TODAY IN HISTORY

Today is Saturday, Dec. 12, the 347th day of 2020. There are 19 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE IN HISTORY

On Dec. 12, 2000, George W. Bush became president-elect as a divided US Supreme Court reversed a state court decision for recounts in Florida’s contested election.

1787 — Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the US Constitution.

1917 — During World War I, a train carrying some 1,000 French troops from the Italian front derailed while descending a steep hill in Modane; at least half of the soldiers were killed in France’s greatest rail disaster.

1985 — Two hundred forty-eight American soldiers and eight crew members were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.

2000 — The Marine Corps grounded all eight of its high-tech MV-22 Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft following a fiery crash in North Carolina that killed four Marines. ( The Osprey program was revived by the Pentagon in 2005.)

Ten years ago — An explosives-packed minibus blew up at the entrance of a joint NATO-Afghan base in southern Afghanistan, killing six American troops and two Afghan soldiers as they prepared to head out on patrol.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Former TV host Bob

Barker is 97. Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Pettit is 88. Singer Connie Francis is 83. Singer Dionne Warwick is 80. Rock singer-musician Dickey Betts is 77. Hall of Fame race car driver Emerson Fittipaldi is 74. Actor Wings Hauser is 73. Actor Bill Nighy is 71. Actor Duane Chase (Film: “The Sound of Music”) is 70. Country singer LaCosta is 70. Gymnast-turned-actor Cathy Rigby is 68. Author Lorna Landvik is 66. Singer-musician Sheila E. is 63. Actor Sheree J. Wilson is 62.

Pop singer Daniel O’Donnell is 59. International Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin is 58. Rock musician Eric Schenkman (Spin Doctors) is

57. Author Sophie Kinsella is 51. News anchor Maggie Rodriguez is 51. Actor Jennifer Connelly is 50. Actor Madchen Amick is 50. Actor Regina Hall is 50. Country singer Hank Williams III is

48. Actor Mayim Bialik is 45. Model Bridget Hall is 43. Actor Lucas Hedges is 24. Actor Sky Katz is 16.