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Thursday, December 18, 2008

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!"