DAY IN HISTORY

Friday, December 11, 2020

Today is the 346th day of 2020 and the 81st day of autumn.

TODAY’S HISTORY: In 1816, Indiana was admitted as the 19th U.S. state.

In 1941, the United States declared war on Germany and Italy, hours after those nations had declared war on the U.S.

In 1946, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

In 1972, the lunar module for Apollo 17, the final manned mission of the Apollo space program, touched down on the moon.

In 2008, investment banker Bernie Madoff was arrested for perpetrating one of the largest Ponzi-scheme frauds in U.S. history.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Hector Berlioz (18031869), composer; Fiorello La Guardia (1882-1947), New York City mayor; Alexander Solzhenitsyn (1918-2008), novelist/dissident; Rita Moreno (1931), actress; John Kerry (1943- ), U.S. secretary of state; Teri Garr (1944- ), actress; Mo’nique (1967), actress; Mos Def (1973), actor/rapper; Hailee Steinfeld, (1996- ), actress.

TODAY’S FACT: Apollo 17, which set records for the longest lunar surface exploration and the most lunar material collected, remains the most recent manned lunar mission.

TODAY’S SPORTS: In 1981, Muhammad Ali fought in his final boxing match, losing a unanimous decision to Trevor Berbick.

TODAY’S QUOTE: “To me, the job of the artist is to provide a useful and intelligent vocabulary for the world to be able to articulate feelings they experience every day, and otherwise wouldn’t have the means to express in a meaningful and useful way.” — Mos Def

TODAY’S NUMBER: $17.3 billion — total (in principal) lost by clients in Bernie Madoff’s Ponzi scheme. $48 billion more was lost in fictitious profits.

TODAY’S MOON: Between last quarter moon (Dec. 7) and new moon (Dec. 14).