On this day, Dec. 11
1844 The first experimental use of an inhaled anesthetic in dentistry took place as Dr. Horace Wells, of Hartford, Conn., under the influence of nitrous oxide, had a colleague extract one of his teeth.
1869 Pennsylvania College for Women, founded by the Rev. W.T. Beatty and now known as Chatham University, was incorporated.
1944 Thousands of Monday night Christmas shoppers were stranded Downtown by a 15-inch snowfall. All hotels were filled to capacity, and lobbies were pressed into service as shelter. Mills, schools and many other activities were forced to suspend for two days.
1946 The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.
1998 Majority Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed through three articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton over Democratic objections. 1999 The O’Reilly Theater opened in the Pittsburgh Cultural District on Penn Avenue as the new home of the Pittsburgh Public Theater with the world premiere of August 2001 from In Wilson’s the 9/11, first “King criminal federal Hedley prosecutors indictment II.” stemming charged Zacarias Moussaoui, a French citizen of Moroccan descent, with conspiring to murder thousands in the suicide hijackings. (Moussaoui pleaded guilty to conspiracy in 2005 and was sentenced to life in prison.)
2008 Caylee The remains Anthony of were missing found Florida six toddler months after she disappeared. (Her mother, Casey Anthony, was acquitted of murder in her daughter’s death.)
2018 A man who had been flagged as a possible extremist sprayed gunfire near the famous Christmas market in the French city of Strasbourg, killing three people and wounding 13 others; the suspect died in a shootout with police two days later. (A fourth person wounded in the attack later died.)
Some items are from Stefan Lorant’s “Pittsburgh: The Story of an American City” (digital.library.pitt.edu/chronology).
Today’s birthdays: Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, 90. Actor Rita Moreno, 89. Pop singer David Gates (Bread), 80. Actor Donna Mills, 80. Former Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., 79. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry, 77. Singer Brenda Lee, 76. Actor Lynda Day George, 76. Music producer Tony Brown, 74. Actor Teri Garr, 73. Movie director Susan Seidelman, 69. Actor Bess Armstrong, 67. Singer Jermaine Jackson, 66. Rock musician Mike Mesaros (The Smithereens), 63. Rock musician Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue), 62. Rock musician Darryl Jones (The Rolling Stones), 59. Actor Ben Browder, 58. Singer-musician Justin Currie (Del Amitri), 56. Rock musician David Schools (Hard Working Americans, Gov’t Mule, Widespread Panic), 56. Actor Gary Dourdan, 54. Actor-comedian Mo’Nique, 53. Actor Max Martini, 51. Rapper-actor Mos Def, 47. Actor Rider Strong, 41. Actor Xosha Roquemore, 36. Actor Karla Souza, 34. Actor Hailee Steinfeld, 24.
Thought for Today: “The fear of life is the favorite disease of the twentieth century.” — William Lyon Phelps, American educator and journalist (1865-1943)