Today's Highlight in History:
In 1814, the War of 1812 officially ended as the United States and Britain signed the Treaty of Ghent in Belgium.
On this date:
In 1524, Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama -- who had discovered a sea route around Africa to India -- died in Cochin, India.
In 1851, fire devastated the Library of Congress in Washington DC, destroying about 35,000 volumes.
In 1865, several veterans of the Confederate Army formed a private social club in Pulaski, Tennessee, called the Ku Klux Klan. [How'd that "private social club" turn out? — Ed.]
In 1943, President Roosevelt appointed General Dwight D. Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces as part of Operation Overlord. [Wasn't Operation Overlord the D-Day invasion? — Ed.]
In 1968, the Apollo 8 astronauts, orbiting the moon, read passages from the Old Testament Book of Genesis during a Christmas Eve television broadcast.
In 1980, Americans remembered the US hostages in Iran by burning candles or shining lights for 417 seconds, one second for each day of captivity.
Ten years ago: Ilich Ramirez Sanchez, the aging revolutionary known as "Carlos the Jackal," was sentenced by a French court to life in prison for the 1975 murders of two French investigators and a Lebanese national. Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune died in suburban Tokyo at age 77.
Five years ago: Laci Peterson was reported missing from her Modesto, California, home, by her husband, Scott, who was later convicted of murdering her and their unborn son. Saddam Hussein said in an address read on television that Iraqis were ready to fight a holy war against the United States. Chinese pro-democracy activist Xu Wenli was released from a prison in Beijing and flown to the United States.
One year ago: Ethiopia sent fighter jets into Somalia and bombed several towns in a dramatic attack on Somalia's powerful Islamic movement; Ethiopia's prime minister said his country had been "forced to enter a war." Broadcasting pioneer Frank Stanton, CBS president for 26 years, died in Boston at age 98.
Today's Birthdays:
Songwriter-bandleader Dave Bartholomew is 87. Author Mary Higgins Clark is 80. Federal health administrator Anthony S. Fauci is 67. Recording company executive Mike Curb is 63. Rock singer-musician Lemmy (Motorhead) is 62. Actress Stephanie Hodge is 51. The president of Afghanistan, Hamid Karzai, is 50. Rock musician Ian Burden (The Human League) is 50. Designer Kate Spade is 45. Rock singer Mary Ramsey (10,000 Maniacs) is 44. Actor Mark Valley is 43. Actor Diedrich Bader is 41. Singer Ricky Martin is 36. "American Idol" host Ryan Seacrest is 33. [Those last two: Gay or queer? — Ed.]
Dead People Who Came to Life on This Date:
James Prescott Joule, physicist (1818)
Juan Ramón Jiménez, lyric poet (1881)
Howard Hughes, business executive (1905)
Ava Gardner, actress (1922)
Show Biz on This Date:
In 1871, Giuseppe Verdi's opera "Aida" had its world premiere in Cairo, Egypt.
In 1920, Enrico Caruso gave his last public performance, singing Jacques Halevy's "La Juive" at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
In 1951, Gian Carlo Menotti's "Amahl and the Night Visitors," the first opera written specifically for television, was first broadcast by NBC-TV.
In 1954, singer Johnny Ace shot himself and died while playing Russian roulette backstage at a show in Houston. His song "Pledging My Love" became a hit the next year.
In 1961, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" by The Tokens became the first African song to reach number one on the American pop charts.
In 1965, The Beatles earned a gold record for the album "Rubber Soul," just two-and-a-half weeks after it was released.
In 1972, police in Miami cut short a concert by Manfred Mann and his Earth Band. Fans rioted for about two hours while the band members hid in a dressing room.
In 1973, Tom Johnston of the Doobie Brothers was arrested in Visalia, California, for marijuana possession.
In 1978, Bjorn Ulvaeus and Agnetha Faltskog of ABBA separated after seven years of marriage.
In 1984, actor Peter Lawford died. He was 61.
In 1990, actors Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman got married in Colorado. They had met while filming "Days of Thunder." They've since divorced.
In 1992, former Doobie Brothers percussionist Bobby LaKind died after a long battle with cancer. He was 47.
In 1997, the Gin Blossoms announced their breakup.
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