HIGHLIGHTS IN HISTORY
Thought for today “Silence is more musical than any song.” Christina Rossetti British poet (1830-1874)
Today’s highlight:
On Dec. 15, 1791, the Bill of Rights, the first 10 amendments to the U.S. Constitution, went into effect following ratification by Virginia.
On this date:
1890: members Sioux were Indian killed Chief in Grand Sitting River, Bull South and Dakota, 11 other during tribe a confrontation with Indian police. 1938: in Washington, Groundbreaking D.C., with for President the Jefferson Franklin Memorial D. Roosevelt took place taking part in the ceremony. 1944: Miller, A a single-engine major in the U.S. plane carrying bandleader Glenn
Army over the Air English Forces, Channel disappeared while en route to Paris. 1960: Teflon-coated skillets first went on sale, at Macy’s flagship store in New York City.
1961: Former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court for crimes against humanity. Eichmann was hanged 512 months later. 1965: Two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6A and Gemini 7, maneuvered toward each other while in orbit, at one point coming as close as one foot. 1967: The Silver Bridge between Gallipolis, Ohio, and Point Pleasant, West Virginia, collapsed into the Ohio River, killing 46 people. 1978: President Jimmy Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year’s Day and sever official relations with Taiwan. 1989: A popular uprising began in Romania that resulted in the downfall of dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
1995: European Union leaders meeting in Madrid, Spain, chose “euro” as the name of the new single European currency. 2001: With a crash and a large dust cloud, a 50-foot-tall section of steel — the last standing piece of the World Trade Center’s facade — was brought down in New York. Ten years ago: President-elect Barack Obama said a review by his own lawyer showed he’d had no direct contact with Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich about the appointment of a Senate replacement, and that transition aides “did nothing inappropriate.” Illinois lawmakers took the first steps toward removing Blagojevich, a Democrat, from office. Five years ago: Nelson Mandela was laid to rest in his childhood hometown, ending a 10-day mourning period for South Africa’s first black president. Michelle Bachelet easily won Chile’s presidential runoff. Academy Award-winning actress Joan Fontaine, 96, died in Carmel, California.
Harold Camping, 92, a California preacher who’d used his radio ministry and thousands of billboards to broadcast the end of the world and then gave up when his date-specific doomsdays did not come to pass, died in Oakland, California.
One year ago: Republicans revealed the details of their huge national tax rewrite; the 35 percent tax rate on corporations would fall to 21 percent, and the measure would repeal the requirement under President Barack Obama’s Affordable Care Act that all Americans have health insurance or face a penalty. Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer said the middle class would “get skewered” under the GOP tax measure, while the wealthy and corporations would “make out like bandits.” A huge wildfire in coastal mountains northwest of Los Angeles continued to surge westward, endangering thousands of homes; the fire was the fourth-largest in the state’s history.