December 19
1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanac.
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."
1777 - 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.
1843 - Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol."
1907 - A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania, killed 239 workers.
1946 - War broke out in Indochina when Ho Chi Minh attacked the French.
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, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
1974 - Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as vice president, replacing Gerald R. Ford, who became president when Richard M. Nixon resigned.
1984 - Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
1986 - The Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner.
1997 - "Titanic," the second highest-grossing movie of all-time, opened in American theaters.
1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives. (Clinton was later acquitted by the U.S. Senate.)
2000 - The U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed terrorist training camps and surrendered U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden.
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.
2003 - Moammar al-Qaddafi of Libya announced that his country would discontinue development of weapons of mass destruction.
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.
2005 - Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.
2008 - Citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
2011 - 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.”
2020 - Contradicting his secretary of state and other top officials, President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that China – not Russia – might have been behind a cyberespionage operation against the United States government; Trump also tried to downplay its impact.
Birthdays
28 - Nik Dodani (actor)
34 - Ronan Farrow (journalist)
36 - Lady Sovereign (rapper)
41 - Marla Sokoloff (actress)
41- Jake Gyllenhaal (actor)
42 - Tara Summers (actress)
49 - Alyssa Milano (actress)
49 - Rosa Blasi (actress)
49 - Warren Sapp (football player)
50 - Amy Locane (actress)
52 - Kristy Swanson (actress)
53 - Derek Webster (actor)
53 - Elvis Nolasco (actor)
53 - Ken Marino (actor)
54 - Criss Angel (magician)
55 - Robert MacNaughton (actor)
58 - Jennifer Beals (actress)
60 - Scott Cohen (actor)
61 - Mike Lookinland (actor)
77 - Tim Reid (actor)
78 - Elaine Joyce (actress)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - December 19
1887 - Jake Kilrain and Jim Smith fought in a bare knuckles fight which lasted 106 rounds and 2 hours and 30 minutes. The fight was ruled a draw and was halted due to darkness.
1917 - The first regular season games of the new National Hockey League (NHL) were played. Five teams made up the league Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers. Quebec did not actually begin operations until two years later. Dave Ritchie (Montreal Wanderers) scored the first goal in NHL history.
1948 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the Buffalo Bills 49-7 in the AAFC Championship Game.
1948 - The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 in the NFL Championship Game.
1959 - Penn State defeated Alabama 7-0 in the inaugural Liberty Bowl.
1977 - #12 Nebraska defeats #14 North Carolina 21-17 to win the Liberty Bowl; NU ends the season with a 9-3 record and ranked #10 (UPI) and #12 (AP) in the final polls.
1979 - ESPN televised its first NHL game. The teams were the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whales.
1984 - Wayne Gretzky, 23, of the Edmonton Oilers, became only the 18th player in the National Hockey League (NHL) to score more than 1,000 points. He did it in his 424th career game. The previous record was held by Guy Lafleur who did it in 720 games.
1984 - Scotty Bowman became the NHL's all time winningest coach with his 691st victory.
1985 - Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the NFL. The football kicker held the record for the most career field goals with 373.
1990 - Bo Jackson (Los Angeles Raiders) became the first athlete to be chosen for All Star Games in two sports.
1999 - Orlando Brown (Cleveland Browns) was ejected from a game for pushing referee Jeff Triplette to the ground. Triplette had accidentally hit Brown in the eye with a weighted penalty flag.
2003 - The baseball that was deflected by a fan in the stands during a Chicago Cubs game was sold for $106,600 at auction. The foul ball appeared to be headed for the glove of left fielder Moises Alou in Game 6 of the National League Championship series. The Florida Marlins ended up winning the game 8-3. The Cubs then lost Game 7.
2010 - "Miracle at the New Meadowlands", Philadelphia Eagles trail New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play, before scoring 4 touchdowns in final 7 minutes, including dramatic walk-off punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson.
2018 - The Houston Rockets set an NBA single-game record with 26 three-pointers in a 136-118 win over the Washington Wizards; 8 players hit from deep as the Rockets shoot 26-of-55 (47.3%); James Harden led the way shooting 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.
1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing Poor Richard's Almanac.
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."
1777 - 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.
1843 - Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol."
