Today in history
Today is Sunday, Dec. 10, the 344th day of 2017. There are 21 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight
On Dec. 10, 1817, Mississippi was admitted as the 20th state of the Union.
On this date
In 1520, Martin Luther publicly burned the papal edict demanding that he recant parts of his 95 Theses, or face excommunication.
In 1898, a treaty was signed in Paris officially ending the Spanish-American War.
In 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt became the first American to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for helping to mediate an end to the Russo-Japanese War.
In 1931, Jane Addams became the first American woman to be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize; the corecipient was Nicholas Murray Butler.
In 1946, newspaperman Damon Runyon, known for his short stories featuring colorful Broadway denizens, died at a New York hospital at age 66.
In 1950, Ralph J. Bunche was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize, the first black American to receive the award.
In 1964, Martin Luther King Jr. received his Nobel Peace Prize in Oslo, saying he accepted it “with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind.”
In 1967, singer Otis Redding, 26, and six others were killed when their plane crashed into Wisconsin’s Lake Monona; one passenger, Ben Cauley, survived.
In 1972, baseball’s American League adopted the designated hitter rule on an experimental basis for three years.
In 1987, President Ronald Reagan and Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev concluded three days of summit talks in Washington. Violinist Jascha Heifetz died in Los Angeles at age 86.
In 1994, Yasser Arafat, Shimon Peres and Yitzhak Rabin received the Nobel Peace Prize, pledging to pursue their mission of healing the anguished Middle East.
In 1996, South African President Nelson Mandela signed the country’s new constitution into law during a ceremony in Sharpeville.
Ten years ago: Suspended NFL star Michael Vick was sentenced by a federal judge in Richmond, Virginia, to 23 months in prison for bankrolling a dogfighting operation and killing dogs that underperformed (Vick served 19 months at Leavenworth). Madison Square Garden and New York Knicks coach Isiah Thomas reached an $11.5 million settlement of a sexual harassment case brought by former team executive Anucha Browne Sanders. Cristina Fernandez was sworn in as Argentina’s first elected female president. Former Vice President Al Gore accepted the Nobel Peace Prize with a call for humanity to rise up against a looming climate crisis and stop waging war on the environment.
Five years ago: President Barack Obama told auto workers in Michigan that he would not compromise on his demand that tax rates go up for the top 2 percent of American earners to help reduce the deficit. A judge announced that former International Monetary Fund leader Dominique StraussKahn and a New York City hotel maid had signed a settlement of her sexual-assault lawsuit stemming from a May 2011 encounter. Marijuana for recreational use became legal in Colorado.