DECEMBER 18TH

Today is Thursday, Dec. 18, the 353rd day of 2008.
There are 13 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

• On Dec. 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward.

On this date:

• In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
• In 1892, Tchaikovsky's ballet "The Nutcracker" publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.
• In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.
• In 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered secret preparations for Nazi Germany to invade the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.)
• In 1944, in a pair of rulings, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not continue to be detained.
• In 1956, Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
• In 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first public, full-scale commercial nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went on line. (It was taken out of service in 1982.)
• In 1958, the world's first communications satellite, SCORE (Signal Communication by Orbiting Relay Equipment), nicknamed "Chatterbox," was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
• In 1972, the United States began heavy bombing of North Vietnamese targets during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 11 days later.)
• In 1980, former Soviet Premier Alexei N. Kosygin died at age 76.

Ten years ago:

• The House debated articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
• U.S. and British forces blasted Iraq with a third day of airstrikes.
• South Carolina carried out the nation's 500th execution since capital punishment resumed in 1977.

Five years ago:

• Two federal appeals courts ruled the U.S. military could not indefinitely hold prisoners without access to lawyers or American courts.
• A jury in Chesapeake, Va., convicted teenager Lee Boyd Malvo of two counts of capital murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings (he was later sentenced to life in prison without parole).
• A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River Killer Gary Ridgway to 48 consecutive life terms.
• Michael Jackson was formally charged with molesting a cancer-stricken boy at his Neverland Ranch; Jackson was acquitted at trial.

One year ago:

• The White House said President George W. Bush had approved "a significant reduction" in the U.S. nuclear weapons stockpile, cutting it to less than one-quarter its size at the end of the Cold War.
• The U.N. Security Council voted unanimously to extend the U.S.-led multinational force in Iraq for one year.
• Jacob Zuma was elected leader of the African National Congress, South Africa's ruling party, defeating imcumbent Thabo Mbeki.

Today's Birthdays:

• Television writer-producer Hal Kanter is 90.
• Former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark is 81.
• Actor Roger Smith is 76.
• Blues musician Lonnie Brooks is 75.
• Rock singer-musician Keith Richards is 65.
• Writer-director Alan Rudolph is 65.
• Movie producer-director Steven Spielberg is 62.
• Blues artist Ron Piazza is 61.
• Movie director Gillian Armstrong is 58.
• Movie reviewer Leonard Maltin is 58.
• Rock musician Elliot Easton is 55.
• Actor Ray Liotta is 53.
• Comedian Ron White is 52.
• Actor Brad Pitt is 45.
• Actress Rachel Griffiths is 40.
• Singer Alejandro Sanz is 40.
• Country/rap singer Cowboy Troy is 38.
• Rapper DMX is 38.
• Tennis player Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is 37.
• DJ Lethal (Limp Bizkit) is 36.
• Actress Katie Holmes is 30.
• Singer Christina Aguilera is 28.
• Christian rock musician Dave Luetkenhoelter (Kutless) is 26.

Thought for Today:

"Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one's courage."
Anais Nin, American author (1903-1977).

"Let's all be careful out there!"