1907 - A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania, killed 239 workers.
1946 - War broke out in Indochina when Ho Chi Minh attacked the French.
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, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
1974 - Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as vice president, replacing Gerald R. Ford, who became president when Richard M. Nixon resigned.
1984 - Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
1986 - The Soviet Union announced it had freed dissident Andrei Sakharov from internal exile and pardoned his wife, Yelena Bonner.
1997 - "Titanic," the second highest-grossing movie of all-time, opened in American theaters.
1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives. (Clinton was later acquitted by the U.S. Senate.)
2000 - The U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed terrorist training camps and surrendered U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden.
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.
2003 - Moammar al-Qaddafi of Libya announced that his country would discontinue development of weapons of mass destruction.
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.
2005 - Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.
2008 - Citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
2011 - 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.”
2020 - Contradicting his secretary of state and other top officials, President Donald Trump suggested without evidence that China – not Russia – might have been behind a cyberespionage operation against the United States government; Trump also tried to downplay its impact.
Birthdays
28 - Nik Dodani (actor)
34 - Ronan Farrow (journalist)
36 - Lady Sovereign (rapper)
41 - Marla Sokoloff (actress)
41- Jake Gyllenhaal (actor)
42 - Tara Summers (actress)
49 - Alyssa Milano (actress)
49 - Rosa Blasi (actress)
49 - Warren Sapp (football player)
50 - Amy Locane (actress)
52 - Kristy Swanson (actress)
53 - Derek Webster (actor)
53 - Elvis Nolasco (actor)
53 - Ken Marino (actor)
54 - Criss Angel (magician)
55 - Robert MacNaughton (actor)
58 - Jennifer Beals (actress)
60 - Scott Cohen (actor)
61 - Mike Lookinland (actor)
77 - Tim Reid (actor)
78 - Elaine Joyce (actress)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - December 19
1887 - Jake Kilrain and Jim Smith fought in a bare knuckles fight which lasted 106 rounds and 2 hours and 30 minutes. The fight was ruled a draw and was halted due to darkness.
1917 - The first regular season games of the new National Hockey League (NHL) were played. Five teams made up the league Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers. Quebec did not actually begin operations until two years later. Dave Ritchie (Montreal Wanderers) scored the first goal in NHL history.
1948 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the Buffalo Bills 49-7 in the AAFC Championship Game.
1948 - The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 in the NFL Championship Game.
1959 - Penn State defeated Alabama 7-0 in the inaugural Liberty Bowl.
1977 - #12 Nebraska defeats #14 North Carolina 21-17 to win the Liberty Bowl; NU ends the season with a 9-3 record and ranked #10 (UPI) and #12 (AP) in the final polls.
1979 - ESPN televised its first NHL game. The teams were the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whales.
1984 - Wayne Gretzky, 23, of the Edmonton Oilers, became only the 18th player in the National Hockey League (NHL) to score more than 1,000 points. He did it in his 424th career game. The previous record was held by Guy Lafleur who did it in 720 games.
1984 - Scotty Bowman became the NHL's all time winningest coach with his 691st victory.
1985 - Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the NFL. The football kicker held the record for the most career field goals with 373.
1990 - Bo Jackson (Los Angeles Raiders) became the first athlete to be chosen for All Star Games in two sports.
1999 - Orlando Brown (Cleveland Browns) was ejected from a game for pushing referee Jeff Triplette to the ground. Triplette had accidentally hit Brown in the eye with a weighted penalty flag.
2003 - The baseball that was deflected by a fan in the stands during a Chicago Cubs game was sold for $106,600 at auction. The foul ball appeared to be headed for the glove of left fielder Moises Alou in Game 6 of the National League Championship series. The Florida Marlins ended up winning the game 8-3. The Cubs then lost Game 7.
2010 - "Miracle at the New Meadowlands", Philadelphia Eagles trail New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play, before scoring 4 touchdowns in final 7 minutes, including dramatic walk-off punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson.
2018 - The Houston Rockets set an NBA single-game record with 26 three-pointers in a 136-118 win over the Washington Wizards; 8 players hit from deep as the Rockets shoot 26-of-55 (47.3%); James Harden led the way shooting 6-of-11 from beyond the arc.
