December OTDIH

12/11835 - Hans Christian Andersen publishes his 1st book of fairy tales

1955 - Rosa Parks arrested

1887 - Sherlock Holmes 1st appears in print: "Study in Scarlet"

1959 – Antarctica is made a military-free continent

1913 - 1st drive-up gasoline station opens

12/2

1993 - Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot to death

1990 - Composer Aaron Copland died at age 90.

1982 - Doctors performed the first implant of a permanent artificial heart in a human.

1804 - Napoleon Bonaparte is crowned emperor of France in Paris

1927 - First Model A Ford sold for $385

12/3

1989 - Soviet Pres. Gorbachev and US Pres. George H. W. Bush, declare that the Cold War over

1979 - 11 people were killed at a concert by the Who

1965 - The album "Rubber Soul" by the Beatles was released.

1586 - Sir Thomas Herriot introduces potatoes to England from Colombia

1950 - Cleveland Browns last NFL team with no-pass game (beat Phila 13-7)

12/4

1920 - 1st Pro football playoff game

1980 - The rock group Led Zeppelin disbanded

1978 - Dianne Feinstein became San Francisco's first woman mayor

1997 - NBA suspends Latrell Sprewell for 1 year for attacking his coach

1942 - U.S. bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time in World War II.

12/5

2008 - O.J. Simpson was sentenced to 33 years in prison for an armed robbery.

2006 - New York ban artery-clogging trans fats in restaurants

1901 - Movie producer Walt Disney was born in Chicago.

1791 - Composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35.

1848 - President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49

12/6

2003 - Army became the first team to finish 0-13 in college football history

1973 - House minority leader Gerald R. Ford became vice president

1957 - America's 1st attempt at putting a satellite into orbit blew up on the launch pad

1907 - The worst mining disaster in U.S. history occurred as 362 died W.Va.

1923 - A presidential address was broadcast on radio for the first time

12/7

1941 – Pearl Harbor

1787 - Delaware became the first state to ratify the Constitution

1972 - America's last moon mission was launched

2011 - Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was sentenced to 14 years

1963 – Instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast (Army/Navy game)

12/8

1941 - The United States entered World War

1995 - The Grateful Dead announced they were breaking up

1966 - US & USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space

1967 - The Beatles' "Magical Mystery Tour" album is released

1987 - Flyers' Ron Hextall becomes 1st goalie to actually score a goal

12/9

1992 - Prince Charles and Princess Diana announced their separation.

1950 - Harry Gold sent to prison for his role in atomic espionage

2002 - United Airlines filed the biggest bankruptcy in aviation history

1941 - China declared war on Japan, Germany and Italy.

1907 - Christmas seals went on sale for the first time

12/10

2009 - President Barack Obama accepted the Nobel Peace Prize

2007 - Cristina Fernandez became Argentina's first elected female president.

2001 - "The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring," premiered in London.

1965 - The Grateful Dead played their first concert.

1818 - Mississippi was admitted to the union as the 20th state.

12/11

1941 - Germany and Italy declared war on the US

2009 - Tiger Woods announced he was taking a leave from golf

1998 – Congress approved 3 articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.

1997 - More than 150 countries signed the Kyoto treaty, the U.S. was not one of them.

1972 - Man landed on the moon for the last time during the Apollo 17 mission.

12/12

1915 - Singer Frank Sinatra was born in Hoboken, N.J.

2003 - Keiko, the killer whale made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, died.

1925 - The first motel opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

1745 - John Jay, statesman and the first chief justice of the Supreme Court, was born in New York City.

1963 - Kenya gained its independence from Britain.

12/13

2007 - The Mitchell Report on performance-enhancing drugs in baseball was released.

2003 – Former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein was captured

1862 - The Battle of Fredericksburg in Virginia took place.

1769 - Dartmouth College in New Hampshire received its charter.

1642 - Dutch navigator Abel Tasman arrived in present-day New Zealand.

12/14

1799 – George Washington Died

1911 - Explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole.

1979 - "London Calling" by the Clash was released.

1985 - Wilma Mankiller became the 1st woman to lead a major American Indian tribe; the Cherokee Nation

2008 - An Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush

12/15

1854 - 1st street-cleaning machine in US 1st used in Philadelphia

1792 - 1st life insurance policy issued in US

1791 - 1st US law school established at University of Pennsylvania

1939 - 1st commercial manufacture of nylon

2011 - Barry Bonds is sentenced to 30 days of house arrest, two years of probation and 250 hours of community service, for obstruction of justice

12/16

2010 - Larry King concluded his CNN talk show after 25 years.

2000 - Colin Powell selected to become the first African-American secretary of state.

1985 - Paul Castellano was shot to death outside a New York City restaurant.

1944 - The Battle of the Bulge began.

1916 - Gregory Rasputin was murdered by a group of noblemen.

12/17

1989 - "The Simpsons" premiered

1957 - The U.S successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile

2010 – Start of the Arab Spring.

1969 - The U.S. Air Force closed its Project "Blue Book"

1975 - Lynette "Squeaky" Fromme was sentenced to life in prison

12/18

1892 - Peter Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

2009 - Reality TV stars Jon and Kate Gosselin divorced.

1972 - The United States began the heaviest bombing of the Vietnam War.

1957 - The first nuclear facility in the United States to generate electricity went online.

1886 – Baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was born

12/19

1773 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."

1776 - Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay

1843 - Charles Dickens' Yuletide tale, "A Christmas Carol," was first published in Britain.

1777 - Gen. George Washington led his army to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.

2005 - Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.

12/20

1790 - The first successful cotton mill in the U.S. began operating

1803 - The Louisiana Purchase was completed

1946 - "It's A Wonderful Life" had a preview showing for charity

1989 - The U.S. sent troops into Panama to topple the government of Manuel Noriega.

1963 - The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time to West Berliners

12/21

1879 – Joseph Stalin was born

1620 - Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time

1898 - Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium

1913 - The first crossword puzzle was published

1937 – The premiere of the film "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs"

12/22

1858 - Opera composer Puccini was born

1864 – General Sherman sent a message to Pres. Lincoln saying, "I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah."

2001 - Richard C. Reid tried to ignite explosives in his shoes

1941 - Churchill and Roosevelt discuss war and peace

1956 - First gorilla born in captivity

12/23

2009 - "balloon boy" hoax

2003 - first suspected case of mad cow disease in United States.

1997 - Denver convicted Terry Nichols

1823 - "A Visit from St. Nicholas" by Clement C. Moore