This day in history

[December 27, 2010]  (AP)  Today is Monday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2010. There are four days left in the year.

Today's highlight in history:

On Dec. 27, 1968, Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.

On this date:

In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.

In 1904, James Barrie's play "Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn't Grow Up" opened at the Duke of York's Theater in London.

In 1927, the musical play "Show Boat," with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II, opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York.

In 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.

In 1945, 28 nations signed an agreement creating the World Bank.

In 1949, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed an act recognizing Indonesia's sovereignty after more than three centuries of Dutch rule.

In 1970, "Hello, Dolly!" closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.

In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin (hah-FEE'-zoo-lah ah-MEEN'), who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

In 1985, Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; 19 victims were killed, plus four attackers who were slain by police and security personnel. American naturalist Dian Fossey, 53, who had studied gorillas in the wild in Rwanda, was found hacked to death.

In 2007, opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up.

Ten years ago: President Bill Clinton put the first black judge on the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals serving several Southern states. (The nomination of Roger Gregory had been stalled in the Senate, but Clinton used a recess appointment to put him on the bench.)

Five years ago: Grass fires burned in drought-stricken Texas and Oklahoma (over the course of three days, nearly 200 homes were lost and the fires blamed for at least four deaths). Indonesia's Aceh (ah-cheh) rebels formally abolished their 30-year armed struggle for independence under a peace deal born out of the 2004 tsunami.

One year ago: Iranian security forces fired on Tehran protesters, killing at least eight and launching a new wave of arrests.

Today's birthdays: Former U.S. Sen. James A. McClure, R-Idaho, is 86. Rockabilly musician Scotty Moore is 79. Actor John Amos is 71. Actress Charmian Carr (Film: "The Sound of Music") is 68. ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts is 67. Rock musician Mick Jones (Foreigner) is 66. Singer Tracy Nelson is 66. Actor Gerard Depardieu is 62. Jazz singer-musician T.S. Monk is 61. Singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff is 59. Actress Tovah Feldshuh is 58. Rock musician David Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 58. Journalist-turned-politician Arthur Kent is 57. Actress Maryam D'Abo is 50. Country musician Jeff Bryant is 48. Actor Ian Gomez is 46. Actress Theresa Randle is 46. Actress Eva LaRue is 44. Professional wrestler and actor Bill Goldberg is 44. Actress Tracey Cherelle Jones is 41. Bluegrass singer-musician Darrin Vincent (Dailey & Vincent) is 41. Rock musician Guthrie Govan is 39. Musician Matt Slocum is 38. Actor Wilson Cruz is 37. Singer Olu is 37. Actor Masi Oka is 36. Actor Aaron Stanford is 34. Actress Emilie de Ravin is 29. Christian rock musician James Mead (Kutless) is 28. Rock singer Hayley Williams (Paramore) is 22.

Thought for today: "A dollar saved is a quarter earned." -- Oscar Levant, American composer, musician, actor (born this date in 1906, died in 1972)

[Associated Press]

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