TODAY IN HISTORY
In 1777, the Second Continental Congress approved the Articles of Confederation.
In 1806, explorer Zebulon Pike sighted the mountaintop now known as Pikes Peak in present-day Colorado.
In 1864, late in the U.S. Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William Tecumseh Sherman began their “March to the Sea” from Atlanta; the campaign ended with the capture of Savannah on Dec. 21.
In 1937, at the U.S. Capitol, members of the House and Senate met in air-conditioned chambers for the first time.
In 1942, the naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended during World War II with a decisive U.S. victory over Japanese forces.
In 1939, President Franklin D. Roosevelt laid the cornerstone of the Jefferson Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In 1959, four members of the Clutter family of Holcomb, Kansas, were found murdered in their home. (Ex-convicts Richard Hickock and Perry Smith were later convicted of the killings and hanged in a case made famous by the Truman Capote book “In Cold Blood.”)
In 1961, former Argentine President Juan Peron, living in exile in Spain, married his third wife, Isabel.
In 1966, the flight of Gemini 12, the final mission of the Gemini program, ended successfully as astronauts James A. Lovell and Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin Jr. splashed down safely in the Atlantic after spending four days in orbit.
In 1969, a quarter of a million protesters staged a peaceful demonstration in Washington against the Vietnam War.
In 1984, Stephanie Fae Beauclair, the infant publicly known as “Baby Fae” who had received a baboon’s heart to replace her own congenitally deformed one, died at Loma Linda University Medical Center in California three weeks after the transplant.
In 2003, two Black Hawk helicopters collided and crashed in Iraq; 17 U.S. troops were killed.
In 2012, the Justice Department announced that BP had agreed to plead guilty to a raft of charges in the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill and pay a record $4.5 billion, including nearly $1.3 billion in criminal fines.
In 2018, the number of confirmed dead from the wildfire that had virtually destroyed the Northern California town of Paradise reached 63. (It would eventually total 85.)
In 2019, Roger Stone, a longtime friend and ally of President Donald Trump, was convicted of all seven counts in a federal indictment accusing him of lying to Congress, tampering with a witness and obstructing the House investigation of whether Trump coordinated with Russia during the 2016 campaign.
In 2022, Russia pounded Ukraine’s energy facilities with its biggest barrage of missiles since the start of its invasion, striking targets across the country and causing widespread blackouts.
BIRTHDAYS
Singer Petula Clark is 91.
Actor Sam Waterston is 83.
Classical conductor Daniel Barenboim is 81.
Pop singer Anni-Frid “Frida” Lyngstad (ABBA) is 78.
Actor Bob Gunton is 78.
Actor Beverly D’Angelo is 72.
Director-actor James Widdoes is 70.
Rock singer-producer Mitch Easter is 69.
News correspondent John Roberts is 67.
Former “Tonight Show” bandleader Kevin Eubanks is 66.
Comedian Judy Gold is 61.
Actor Rachel True is 57.
Rapper E-40 is 56.
Country singer Jack Ingram is 53.
Actor Jay Harrington is 52.
Actor Jonny Lee Miller is 51.
Actor Sydney Tamiia Poitier is 50.
Rock singer-musician Chad Kroeger is 49.
Rock musician Jesse Sandoval is 49.
Actor Virginie Ledoyen is 47.
Actor Sean Murray is 46.
Pop singer Ace Young (TV: “American Idol”) is 43.
Golfer Lorena Ochoa is 42.
Hip-hop artist B.o.B is 35.
Actor Shailene Woodley is 32.
Actor-dancer Emma Dumont is 29.
