Other News...

Thursday, December 06, 2007

This Day in History

Send a link to a friend

[December 06, 2007]  (AP) Today is Thursday, Dec. 6, the 340th day of 2007. There are 25 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

Fifty years ago, on Dec. 6, 1957, America's first attempt at putting a satellite into orbit failed as Vanguard TV3 rose only about four feet off a Cape Canaveral launch pad before crashing back down and exploding.

On this date:

In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.

In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.

In 1907, the worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, W.Va.

In 1917, some 2,000 people died when an explosives-laden French cargo ship collided with a Norwegian vessel at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the city.

In 1921, British and Irish representatives signed a treaty in London providing for creation of an Irish Free State a year later on the same date.

In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Truman.

In 1957, AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)

In 1973, House Minority Leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.

In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.

In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

[to top of second column]

Ten years ago: At least 69 people were killed when a Russian military cargo plane crashed in the Siberian city of Irkutsk seconds after takeoff.

Five years ago: President Bush pushed Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and economic adviser Larry Lindsey from their jobs in a Cabinet shake-up. Actress Winona Ryder was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, Calif. Ten Palestinians, including two U.N. employees, were killed when Israeli forces poured into a Gaza Strip refugee camp, searching for a fugitive militant. Anti-war activist Philip Berrigan died in Baltimore at age 79.

One year ago: The bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded that President Bush's war policies had failed in almost every regard, and said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating." The Senate voted to confirm Robert Gates as defense secretary. Searchers found the body of San Francisco resident James Kim in the Oregon mountains, two days after his wife and two daughters were rescued from their car (Kim had set out on foot to find help for his family).

Today's birthdays: Jazz musician Dave Brubeck is 87. Comedy performer David Ossman is 71. Country singer Helen Cornelius is 66. Actor James Naughton is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Frankie Beverly (Maze) is 61. Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) is 59. Actress JoBeth Williams is 59. Actor Tom Hulce is 54. Actor Kin Shriner is 54. Talk show host Wil Shriner is 54. Actor Miles Chapin is 53. Rock musician Rick Buckler (The Jam) is 52. Comedian Steven Wright is 52. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 52. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 52. Rock musician Peter Buck (R.E.M.) is 51. Rock musician David Lovering (Pixies) is 46. Actress Janine Turner is 45. Rock musician Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl) is 45. Writer-director Judd Apatow is 40. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (Ace of Base) is 37. Actress Colleen Haskell is 31. Actress Lindsay Price is 31.

Thought for today: "People who never get carried away should be." -- Malcolm S. Forbes, American publisher (1919-1990).

[Associated Press]

Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

< Top Stories index

Back to top


 

News | Sports | Business | Rural Review | Teaching & Learning | Home and Family | Tourism | Obituaries

Community | Perspectives | Law & Courts | Leisure Time | Spiritual Life | Health & Fitness | Teen Scene
Calendar | Letters to the Editor