TODAY IN HISTORY
Today is Thursday, Dec. 7, the 341st day of 2023. There are 24 days left in the year.
Today’s highlight in history
On Dec. 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as well as targets in Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippines and Wake Island; the U.S. declared war against Japan the next day.
On this date
In 1787, Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
In 1796, electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.
In 1917, the United States declared war on Austria-Hungary.
In 1963, during the Army-Navy game, videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast.
In 1972, America’s last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
In 1982, convicted murderer Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.
In 1988, a major earthquake in the Soviet Union devastated northern Armenia; official estimates put the death toll at 25,000.
In 2001, Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion in Afghanistan, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar.
In 2004, Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan’s first popularly elected president.
In 2017, Democratic Sen. Al Franken said he would resign after a series of sexual harassment allegations.
In 2018, James Alex Fields Jr., who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 White nationalist rally in Virginia, was convicted of murder.
Today’s birthdays
Linguist-philosopher Noam Chomsky is 95. Actor Ellen Burstyn is 91. Broadcast journalist Carole Simpson is 83. Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench is 76. Singer Gary Morris is 75. Singer Tom Waits is 74. Sen. Susan M. Collins, R-Maine, is 71. Basketball Hall of Famer Larry Bird is 67. Actor Priscilla Barnes is 66. Former “Tonight Show” announcer Edd Hall is 65. Musician Tim Butler (The Psychedelic Furs) is 65. Actor Jeffrey Wright is 58. Actor C. Thomas Howell is 57. Former NFL player Terrell Owens is 50. Singer Sara Bareilles is 44.