HISTORY AT A GLANCE

TODAY is Wednesday, December 27, the 361st day of 2017. There are 4 days left in the year. Highlights in history on this date: 1945 – The World Bank and International Monetary Fund are created with the signing of an agreement by 29 nations. 1949 – Indonesian National Revolution: The Netherlands officially recognizes Indonesian independence. End of the Dutch East Indies. 1968 – Apollo program: Apollo 8 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, ending the first orbital manned mission to the Moon. 1978 – Spain becomes a democracy after 40 years of

dictatorship. 1979 – The Soviet Union invades the Democratic Republic of

Afghanistan. 1983 – Pope John Paul II visits Mehmet Ali Agca in Rebibbia’s prison and personally forgives him for the 1981 attack on him in St. Peter’s Square. 1989 – The Romanian Revolution concludes, as the last minor street confrontations and stray shootings abruptly end in the country’s capital, Bucharest. 1996 – Taliban forces retake the strategic Bagram Airfield which solidifies their buffer zone around Kabul, Afghanistan. 1997 – Protestant paramilitary leader Billy Wright is

assassinated in Northern Ireland, United Kingdom. 2001 – China is granted permanent normal trade relations with

the United States. 2002 – Two truck bombs kill 72 and wound 200 at the proMoscow headquarters of the Chechen government in Grozny, Chechnya, Russia. 2004 – Radiation from an explosion on the magnetar SGR 1806-20 reaches Earth. It is the brightest extrasolar event known to have been witnessed on the planet. 2007 – Former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto is

assassinated in a shooting incident. 2007 – Riots erupt in Mombasa, Kenya, after Mwai Kibaki is declared the winner of the presidential election, triggering a political, economic, and humanitarian crisis. 2008 – Operation Cast Lead: Israel launches 3-week

operation on Gaza. 2009 – Iranian election protests: On the Day of Ashura in Tehran, Iran, government security forces fire upon demonstrators.