This day in history

[December 22, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Wednesday, Dec. 22, the 356th day of 2010. There are 9 days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 22, 1910, a fire lasting more than 26 hours broke out at the Chicago Union Stock Yards; 21 firefighters were killed in the collapse of a burning building.

On this date:

In 1775, Esek Hopkins was appointed the commander-in-chief of the Continental Navy.

In 1808, Ludwig van Beethoven's Symphony No. 5 in C minor, Op. 67, Symphony No. 6 in F major, Op. 68, and Piano Concerto No. 4 in G major, Op. 58, had their world premieres in Vienna, Austria.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union Gen. William T. Sherman said in a message to President Abraham Lincoln: "I beg to present you as a Christmas-gift the city of Savannah."

In 1894, French army officer Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial that triggered worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. (Dreyfus was eventually vindicated.)

In 1940, author Nathanael West, 37, and his wife, Eileen McKenney, 27, were killed in a car crash in El Centro, Calif. while en route to the funeral of F. Scott Fitzgerald, who had died the day before.

In 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, U.S. Brigadier General Anthony C. McAuliffe rejected a German demand for surrender, writing "Nuts!" in his official reply.

In 1968, Julie Nixon married David Eisenhower in a private ceremony in New York.

In 1977, three dozen people were killed when a 250-foot-high grain elevator at the Continental Grain Company plant in Westwego, La., exploded.

In 1984, New York City resident Bernhard Goetz shot and wounded four youths on a Manhattan subway, claiming they were about to rob him.

In 1990, 21 sailors returning from shore leave to the aircraft carrier USS Saratoga drowned off Haifa when the Israeli ferry they were traveling on capsized. Lech Walesa (lek vah-WEN'-sah) took the oath of office as Poland's first popularly elected president.

Ten years ago: President-elect George W. Bush chose John Ashcroft to be his attorney general. President Bill Clinton granted Christmastime clemency to 62 people, including former U.S. Rep. Dan Rostenkowski, who'd been convicted of misuse of public funds. Madonna and film director Guy Ritchie wed in Scotland. (They divorced in November 2008.) Three armed robbers stormed into Stockholm's National Museum and made off with a Rembrandt self-portrait and two masterpieces by Renoir. (Ten people were later sentenced to prison for their roles in the theft; all three paintings were recovered.)

Five years ago: Congress completed work on a one-month extension of the Patriot Act and sent it to President George W. Bush. New York transit workers ended their three-day strike without a new contract. Astronomers announced the discovery of two more rings encircling the planet Uranus.

One year ago: Assailants gunned down the mother, aunt and siblings of a Mexican marine who was killed in a raid that took out one of Mexico's most powerful cartel leaders. Nebraska's Ndamukong Suh (ehn-DAHM'-uh-kehn soo) became the first defensive player voted The Associated Press College Football Player of the Year.

Today's birthdays: Former House Speaker Jim Wright is 88. Actor Hector Elizondo is 74. Country singer Red Steagall is 72. Former World Bank Group President Paul Wolfowitz is 67. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Steve Carlton is 66. ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer is 65. Rock singer-musician Rick Nielsen (Cheap Trick) is 64. Rock singer-musician Michael Bacon is 62. Baseball All-Star Steve Garvey is 62. Singer Robin Gibb is 61. Golfer Jan Stephenson is 59. Actress BernNadette Stanis is 57. Rapper Luther Campbell is 50. Country singer-musician Chuck Mead is 50. Actor Ralph Fiennes is 48. Actress Lauralee Bell is 42. Country singer Lori McKenna is 42. Actress Dina Meyer is 42. Actress Heather Donahue is 36. Actor Chris Carmack is 30. Actor Logan Huffman is 21. Rhythm-and-blues singer Jordin Sparks is 21.

Thought for today: "A thousand probabilities do not make one fact." -- Italian proverb

[Associated Press]

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