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 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 1861, Prince Albert, husband of Queen Victoria, died in London.
In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen 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 dropped from the League of Nations.
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.
In 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, which it had seized from Syria in 1967.
In 1986, the experimental aircraft Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California on the first nonstop, non-refueled flight around the world.
In 1995, presidents Alija Izetbegovic of Bosnia, Slobodan Milosevic of Serbia and Franjo Tudjman of Croatia signed the Bosnian peace treaty in Paris.
Ten years ago: Iran's new president, Mohammad Khatami, called for a dialogue with the people of the United States
-- a nation reviled by his predecessors as "The Great Satan." Cuban President Fidel Castro declared Christmas 1997 an official holiday to ensure the success of Pope John Paul II's upcoming visit to the communist country.
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 Five years ago: Jordanian police announced the arrest of two alleged al-Qaida members in the October killing of American diplomat Laurence Foley.
One year ago: South Korea's Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations. A British police inquiry concluded that the deaths of Princess Diana and her boyfriend in a 1997 Paris car crash were a "tragic accident" and that allegations of murder were unfounded. Atlantic Records founder Ahmet Ertegun died in New York at age 83. Actor Mike Evans, who'd played Lionel Jefferson on "All in the Family" and "The Jeffersons," died in Twentynine Palms, Calif., at age 57.
Today's birthdays: Jazz musician Clark Terry is 87. Former "60 Minutes" executive producer Don Hewitt is 85. Actor-playwright George Furth is 75. Actor Hal Williams is 69. Actress Patty Duke is 61. Pop singer Joyce Vincent-Wilson (Tony Orlando and Dawn) is 61. Entertainment executive Michael Ovitz is 61. Actress Dee Wallace is 59. Rhythm-and-blues singer Ronnie McNeir (The Four Tops) is 58. Rock musician Cliff Williams (AC/DC) is 58. Rock singer-musician Mike Scott (The Waterboys) is 49. Singer-musician Peter "Spider" Stacy (The Pogues) is 49. Actress Cynthia Gibb is 44. Actress Natascha McElhone is 38. Rhythm-and-blues singer Brian Dalyrimple (Soul For Real) is 32. Actress KaDee Strickland is 32. Actress Tammy Blanchard is 31. Actress Sophie Monk is 28.
Thought for today: "To the memory of the Man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
-- Henry Lee, American governor (1756-1818) on the death of George
Washington
[Associated Press]
Copyright 2007 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This
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