TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Dec. 21, 1891

The first basketball game, devised by James Naismith, is believed to have been played at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

ALSO ON THIS DATE

1620

Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.

1864

During the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their “March to the Sea” as they captured Savannah, Georgia.

1913

The first newspaper crossword puzzle, billed as a “Word-Cross Puzzle,” was published in the New York World.

1937

Walt Disney’s first animated feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” had its world premiere at the Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles. The first Dr. Seuss book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was published by Vanguard Press.

1945

U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton, 60, died in Heidelberg, Germany, 12 days after being seriously injured in a car accident.

1967

Louis Washkansky, the first human heart transplant recipient, died at a hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, 18 days after receiving the donor organ. The satirical comedydrama “The Graduate,” starring Anne Bancroft and Dustin Hoffman, was released by Embassy Pictures.

1968

Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

1969

Vince Lombardi coached his last football game as his team, the Washington Redskins, lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-10.

1976

The Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island off Massachusetts almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.