TODAY IN HISTORY
TODAY IS THURSDAY, DEC. 19, the 353rd day of 2019. There are 12 days left in the year.
TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY:
On this date in 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was subsequently acquitted by the Senate).
In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.
In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.
In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States in the U.S. Senate chamber by Chief Justice Warren Burger with President Gerald R. Ford looking on.
In 1975, John Paul Stevens was sworn in as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court.
In 1986, the Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile, and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner. Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.
In 1997, James Cameron’s epic film “Titanic” opened in U.S. theaters.
In 2001, the fires that had burned beneath the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City for the previous three months were declared extinguished except for a few scattered hot spots.
In 2002, Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in “material breach” of a U.N. disarmament resolution.
In 2003, design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper — a 1,776-foot glass tower — at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.
In 2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS: Former game show contestant Herb Stempel is 93. Actress Elaine Joyce is 76. Actor Tim Reid and paleontologist Richard E. Leakey are 75. Musician John McEuen is 74. Singer Janie Fricke is 72. Jazz musician Lenny White is 70. Actor Mike Lookinland is 59. Actor Scott Cohen is 58. Actress Jennifer Beals is 56. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 53. Magician Criss Angel and rock musician Klaus Eichstadt (Ugly Kid Joe) are 52. Actors Ken Marino, Elvis Nolasco and Derek Webster, and rock musician Kevin Shepard are 51. Actress Kristy Swanson is 50. Model Tyson Beckford is 49. Actress Amy Locane is 48. Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Warren Sapp, and actresses Rosa Blasi and Alyssa Milano are 47. Actress Tara Summers is 40. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal and actress Marla Sokoloff are 39. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 34.