TODAY INHISTORY
Today is Saturday, Dec. 19.
TODAY'SHIGHLIGHT OnDec. 19,1998,
President Bill Clintonwas impeached by theRepublican-controlled House forperjuryand obstruction of justice (he was subsequently acquitted by theSenate).
ONTHISDATE
In 1777, during theAmerican RevolutionaryWar, Gen. GeorgeWashington led his armyofabout 11,000mento Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to campfor the winter.
In 1843,“AChristmas Carol,” by Charles Dickens, wasfirst published in England.
In 1915, legendary French chanteuse Edith Piafwas born inParis. German psychiatrist Alois Alzheimer, whodiscoveredthe pathological condition of dementia, died inBreslau (nowWroclaw), Poland, at age 51.
In 1946, warbroke out in Indochina as troops under HoChi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.
In1960, fire broke out on the hangardeckof the nearly completedaircraft carrier USSConstellation at the NewYorkNaval Shipyard; 50 civilianworkerswere killed.
In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed downin thePacific, winding up the Apollo programof mannedlunar landings.
In 1974, NelsonA. Rockefeller was sworn in as the41st vicepresident of the United States in theU.S. Senate chamberby ChiefJustice Warren BurgerwithPresident GeraldR. Fordlooking on.
In 2001, thefires that had burned beneath the ruins of theWorldTrade Center inNewYork City for the previous three months were declared extinguished except fora fewscattered hot spots.
In2002, SecretaryofState
ColinPowelldeclared Iraq in “material breach”ofaU.N. disarmamentresolution. In2003, design planswere unveiled for the signature skyscraper— a 1,776-foot glass tower— at the site of theWorldTrade Center in NewYork City.
In2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President GeorgeW. Bush ordered an emergencybailout of theU.S. auto industry.
Tenyears ago: Thebodyof anAmerican tourist, Kristine Luken, 44, was found neara road outside Jerusalem. (A Palestinianmanwas later sentencedby an Israeli court to life in prison for stabbing Luken.)
Fiveyearsago: Democratic presidential candidates Bernie Sanders and
Hillary Clinton debated in Manchester, NewHampshire, where they engaged in a pointed but polite discussion of national security, Americans’heightened terrorism fears and the economy.
Oneyearago: Congress headedhomefor the holidays without a plan or timeline in place for PresidentDonaldTrump’s impeachment trial in the Senate; Republicans resisted Democraticdemandsfor newwitness testimony.
The evangelical Christian magazine ChristianityToday said in an editorial that PresidentDonaldTrump should be removedfrom office; the editorial urged believers not to“continue to brushoffMr. Trump’s immoralwords and behavior in the cause of political expediency.”The House gave Trumpan overwhelming bipartisanvictoryon trade, approving a bill putting in place the terms of the new UnitedStates-MexicoCanadaAgreement.