Today In History

Today is Friday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2018. There are 24 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1941: Japan launched a surprise attack on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as part of its plan to conquer Southeast Asian territories; the raid, which claimed some 2,400 American lives, prompted the United States to declare war against Japan the next day.

ON THIS DATE

› 1787: Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

› 1842: The New York Philharmonic performed its first concert.

› 1911: China abolished the requirement that men wear their hair in a queue, or ponytail.

› 1972: America’s last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.

› 1987: Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot on American soil for the first time, arriving for a Washington summit with President Ronald Reagan.

› 2001: Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion in Afghanistan, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar.

› 2004: Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Linguist and political philosopher Noam Chomsky is 90. Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne is

87. Actress Ellen Burstyn is 86. Former Sen. Thad Cochran, R-Miss., is 81. Broadcast journalist Carole Simpson is 78. Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench is 71. Actor-director-producer James Keach is 71. Country singer Gary Morris is 70. Singer-songwriter Tom Waits is 69. Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, is 66. Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird is 62. Actress Priscilla Barnes is 61. Former “Tonight Show” announcer Edd Hall is

60. Actor C. Thomas Howell is 52. Actress Kimberly Hebert Gregory (TV: “Kevin (Probably) Saves the World”) is 46. Producer-director Jason Winer is 46. Former NFL player Terrell Owens is

45. Rapper-producer Kon Artis is 44. Pop singer Nicole Appleton (All Saints) is 43. Latin singer Frankie J is 43. Country singer Sunny Sweeney is

42. Actress Shiri Appleby is 40. Pop-rock singer/ celebrity judge Sara Bareilles is 39. Actress Jennifer Carpenter is 39. Actor Jack Huston is 36. Singer Aaron Carter is 31.