This day in history

[December 14, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Tuesday, Dec. 14, the 348th day of 2010. There are 17 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 14, 1799, the first president of the United States, George Washington, died at his Mount Vernon, Va. home at age 67.

On this date:

In 1819, Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.

In 1910, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace was created in Washington, D.C. as industrialist Andrew Carnegie presented a gift of $10 million for its founding.

In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen (ROH'-ahl AH'-mun-suhn) and his group became the first men to reach the South Pole, beating out an expedition led by Robert F. Scott.

In 1939, the Soviet Union was expelled from the League of Nations for invading Finland.

In 1946, the United Nations General Assembly voted to establish U.N. headquarters in New York.

In 1962, the U.S. space probe Mariner 2 approached Venus, transmitting information about the planet.

In 1975, six South Moluccan extremists surrendered after holding 23 hostages for 12 days on a train near the Dutch town of Beilen (BY'-luhn).

In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, which it had seized from Syria in 1967.

In 1985, Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe as she took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. Former New York Yankees outfielder Roger Maris, who'd hit 61 home runs during the 1961 season, died in Houston at age 51.

In 1995, Presidents Alija Izetbegovic (AHL'-yuh ee-zeht-BEG'-oh-vich) of Bosnia, Slobodan Milosevic (sloh-BOH'-dahn mee-LOH'-shuh-vich) of Serbia and Franjo Tudjman (FRAHN'-yoh TOOJ'-mahn) of Croatia signed the Bosnian peace treaty in Paris.

Ten years ago: President-elect George W. Bush conferred by phone with congressional leaders of both parties and planned a goodwill tour of Washington, D.C.; he also received a flood of congratulatory calls from world leaders on his first full day as president-elect. U.S. businessman Edward Pope was pardoned and released by Russia after being convicted of espionage. The Federal Trade Commission unanimously approved the $111 billion merger of America Online and Time Warner.

Five years ago: President George W. Bush defended his decision to wage the Iraq war, even as he acknowledged that "much of the intelligence turned out to be wrong." The House voted 251-174 to renew the USA Patriot Act. Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad (mahk-MOOD' ah-muh-DEE'-neh-zhadh) escalated his anti-Israeli rhetoric, calling the Holocaust a "myth" used by Europeans to create a Jewish state in the heart of the Islamic world.

One year ago: President Barack Obama implored top bankers to help keep the fragile recovery from faltering by boosting lending to small businesses and getting behind an overhaul of financial regulation. Dubai got a $10 billion lifeline from oil-rich Abu Dhabi, securing a last-minute cash infusion aimed at preventing a default that risked sparking broader fears about the city-state's shaky finances.

Today's birthdays: Jazz musician Clark Terry is 90. Singer-actress Abbe Lane is 79. Actor Hal Williams is 72. Actress-singer Jane Birkin is 64. Actress Patty Duke is 64. Pop singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson (Tony Orlando and Dawn) is 64. Entertainment executive Michael Ovitz is 64. Actress Dee Wallace is 62. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie McNeir (The Four Tops) is 61. Rock musician Cliff Williams (AC/DC) is 61. Actor-comedian T.K. Carter is 54. Rock singer-musician Mike Scott (The Waterboys) is 52. Singer-musician Peter "Spider" Stacy (The Pogues) is 52. Actress Cynthia Gibb is 47. Actress Natascha McElhone is 41. Actress-comedian Michaela Watkins is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brian Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 35. Actress KaDee Strickland is 35. Actress Tammy Blanchard is 34. Actress Sophie Monk is 31. Actress Vanessa Hudgens is 22.

Thought for today: "How the 'I' pervades all things!" -- William Ellery Channing, American clergyman (1780-1842)

[Associated Press]

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