DECEMBER 27TH

Today is Saturday, Dec. 27, the 362nd day of 2008.
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 1947, the children's TV program "The Howdy Doody Show" made its debut on NBC under the title "Puppet Playhouse."
• In 1958, American physicist James Van Allen reported the discovery of a second radiation belt around Earth, in addition to one found earlier in the year.
• In 1978, Algerian President Houari Boumediene, one of the Third World's most prominent and outspoken leaders, died after 40 days in a coma.
• In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.
• In 1985, Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; a total of 20 people were killed, including four of the attackers, who were slain by police and security personnel.

Ten years ago:

• Six inmates, including four convicted killers, escaped from Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Tennessee. (All were recaptured by the end of the next day.)
• A week after she was born weighing just 10.3 ounces, the smallest of the Houston octuplets (Chijindu Chidera Louis) died from heart and lung failure.

Five years ago:

• Coordinated rebel assaults in Karbala, Iraq, killed 13 people, including six coalition soldiers.
• Actor Alan Bates died in London at age 69.

One year ago:

• Opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in Pakistan by an attacker who shot her after a campaign rally and then blew himself up.
• Kenya held an election pitting incumbent president Mwai Kibaki against opposition candidate Raila Odinga; both candidates ended up claiming victory in a vote that observers said was seriously flawed.

Today's Birthdays:

• Former U.S. Sen. James A. McClure, R-Idaho, is 84.
• Rockabilly musician Scotty Moore is 77.
• Actor John Amos is 69.
• ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts is 65.
• Rock musician Mick Jones (Foreigner) is 64.
• Singer Tracy Nelson is 64.
• Actor Gerard Depardieu is 60.
• Jazz singer-musician T.S. Monk is 59.
• Singer-songwriter Karla Bonoff is 57.
• Actress Tovah Feldshuh is 56.
• Rock musician David Knopfler (Dire Straits) is 56.
• Journalist-turned-politician Arthur Kent is 55.
• Actress Maryam D'Abo is 48.
• Country musician Jeff Bryant is 46.
• Actor Ian Gomez is 44.
• Actress Theresa Randle is 44.
• Actress Eva LaRue is 42.
• Bluegrass singer-musician Darrin Vincent (Dailey & Vincent) is 39.
• Rock musician Guthrie Govan (Asia) is 37.
• Musician Matt Slocum is 36.
• Actor Wilson Cruz is 35.
• Singer Olu is 35. Actor Masi Oka is 34.
• Actress Emilie de Ravin is 27.
• Christian rock musician James Mead (Kutless) is 26.
• Rock singer Hayley Williams (Paramore) is 20.

Thought for Today:

"I'm not young enough to know everything."
Sir James Matthew Barrie, Scottish dramatist-author (1860-1937).

"Let's all be careful out there!"