Today in history
In 1791 the Bill of Rights went into effect following ratification by Virginia.
In 1890 Sioux Indian Chief Sitting Bull and 11 other tribe members were killed in Grand River, S.D., during a fracas with Indian police.
In 1916 the French defeated the Germans in the World War I Battle of Verdun.
In 1938 groundbreaking ceremonies for the Jefferson Memorial took place in Washington.
In 1939 the motion picture “Gone With the Wind” had its world premiere in Atlanta.
In 1961 former Nazi official Adolf Eichmann was sentenced to death by an Israeli court.
In 1964 Canada’s House of Commons approved dropping the “Red Ensign” flag in favor of a new design.
In 1965 two U.S. manned spacecraft, Gemini 6 and Gemini 7, maneuvered to within 10 feet of each other while in orbit.
In 1966 movie producer Walt Disney died in Los Angeles; he was 65.
In 1978 President Jimmy Carter announced he would grant diplomatic recognition to Communist China on New Year’s Day and sever official relations with Taiwan. In 1979 the deposed Shah of Iran left the United States for Panama, the same day the International Court of Justice in The Hague ruled that Iran should release all its American hostages.
In 1989 a popular uprising began that resulted in the downfall of Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu.
In 1994 President Bill Clinton, in a 12-minute primetime address, presented a package of tax cuts for middle-income families raising children and outlined deep reductions in government programs to help pay for them.
In 1999 with President Bill Clinton’s mediation, Syria reopened peace talks with Israel in Washington.
In 2000 the long-troubled Chernobyl nuclear power plant in Ukraine was closed for good.
In 2001 the Leaning Tower of Pisa, Italy, was reopened to the public after a $27 million realignment that had dragged on for more than a decade.
In 2013 about 4,500 mourners attended the funeral of iconic South African leader Nelson Mandela, who was buried in Qunu, his rural home village in Eastern Cape province.
In 2014 authorities said Iraq war veteran Bradley W. Stone killed his ex-wife and five members of her family during a shooting rampage in three towns near Philadelphia. Stone later poisoned himself and his body was found near his home.