Today in History Friday, Dec. 29, 2023

Thursday, Dec. 28, 2023 Today is Thursday, Dec. 28, the 362nd day of 2023. There are three days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 28, 2014, the U.S. war in Afghanistan, fought for 13bloody years and still raging, came to a formal end with a quiet flag-lowering ceremony in Kabul that marked the transition of the fighting from U.s.-led combat troops to the country’s own security forces.

On this date:

In 1612, Italian astronomer Galileo Galilei observed the planet Neptune, but mistook it for a star. (Neptune wasn’t officially discovered until 1846 by Johann Gottfried Galle.) In 1895, the Lumiere brothers, Auguste and Louis, held the first public showing of their movies in Paris. In 1908, a major earthquake followed by a tsunami devastated the Italian city of Messina, killing at least 70,000people. In 1912, San Francisco’s Municipal Railway began operations with Mayor James Rolph Jr. at the controls of Streetcar No. 1 as 50,000 spectators looked on. In 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance. In 1972, Kim Il Sung, the premier of North Korea, was named the country’s president under a new constitution. In 1973, the Endangered Species Act was signed into law by President Richard Nixon. In 1981, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American “test-tube” baby, was born in Norfolk, Virginia. In 1991, nine people died in a crush of people trying to get into a rap celebrity basketball game at City College in New York. In 2007, Pakistani opposition leader Benazir Bhutto was laid to rest as the country’s army tried to quell a frenzy of rioting in the wake of her assassination. In 2012, Russia’s President Vladimir Putin signed a law banning Americans from adopting Russian children. In 2015, a grand jury in Cleveland declined to indict a white rookie police officer in the killing of 12-year-old Tamir Rice, a Black youth who was shot while playing with what turned out to be a pellet gun. In 2016, film star Debbie Reynolds, who lit up the screen in “Singin’ in the Rain” and other Hollywood classics, died at age 84, a day after losing her daughter, Carrie Fisher, who was 60. In 2017, Rose Marie, who began her career in show business as a child in the 1920s and costarred on “The Dick Van Dyke Show” in the 1960s, died at her Los Angeles-area home at the age of 94. In 2021, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid died at his Nevada home of complications from pancreatic cancer; the Democrat was 82. Hall of Fame football coach and broadcaster John Madden died at 85. In 2022, New Orleans music legend Walter “Wolfman” Washington, a cornerstone of the city’s musical nightlife for decades, died at age 79. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Dame Maggie Smith is 89. Former Democratic Sen. Tim Johnson of South Dakota is 77. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 77. Actor Denzel Washington is 69. TV personality Gayle King is 69. Actor Chad Mcqueen is 63. Country singer-musician Marty Roe (Diamond Rio) is 63. Actor Malcolm Gets is 60. Actor Mauricio Mendoza is 54. Actor Elaine Hendrix is 53. Political commentator Ana Navarro is 52. Talk show host Seth Meyers is 50. Actor Brendan Hines is 47. Actor Joe Manganiello is 47. Actor Vanessa Ferlito is 46. R&B singer John Legend is 45. Rapper-musician-producer Terrace Martin is 45. Actor Andre Holland is 44. Actor Sienna Miller is 42. Actor Beau Garrett (TV: “The Good Doctor”) is 41. Actor Thomas Dekker is 36. Actor Mackenzie Rosman is 34. Pop singer David Archuleta is 33. Actor Mary-charles Jones (TV: “Kevin Can Wait”) is 22. Actor Miles Brown is 19.

Today is Friday, Dec. 29, the 363rd day of 2022. There are two days left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 29, 1845, Texas was admitted as the 28th state.

On this date:

In 1170, Thomas Becket, the Archbishop of Canterbury, was slain in Canterbury Cathedral by knights loyal to King Henry II. In 1812, the American frigate USS Constitution engaged and severely damaged the British frigate HMS Java off Brazil during the War of 1812. In 1851, the first Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) in the United States was founded in Boston. In 1890, the Wounded Knee massacre took place in South Dakota as an estimated 300 Sioux Indians were killed by U.S. troops sent to disarm them. In 1940, during World War II, Germany dropped incendiary bombs on London, setting off what came to be known as “The Second Great Fire of London.” In 1972, Eastern Air Lines Flight 401, a Lockheed L-1011tristar, crashed into the Florida Everglades near Miami International Airport, killing 101of the 176 people aboard. In 1978, during the Gator Bowl, Ohio State coach Woody Hayes punched Clemson player Charlie Bauman, who’d intercepted an Ohio State pass. (Hayes was fired the next day.) In 1989, dissident and playwright Vaclav Havel (VAHTS’LAHV Hah’-vel) assumed the presidency of Czechoslovakia. In 1992, the United States and Russia announced agreement on a nuclear arms reduction treaty. In 2006, word reached the United States of the execution of former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein (because of the time difference, it was the morning of Dec. 30in Iraq when the hanging took place). In a statement, President George W. Bush called the execution an important milestone on Iraq’s road to democracy. In 2007, the New England Patriots ended their regular season with a remarkable 16-0 record following a 38-35 comeback victory over the New York Giants. (New England became the first NFL team since the 1972 Dolphins to win every game on the schedule.) In 2016, the United States struck back at Russia for hacking the U.S. presidential campaign with a sweeping set of punishments targeting Russia’s spy agencies and diplomats. In 2021, British socialite Ghislaine Maxwell was convicted in New York of helping lure teenage girls to be sexually abused by the late Jeffrey Epstein; the verdict capped a monthlong trial featuring accounts of the sexual exploitation of girls as young as 14. (Maxwell would be sentenced to 20 years in prison.) In 2022, Brazilian soccer legend Pelé, winner of a record three World Cups and standard-bearer for “the beautiful game,” died at age 82. Today’s Birthdays: Retired ABC newscaster Tom Jarriel is 89. Actor Barbara Steele is 86. Actor Jon Voight is 85. Singer Marianne Faithfull is 77. Retired Hall of Fame Jockey Laffit Pincay Jr. is 77. Actor Ted Danson is 76. Singer-actor Yvonne Elliman is 72. The president of the International Olympic Committee, Thomas Bach, is 70. Actor Patricia Clarkson is 64. Comedian Paula Poundstone is 64. Rock singer-musician Jim Reid (The Jesus and Mary Chain) is 62. Actor Michael Cudlitz is 59. Rock singer Dexter Holland (The Offspring) is 58. Actor-comedian Mystro Clark is 57. Actor Jason Gould is 57. News anchor Ashleigh Banfield is 56. Movie director Lilly Wachowski is 56. Actor Jennifer Ehle is 54. Actor Patrick Fischler is 54. Rock singer-musician Glen Phillips is 53. Actor Kevin Weisman is 53. Actor Jude Law is 51. Actor Maria Dizzia is 49. Actor Mekhi Phifer (mih-ky’ Fy’-fuhr) is 49. Actor Shawn Hatosy is 48. Actor Katherine Moennig is 46. Actor Diego Luna is 44. Actor Alison Brie is 41. Country singer Jessica Andrews is 40. Actor Iain de Caestecker is 36. Actor Jane Levy is 34. Singer-actor-dancer Ross Lynch is 28. Rock musician Danny Wagner is 25.

