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 Today's highlight in history:
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese forces attacked American and British territories and possessions in the Pacific, including the home base of the U.S. Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii.
On this date:
In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1796, electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.
In 1836, Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the U.S.
In 1907, the first Christmas Seals to help the fight against tuberculosis were sold, in Wilmington, Del. (Some sources say Dec. 9.)
In 1946, fire broke out at the Winecoff Hotel in Atlanta; the blaze killed 119 people, including hotel founder W. Frank Winecoff.
In 1972, America's last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
In 1982, convicted murderer Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.
In 1983, in Madrid, Spain, an Aviaco DC-9 collided on a runway with an Iberia Air Lines Boeing 727 that was accelerating for takeoff, killing all 42 people aboard the DC-9 and 51 aboard the Iberia jet.
In 1987, 43 people were killed after a gunman aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California apparently opened fire on a fellow passenger, the two pilots and himself, causing the plane to crash.
In 1987, Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time, arriving for a Washington summit with President Reagan.
Ten years ago: Republicans threatened Attorney General Janet Reno with contempt of Congress over her decision to forgo an independent counsel's investigation of White House campaign fund raising. Singer Bob Dylan, actor Charlton Heston, actress Lauren Bacall, opera singer Jessye Norman and ballet master Edward Villella shared the 20th annual Kennedy Center Honors in Washington, D.C.
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 Five years ago: Iraq handed over its long-awaited arms declaration to the United Nations, denying it had doomsday weapons. President Saddam Hussein grudgingly apologized to Kuwait for his 1990 invasion. Shuttle Endeavour returned to Earth, bringing an astronaut and pair of cosmonauts home from a six-month space station voyage. Bombs tore through four movie theaters in Bangladesh, killing 19. Azra Akin, Miss Turkey, won the Miss World contest in London, bringing to a close an international pageant that had incited deadly rioting in Nigeria, the original site of the event.
One year ago: President Bush gave a chilly response to the Iraq Study Group's proposals for reshaping his policy, objecting to talks with Iran and Syria, refusing to endorse a major troop withdrawal and vowing no retreat from embattled U.S. goals in the Mideast. The U.S. military transferred the first group of Guantanamo Bay detainees to a new maximum-security prison on the naval base. Jeane J. Kirkpatrick, the first woman U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, died in Bethesda, Md., at age 80.
Today's birthdays: Actor Eli Wallach is 92. Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne is 76. Actress Ellen Burstyn is 75. Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is 70. Broadcast journalist Carole Simpson is 67. Baseball Hall-of-Famer Johnny Bench is 60. Country singer Gary Morris is 59. Singer-songwriter Tom Waits is 58. Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, is 55. Actress Priscilla Barnes is 52. Basketball Hall-of-Famer Larry Bird is 51. Former "Tonight Show" announcer Edd Hall is 49. Rock musician Tim Butler (The Psychedelic Furs) is 49. Actor Jeffrey Wright is 42. Actor C. Thomas Howell is 41. Pop singer Nicole Appleton (All Saints) is 32. Country singer Sunny Sweeney is 31. Actress Shiri Appleby is 29. Singer Aaron Carter is 20.
Thought for today: "There are no warlike peoples -- just warlike leaders."
-- Ralph Bunche, Nobel Peace laureate (1904-1971)
[Associated Press]
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