This day in history

[December 02, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Thursday, Dec. 2, the 336th day of 2010. There are 29 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 2, 1970, the newly created Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors. (Its first director was William D. Ruckelshaus.)

On this date:

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French.

In 1823, President James Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October. Artist Georges-Pierre Seurat was born in Paris.

In 1927, Ford Motor Co. formally unveiled its second Model A automobile, the successor to its Model T.

In 1939, New York Municipal Airport-LaGuardia Field (later LaGuardia Airport) went into operation as an airliner from Chicago landed at one minute past midnight.

In 1942, an artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time, at the University of Chicago.

In 1954, the Senate voted to condemn Wisconsin Republican Joseph R. McCarthy for conduct that "tends to bring the Senate into disrepute."

In 1969, the Boeing 747 jumbo jet got its first public preview as 191 people, most of them reporters and photographers, flew from Seattle to New York City.

In 1980, four American churchwomen were raped and murdered outside San Salvador. (Five El Salvador national guardsmen were later convicted of murdering nuns Ita Ford, Maura Clarke and Dorothy Kazel, and lay worker Jean Donovan.)

In 1990, composer Aaron Copland died in North Tarrytown, New York, at age 90. Actor Bob Cummings died in Woodland Hills, California, at age 80.

Ten years ago: Al Gore sought a recount in South Florida, while George W. Bush flatly asserted, "I'm soon to be the president" and met with GOP congressional leaders. Actress Gail Fisher died in Culver City, Calif. at age 65.

Five years ago: North Carolina inmate Kenneth Lee Boyd became the 1,000th person executed since the U.S. resumed capital punishment in 1977. Singapore executed a Vietnamese-born Australian heroin trafficker (Nguyen Tuong Van) despite a warning by Australian Prime Minister John Howard that the hanging would sour relations between the two countries.

One year ago: A day after President Barack Obama announced plans to deploy 30,000 more troops in Afghanistan, leading congressional Democrats said they had serious misgivings but would not try to stop the deployments while Republicans said they supported the force increase even as they questioned Obama's July 2011 deadline to start bringing troops home. Tiger Woods issued a statement saying he'd let his family down with "transgressions" that he regretted "with all of my heart," and that he would deal with his personal life behind closed doors.

Today's birthdays: Character actor Bill Erwin is 96. Actress Julie Harris is 85. Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III is 79. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) is 71. Actress Cathy Lee Crosby is 66. Movie director Penelope Spheeris is 65. Actor Ron Raines is 61. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 60. Actor Keith Szarabajka is 58. Actor Dan Butler is 56. Broadcast journalist Stone Phillips is 56. Actor Dennis Christopher is 55. Actor Steven Bauer is 54. Country singer Joe Henry is 50. Rock musician Rick Savage (Def Leppard) is 50. Rock musician Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters) is 42. Actress Rena Sofer is 42. Rock singer Jimi (cq) HaHa (Jimmie's Chicken Shack) is 42. Actress Lucy Liu (loo) is 42. Rapper Treach (Naughty By Nature) is 40. Tennis player Monica Seles is 37. Singer Nelly Furtado is 32. Pop singer Britney Spears is 29. Actress Daniela Ruah (roo-ah) (TV: "NCIS: Los Angeles") is 27. Actor Alfie Enoch (Film: "Harry Potter" films) is 22. Actresses Deanna and Daniella Canterman are 18.

Thought for today: "When we cannot find contentment in ourselves it is useless to seek it elsewhere." -- Francois, Duc de la Rochefoucauld (frahn-SWAH', duhk doo lah rawsh-foo-KOH'), French author (1613-1680)

[Associated Press]

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