TODAY IN HISTORY

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

Dec. 14, 2012

A gunman with a semiautomatic rifle killed 20 firstgraders and six educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, then committed suicide as police arrived; the 20-year-old had also fatally shot his mother at their home before carrying out the attack on the school.

ALSO ON THIS DATE 1799

The first president of the United States, George Washington, died at his Mount Vernon, Virginia, home at age 67.

1819

Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.

1911

Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen and his team became the first men to reach the South Pole, beating out a British expedition led by Robert F. Scott.

1916

President Woodrow Wilson vetoed an immigration measure aimed at preventing “undesirables” and anyone born in the “Asiatic Barred Zone” from entering the U.S.

1918

“Il Trittico,” a trio of one-act operas by Giacomo Puccini, premiered at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House.,” featured the aria “O Mio Babbino Caro,” which was an instant hit.)

1936

The comedy “You Can’t Take It With You” by George S. Kaufman and Moss Hart opened on Broadway.