TODAY INHISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT 1982

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial was dedicated on the National Mall in Washington, D. C.

1789

Benjamin Franklin wrote in a letter to a friend, JeanBaptiste Leroy: “In this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes.”

1927

The Holland Tunnel opened to the public, providing access between lower Manhattan and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.

1942

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed a measure lowering the minimum draft age from 21to 18.

1956

The Supreme Court struck down laws calling for racial segregation on public buses.

1969

Speaking in Des Moines, Iowa, Vice President Spiro T. Agnew accused network television news departments of bias and distortion, and urged viewers to lodge complaints.

1971

The U. S. space probe Mariner 9went into orbit around Mars.

1985

Some 23,000residents of Armero, Colombia, died when a volcanic mudslide buried the city.

2000

Lawyers for George W. Bush failed to win a court order barring manual recounts of ballots in Florida. Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris announced she would end the recounting at 5p. m. Eastern time the next day -- prompting an immediate appeal by lawyers for Al Gore.

2014

Clayton Kershaw became the first pitcher towin the National League MVP award since Bob Gibson in 1968; Los Angeles Angels’ outfielder Mike Trout was a unanimous pick for the AL MVP.

2016

President- elect Donald Trump named Republican Party chief Reince Priebus as White House chief of staff and conservative media executive Stephen Bannon as his top presidential strategist.