubled Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine is closed

for good.

In 2000 Hillary Rodham Clinton agrees to an $8 million book deal with

publisher Simon & Schuster for her White House memoirs.

In 2001 The Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, reopens to the public after a $27

million realignment project that lasted over a decade.

In 2002 Japan wins golf's World Cup for the first time in 45 years. 

In 2003 The late Senator Strom Thurmond's family acknowledges Essie Mae 

Washington-Williams' claim that she was his illegitimate mixed-race 

daughter.