Saturday, Dec. 30, 2023 Today is Saturday, Dec. 30, the 364th day of 2023. There is one day left in the year. Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 30, 1922, Vladimir Lenin proclaimed the establishment of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, which lasted nearly seven decades before dissolving in December 1991.

On this date:

In 1813, British troops burned Buffalo, New York, during the War of 1812. In 1853, the United States and Mexico signed a treaty under which the U.S. agreed to buy some 45,000square miles of land from Mexico for $10 million in a deal known as the Gadsden Purchase. In 1860, 10 days after South Carolina seceded from the Union, the state militia seized the United States Arsenal in Charleston. In 1903, about 600 people died when fire broke out at the recently opened Iroquois Theater in Chicago. In 1954, Olympic gold medal runner Malvin G. Whitfield became the first Black recipient of the James E. Sullivan Award for amateur athletes. In 1972, the United States halted its heavy bombing of North Vietnam. In 1994, a gunman walked into a pair of suburban Boston abortion clinics and opened fire, killing two employees. (John C. Salvi III was later convicted of murder; he died in prison, an apparent suicide.) In 2004, a fire broke out during a rock concert at a nightclub in Buenos Aires, Argentina, killing 194 people. In 2006, a state funeral service was held in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda for former President Gerald R. Ford. In 2009, seven CIA employees and a Jordanian intelligence officer were killed by a suicide bomber at a U.S. base in Khost (hohst), Afghanistan. In 2012, recalling that the shooting rampage that killed 20 first graders in Connecticut as the worst day of his presidency, President Barack Obama pledged on NBC’S “Meet the Press” to put his “full weight” behind legislation aimed at preventing gun violence. In 2015, Bill Cosby was charged with drugging and sexually assaulting a woman at his suburban Philadelphia home in 2004. (Cosby’s first trial ended in a mistrial after jurors deadlocked; he was convicted on three charges at his retrial in April 2018 and was sentenced to three to 10 years in prison, but the Pennsylvania Supreme Court overturned the conviction in June 2021and Cosby went free.) In 2020, Dawn Wells, who played the wholesome Mary Ann on the 1960s sitcom “Gilligan’s Island,” died in Los Angeles at age 82from causes related to COVID-19. In 2021, a wildfire driven by wind gusts up to 105mph swept through towns northwest of Denver, destroying hundreds of homes and forcing tens of thousands of people to flee. Today’s Birthdays: Actor Russ Tamblyn is 89. Baseball Hall of Famer Sandy Koufax is 88. Folk singer Noel Paul Stookey is 86. TV director James Burrows is 83. Actor Concetta Tomei (tohmay’) is 78. Singer Patti Smith is 77. Rock singer-musician Jeff Lynne is 76. TV personality Meredith Vieira is 70. Actor Sheryl Lee Ralph is 68. Actor Patricia Kalember is 67. Country singer Suzy Bogguss is 67. Actor-comedian Tracey Ullman is 64. Radio-tv commentator Sean Hannity is 62. Sprinter Ben Johnson is 62. Former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is 60. Actor George Newbern is 60. Movie director Bennett Miller is 57. Singer Jay Kay (Jamiroquai) is 54. Rock musician Byron Mcmackin (Pennywise) is 54. Actor Meredith Monroe is 54. Actor Daniel Sunjata is 52. Actor Maureen Flannigan is 51. Actor Jason Behr is 50. Golfer Tiger Woods is 48. TV personalityboxer Laila Ali is 46. Actor Lucy Punch is 46. Singer-actor Tyrese Gibson is 45. Actor Eliza Dushku is 43. Rock musician Tim Lopez (Plain White T’s) is 43. Actor Kristin Kreuk is 41. Folk-rock singer-musician Wesley Schultz (The Lumineers) is 41. NBA star Lebron James is 39. R&B singer Andra Day is 39. Actor Anna Wood is 38. Pop-rock singer Ellie Goulding (Gol’-ding) is 37. Actor Caity Lotz is 37. Actor Jeff Ward is 37. Country musician Eric Steedly is 33. Pop-rock musician Jamie Follesé (Fahl’-es-ay) (Hot Chelle (shel) Rae) is 32.