This day in history
Today is Monday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2023. There are 13 days left in the year.
Birthdays: Rock musician Keith Richards is 80. Director Alan Rudolph is 80. Director Steven Spielberg is 77. Blues artist Rod Piazza is 76. Director Gillian Armstrong is 73. Movie reviewer Leonard Maltin is 73. Actor Brad Pitt is 60. Wrestler-turned-actor “Stone Cold” Steve Austin is 59. Actor Rachel Griffiths is 55. Singer Alejandro Sanz is 55. Country/ rap singer Cowboy Troy is 53. Tennis Hall of Famer Arantxa Sanchez Vicario is 52. DJ Lethal of Limp Bizkit is 51. Pop singer Sia is 48. Actor Josh Dallas is 45. Actor Katie Holmes is 45. Singer Christina Aguilera is 43. Actor Ashley Benson is 34. Actor Bridgit Mendler is 31. Electro-pop singer Billie Eilish is 22.
▶ In 1773, a letter from Boston merchant John Edwards to a Philadelphia friend provided one of the most vivid recollections of what later would be called the Boston Tea Party, which happened two days before: “They mustered, I’m told on Fort Hill, to the number of about two hundred, and proceeded two by two to Griffin’s wharf, where . . . before nine o’clock in the evening every chest from on board the three vessels was knocked to pieces and flung over the sides. They say the actors were Indians from Narragansett. Whether they were or not, to a transient observer they appeared as such, being cloathed in Blankets with the heads muffled, and copper color’d countenances, being each armed with a hatchet or axe and pair of pistols.”
▶ In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward.
▶ In 1892, Peter Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia; although now considered a classic, it received a generally negative reception from critics.
▶ In 1917, Congress passed the 18th Amendment to the Constitution prohibiting “the manufacture, sale, or transportation of intoxicating liquors” and sent it to the states for ratification.
▶ In 1995, the Ted Williams Tunnel opened; work started in September 1991.
▶ In 2003, two federal appeals courts ruled the US military could not indefinitely hold prisoners without access to lawyers or American courts.
▶ In 2011, the last convoy of heavily armored US troops left Iraq, crossing into Kuwait in darkness in the final moments of a nine-year war.
▶ In 2019, the US House impeached President Trump on two charges, sending his case to the Senate for trial; the articles of impeachment accused him of abusing the power of the presidency to investigate rival Joe Biden ahead of the 2020 election and then obstructing Congress’ investigation.
▶ In 2020, the US added a second COVID-19 vaccine to its arsenal, as the Food and Drug Administration authorized an emergency rollout of the shot developed by Moderna Inc. and the National Institutes of Health.