DAILY ALMANAC
Today is Sunday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2021. There are 12 days left in the year.
On this date 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.
1813: British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.
1907: 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.
1950: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.
1960: Fire broke out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard; 50 civilian workers were killed.
1972: Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
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.
1998: President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice. (Clinton was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.)
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.
2002: Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in “material breach” of a
U.N. disarmament resolution.
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.
2008: Citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
Ten years ago: North Korea announced the death two days earlier of leader Kim Jong Il; North Koreans marched by the thousands to mourn their “Dear Leader” while state media proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, a “Great Successor.” Paroled American Lori Berenson, who had stirred international controversy after being convicted of aiding Peruvian guerrillas, left Lima on a flight to the United States for her first visit back home since her arrest in 1995.
Actor Tim Reid is 77. Musician John Mceuen (Nitty Gritty Dirt Band) is 76. Country singer Janie Fricke is 74. Jazz drummer Lenny White of Return to Forever is 72. Actor Mike Lookinland (“The Brady Bunch”) is 61. Actor Scott Cohen (“Gilmore Girls”) is 60. Actor Jennifer Beals is 58. Actor Robert Macnaughton (“E.T.”) is 55. Magician Criss Angel is 54. Guitarist Klaus Eichstadt of Ugly Kid Joe is 54. Actor Kristy Swanson is 52. Model Tyson Beckford is 51. Actor Rosa Blasi (“Strong Medicine”) is 49. Actor Alyssa Milano is 49. Actor Tara Summers (“Mercy Street,” “Boston Legal”) is 42. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal is 41. Actor Marla Sokoloff (“The Practice”) is 41. Actor Nik Dodani (“Murphy Brown”) is 28.