Today In History...

In 1776 During the American Revolution, George Washington's retreating army

crosses the Delaware River from New Jersey to Pennsylvania.

In 1831 White House designer James Hoban dies.

In 1845 German astronomer M. Hencke discovers the 5th asteroid, Astra.

In 1854 Pope Pius IX proclaims the dogma of the Immaculate Conception, which

holds that Mary, the mother of Jesus, was free of Original Sin from

the moment she was conceived.

In 1863 A fire in Santiago, Chile, kills 2,000.

In 1863 President Lincoln announces his plan for the Reconstruction of the

South.

In 1886 The American Federation of Labor (AFL) is formed by 26 craft unions

at a convention in Columbus, Ohio.

In 1931 Coaxial cable is patented.

In 1940 The first NFL championship is broadcast on radio as the Chicago

Bears beat the Washington Redskins, 73-0.

In 1941 The U.S. enters World War II as it declares war on Japan, a day

after the attack on Pearl Harbor. President Franklin Roosevelt

called December 7, 1941 "a day which will live in infamy."

In 1949 The Chinese Nationalist government moves from the Chinese mainland

to Formosa as the Communists pressed their attacks.

In 1952 The first TV acknowledgement of pregnancy is made on "I Love Lucy."

In 1978 Former Israeli prime minister Golda Meir dies at age 80.

In 1982 A man demanding an end to nuclear weapons holds the Washington

monument hostage, threatening to blow it up. After a 10-hour

standoff, Norman D. Mayer is shot to death by police.

In 1983 Ninth Space Shuttle Mission - Columbia 6 returns to Earth after a

record 10 days in space.

In 1983 Character actor Slim Pickens dies at age 64.

In 1984 A jury in Roanoke, VA, finds Hustler magazine publisher Larry Flynt

innocent of libeling the Reverend Jerry Falwell with a parody

advertisement, but awarded Falwell $200,000 for emotional distress.

(The award was later overturned by the U.S. Supreme Court.)

In 1986 House Democrats select majority leader Jim Wright to be the

chamber's 48th speaker succeeding Thomas P. "Tip" O'Neill.

In 1987 President Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev sign a treaty

under which the superpowers agree to destroy intermediate-range

nuclear missiles.

In 1987 The "intifada" (Arabic for uprising) by Palestinians in the

Israeli-occupied territories begins.

In 1988 Soviet President Mikhail Gorbachev cuts short is U.S. visit to

return home following a killer earthquake in Armenia.

In 1989 Communist leaders in Czechoslovakia offer to surrender their control

over the government and accept a minority role in a coalition

Cabinet.

In 1991 Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine declare the Soviet national

government dead, forming a new alliance known as the Commonwealth

of Independent States.

In 1991 AIDS patient Kimberly Bergalis, who had contracted the disease from

her dentist, dies in Fort Pierce, Florida, at age 23.

In 1992 Americans receive live TV coverage of U.S. troops landing on the

beaches of Somalia as Operation Restore Hope began.

In 1993 President Clinton signs into law the North American Free Trade

Agreement, which went into effect at the start of 1994.

In 1994 Bosnian Serbs release dozens of hostage peacekeepers, but continued

to detain about 300 others.

In 1995 In New York, an arsonist kills 7 workers and himself at a Harlem

clothing store that was targeted over a racially charged lease

dispute.

In 1996 The Serbian Supreme Court rules against opposition parties who said

Slobodan Milosevic had robbed them of an election victory in

Belgrade.

In 1997 In $25 billion deal, Swiss Bank and the Union Bank of Switzerland

plan to combine, forming Europe's largest and the world's second

largest bank.

In 1997 Federal hearings open in Baltimore into the TWA Flight 800 disaster

that had claimed 230 lives.

In 1998 A blackout in San Francisco cuts power to nearly a million people.

In 1998 The U.S. Supreme Court rules that police cannot search people and

cars after ticketing for routine traffic violations.

In 2000 The Florida Supreme Court, in a 4-3 decision, orders recount of

thousands of presidential ballots.

In 2001 The U.S. Capitol is reopened to tourists after a 2-month security

shutdown.

In 2001 Nebraska quarterback Eric Crouch wins the Heisman Trophy.

In 2003 Congress approves legislation to stem the flood of unwanted junk 

e-mail known as "spam."

In 2003 U.S. Rep. Bill Janklow (R-SD) resigns after being convicted in the 

traffic death of a motorcyclist, Randy Scott.