On this date:
In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.
In 1811, the first in a series of earthquakes rocked the Midwest in and around New Madrid, Mo.
In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was ratified, abolishing slavery in the United States.
In 1884, Army engineers completed construction of the Washington Monument by setting an aluminum capstone atop the obelisk.
In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.
In 1907, the worst mining disaster in US history occurred as 362 men and boys died in a coal mine explosion in Monongah, West Virginia.
In 1917, some 2,000 people died when an explosives-laden French cargo ship collided with a Norwegian vessel at the harbor in Halifax, Nova Scotia, setting off a blast that devastated the city.
In 1921, British and Irish representatives signed a treaty in London providing for creation of an Irish Free State a year later on the same date.
In 1922, the Irish Free State came into being under terms of the Anglo-Irish Treaty.
In 1923, a presidential address was broadcast on the radio for the first time when Calvin Coolidge spoke before Congress.
In 1926, French impressionist painter Claude Monet died at age 86.
In 1933, Americans crowded into liquor stores, bars and cafes to buy their first legal alcoholic beverages in 13 years, following repeal of Prohibition.
In 1941, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt sent a message to Japanese Emperor Hirohito expressing hope that gathering war clouds would be dispelled. Japan attacked Pearl Harbor the next day.
In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by President Truman.
In 1957, AFL-CIO members voted to expel the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. (The Teamsters were readmitted in 1987, but disaffiliated themselves from the AFL-CIO in 2005.)
In 1973, House minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew, who had resigned after pleading no contest to income tax evasion.
In 1982, 11 soldiers and 6 civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.
In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.
In 1992, thousands of Hindu extremists destroyed a mosque in India, setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.
In 1994, Orange County, Calif., filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion.
In 1997, at least 69 people were killed when a Russian military cargo plane crashed in the Siberian city of Irkutsk seconds after takeoff.
In 1998, Hugo Chavez, who had staged a bloody coup attempt against the Venezuelan government six years earlier, was elected president.
In 2002, President Bush pushed Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill and economic adviser Larry Lindsey from their jobs in a Cabinet shakeup. Ten Palestinians, including two U.N. employees, were killed when Israeli forces poured into a Gaza Strip refugee camp, searching for a fugitive militant. Anti-war activist Philip Berrigan died in Baltimore at age 79.
In 2003, Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in major college football history after a 34-6 loss to Navy. [Ha ha. Navy rules. — Ed.]
In 2004, Al-Qaida struck the U. S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, with explosives and machine guns, killing nine people. Ohio certified President George W. Bush's 119,000-vote victory over Democrat John Kerry, even as the Kerry campaign and third-party candidates prepared to demand a statewide recount. A dozen expensive homes under construction in Indian Head, Md., were deliberately burned down. (Five men either pleaded guilty or were convicted in the case; prosecutors had cited a variety of motives, including anger by some of the white perpetrators that most of the new homeowners were black.)
In 2006, the bipartisan Iraq Study Group concluded that President Bush's war policies had failed in almost every regard, and said the situation in Iraq was "grave and deteriorating." The Senate voted to confirm Robert Gates as defense secretary. Searchers found the body of San Francisco resident James Kim in the Oregon mountains, two days after his wife and two daughters were rescued from their car (Kim had set out on foot to find help for his family).
In 2008, President-elect Barack Obama said in a Saturday radio and Internet address that he'd asked his economic team for a recovery plan that would save or create more than 2 million jobs. Indicted Democratic US Rep. William Jefferson was ousted from his New Orleans area district in a special election won by Republican attorney Anh "Joseph" Cao, who became the first Vietnamese-American in Congress. A Greek youth, 15-year-old Alexandros Grigoropoulos, was shot to death during a confrontation with police in Athens, sparking two weeks of riots. Heiress Martha "Sunny" von Bulow, who'd spent the last 28 years of her life in a coma, died in New York City at age 76.
Today's Birthdays December 6: Jazz musician Dave Brubeck is 89. Pro Football Hall of Famer Andy Robustelli is 84. Patsy Takemoto Mink, first Asian-American Congresswoman, 82. Comedy performer David Ossman is 73. Actor Patrick Bauchau is 71. Country singer Helen Cornelius is 68. Actor James Naughton is 64. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood is 64. Rhythm-and-blues singer Frankie Beverly (Maze) is 63. Former Sen. Don Nickles (R-Okla.) is 61. Actress JoBeth Williams is 61. Actor Tom Hulce is 56. Actor Kin Shriner is 56. Actor Wil Shriner is 56. Actor Miles Chapin is 55. Rock musician Rick Buckler (The Jam) is 54. Comedian Steven Wright is 54. Country singer Bill Lloyd is 54. Singer Tish Hinojosa is 54. Rock musician Peter Buck (R.E.M.) is 53. Rock musician David Lovering (Pixies) is 48. Actress Janine Turner is 47. Rock musician Ben Watt (Everything But The Girl) is 47. Writer-director Judd Apatow is 42. Rock musician Ulf "Buddha" Ekberg (Ace of Base) is 39. Writer-director Craig Brewer is 38. Actress Colleen Haskell is 33. Actress Lindsay Price is 33.
(Just a Few of the Billions of) Dead People Born on This Date: Jean Eugene Robert Houdin, conjurer and magician (1805). Joyce Kilmer, poet (1886). Ira Gershwin, lyricist (1896). Gunnar Myrdal, economist (1898). Agnes Moorehead, actress (1906). Eleanor Holm, swimmer, won gold medal in 100m backstroke at 1932 Olympics; thrown off '36 U.S. team for drinking champagne in public and shooting craps on boat to Germany (1913).
From the World of Show Biz:
Seventy years ago, in 1939, the Cole Porter musical comedy "Du Barry Was a Lady" opened on Broadway.
Forty years ago, in 1969, four people died at a free Rolling Stones concert at the Altamont Speedway in Livermore, California.
In 2003, actress Winona Ryder was sentenced to community service as part of a probationary term for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills, California.
In 2002, musician Elvis Costello married jazz singer Diana Krall.
In 2008, Hootie and the Blowfish drummer Jim "Soni" Sonefeld married Laura Bryan, the ex-wife of Hootie guitarist Mark Bryan.
Thought for Today: "Marriage is a lottery in which men stake their liberty and women their happiness." — Madame Virginie de Rieux, 16th-century French writer.
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