Today in history
Today is Friday, Dec. 2, the 337th day of 2016. There are 29 days left in the year.
On this date in the SCV: In 1948, The Signal reported that rumors of a State Highway Department plan to establish a truck route on Newhall Avenue, which would by-pass the business district, had failed to stand up under an investigation conducted by The Signal. Through the cooperation of Supervisor Roger Jessup’s office the county records and plans had been combed for any hint of the project. Reports of
this project had been current in Newhall for a long time, and high school trustees had set back the fence 20 feet on the Newhall Avenue side, just in case.
Today’s Highlight in History: On Dec. 2, 1816, the first savings bank in the United States, the Philadelphia Savings Fund Society, opened for business.
Ten years ago: Fidel Castro failed to attend a military parade marking the 50th anniversary of the formation of Cuba’s Revolutionary Armed Forces, raising questions about his ability to return to power. A triple car bombing in a predominantly Shiite district of Baghdad killed dozens of people. A sport utility vehicle driven by actor Lane Garrison hit a tree in Beverly Hills, killing a 17-year-old passenger; Garrison was later sentenced to three years and four months in prison for drunken driving (he was paroled in April 2009).
Five years ago: U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi (ahng sahn soo chee) vowed to work together to promote democratic reforms in Suu Kyi’s long-isolated and authoritarian homeland. The Labor Department announced the unemployment rate had fallen to 8.6 percent in Nov. 2011, the lowest since March 2009.
One year ago: A couple who had pledged allegiance to the Islamic State opened fire at a holiday banquet for public employees in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 21 others before dying in a shootout with police.
On this date: In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of the French. In 1961, Cuban leader Fidel Castro declared himself a Marxist-Leninist who would eventually lead Cuba to Communism.