(Following Advance for Use Wednesday, December 19th)


Today in History

Today is Wednesday, December 19th, the 353rd day of 2007. There are 12 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History: On December 19th, 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.

On this date: In 1777, General George Washington led his Army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

In 1813, British forces captured Fort Niagara during the War of 1812.

In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its Empire Service to Australia.

In 1946, war broke out in IndoChina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

In 1957, Meredith Willson's musical play "The Music Man," starring Robert Preston as charming con man Harold Hill, opened on Broadway.

In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.

In 1986, Lawrence E. Walsh was appointed independent counsel to investigate the Iran-Contra affair.

In 1998, President CLinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice (he was later acquitted by the Senate).

Ten years ago: A SilkAir Boeing 737-300 plunged from the sky, crashing into an Indonesian river and killing all 104 people aboard. In Milwaukee, postal clerk Anthony Deculit killed a co-worker he'd feuded with, wounded a supervisor and injured another worker before taking his own life. James Cameron's epic Film "Titanic," the highest-grossing film ever made, opened in U.S. theaters.

Five years ago: Secretary of State Colin Powell declared Iraq in "material breach" of a U.N. disarmament resolution. After a prosecutor cited new DNA evidence, a judge in New York threw out the convictions of five young men in a 1989 attack on a Central Park jogger who had been raped and left for dead. Roh Moo-hyun won South Korea's presidential election.

One year ago: A Libyan court convicted five Bulgarian nurses and a Palestinian doctor of deliberately infecting 400 children with HIV and sentenced them to death. (The six later had their death sentences commuted, and were transferred to Bulgaria, where they were pardoned and set free.)


Today's Birthdays: Singer-songwriter Charlie Ryan is 92. Country singer Little Jimmy Dickens is 87. Composer-lyricist Robert Sherman ("Mary Poppins") is 82. Actress Cicely Tyson is 74.

Rhythm-and-blues singer-musician Maurice White (Earth, Wind and Fire) is 66. Actor Tim Reid is 63. Paleontologist Richard E. Leakey is 63. Rock singer Alvin Lee (Ten Years After) is 63. Actress Elaine Joyce is 62. Musician John McEuen is 62. Singer Janie Fricke is 60. Actor Mike Lookinland is 47. Actress Jennifer Beals is 44.

Actor Scott Cohen is 43. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 41. Magician Criss Angel is 40. Rock musician Kevin Shepard is 39. Actress Kristy Swanson is 38. Actress Amy Locane is 36. Actress Rosa Blasi is 35. Actress Alyssa Milano is 35. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (JIH'-lihn-hahl) is 27. Actress Marla Sokoloff is 27. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 22.

Thought for Today: "He that jokes confesses." Italian proverb.

(Above Advance for Use Wednesday, December 19th)


Copyright 2007, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

(Copyright 2007 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) APNP 12-09-07 0959CST | save this article / add to your favorites list