On this date
In 1890, reporter Nellie Bly (Elizabeth Cochrane) of the New York World completed a round-the-world journey in 72 days, 6 hours and 11 minutes.
In 1915, America’s first official transcontinental telephone call took place as Alexander Graham Bell, who was in New York, spoke to his former assistant, Thomas Watson, who was in San Francisco, over a line set up by American Telephone & Telegraph.
In 1924, the first Winter Olympic Games opened in Chamonix, France.
In 1945, the World War II Battle of the Bulge ended as German forces were pushed back to their original positions. In 1945, Grand Rapids, Mich., became the first community to add fluoride to its public water supply. In 1947, gangster Al Capone died in Miami Beach, Fla., at age 48. In 1961, President John F. Kennedy held the first presidential news conference to be carried live on radio and television.
In 1971, Charles Manson and three women followers were convicted in Los Angeles of murder and conspiracy in the 1969 slayings of seven people, including actress Sharon Tate.
In 1971, Idi Amin seized power in Uganda by ousting President Milton Obote in a military coup.
Ten years ago: Ford Motor Co. said it had lost $12.7 billion in 2006, at the time the worst loss in the company’s 103-year history. (Ford later reported a loss of $14.6 billion for 2008.)
Five years ago: U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords of Arizona returned to Congress to officially tender her resignation a year after she was shot and severely wounded in her home district. One year ago: President Barack Obama said he would ban the use of solitary confinement for juvenile and low-level offenders in federal prisons.