TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Saturday, Dec. 17, the 351st day of 2022. There are 14 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history
On Dec. 17, 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.
On this date
In 1777, France recognized American independence.
In 1933, in the inaugural NFL championship football game, the Chicago Bears defeated the New York Giants, 23-21, at Wrigley Field.
In 1944, the U.S. War Department announced it was ending its policy of excluding people of Japanese ancestry from the West Coast.
In 1957, the United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.
In 1969, the U.S. Air Force closed its Project “Blue Book” by concluding there was no
evidence of extraterrestrial spaceships behind thousands of UFO sightings.
In 1975, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme was sentenced in Sacramento to life in prison for her attempt on the life of President Gerald R. Ford. (She was paroled in August 2009.)
In 1979, Arthur McDuffie, a Black insurance executive, was beaten by police after leading them on a chase with his motorcycle in Miami. McDuffie died in a hospital four days later. (Four White police officers accused of beating McDuffie were later acquitted, sparking riots.)
In 1992, President George H.W. Bush, Canadian Prime Minister Brian Mulroney and Mexican President Carlos Salinas de Gortari signed the North American Free Trade Agreement in separate ceremonies. (After President Donald Trump demanded a new deal, the three countries signed a replacement agreement in 2018.)
In 2011, North Korean leader Kim Jong Il died after more than a decade of iron rule; he was 69, according to official records, but some reports indicated he was 70.
In 2014, the United States and Cuba restored diplomatic relations, sweeping away one of the last vestiges of the Cold War.
In 2018, a report from the Senate intelligence committee found that Russia's political disinformation campaign on U.S. social media was more far-reaching than originally thought, with troll farms working to discourage Black voters and “blur the lines between reality and fiction” to help elect Donald Trump.
In 2020, a government advisory panel endorsed a second COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way for the shot from Moderna and the National Institutes of Health to be added to the U.S. vaccination campaign.
Today’s birthdays
Pope Francis is 86. Actor Bernard Hill is 78. Actor Ernie Hudson is 77. Actor Eugene Levy is 76. Actor Marilyn Hassett is 75. Actor Wes Studi is 75. Singer Paul Rodgers is 73. Actor Bill Pullman is 69. Actor Barry Livingston is 69. Director-writer Peter Farrelly is 66. Musician Mike Mills (R.E.M.) is 64. Singer Sarah Dallin (Bananarama) is 61. Actor Marissa Ribisi is 48. Actor Giovanni Ribisi is 48.