On this date

In 1811,

the first of the powerful New Madrid earthquakes struck the central Mississippi Valley with an estimated magnitude of 7.7.

In 1930,

golfer Bobby Jones became the first recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award honoring outstanding amateur athletes.

In 1944,

the World War II Battle of the Bulge began as German forces launched a surprise attack against Allied forces through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium and Luxembourg (the Allies were eventually able to turn the Germans back).

In 1950,

President Harry S. Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight “world conquest by Communist imperialism.”

In 1976,

the government halted its swine flu vaccination program following reports of paralysis apparently linked to the vaccine.

In 1991,

the U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism by a vote of 111-25.

In 1997,

singer Nicolette Larson, a recording artist who lifted Neil Young’s pop hit “Lotta Love” to the top of the charts in the 1970s, died in Los Angeles at age 45.

Ten years ago:

British forces formally handed over to Iraq responsibility for Basra, the last Iraqi region under their control.

Five years ago:

Two Topeka, Kan., police officers, were shot to death in a grocery parking lot; the suspected gunman was later killed after an armed standoff.

One year ago:

President Barack Obama put Russia’s Vladimir Putin on notice that the U.S. could use offensive cyber muscle to retaliate for interference in the U.S. presidential election.