The Endless Slog Through Time & History: 27 December

Today is Saturday, Dec. 27, the 362nd day of 2008. There are four days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: Forty years ago, in 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 1932, Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City. In 1945, 28 nations signed an agreement creating the World Bank. Fifty years ago, 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. Thirty years ago, 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. ABC News correspondent Cokie Roberts is 65. Journalist-turned-politician Arthur Kent is 55.

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