December 21
Today is the 355th day of 2021. There are 10 days left in the year. Today is the winter solstice, with winter officially arriving at 9:59 a.m. Central Standard Time. This is the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight in the northern hemisphere.
1620 - The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1864 - During the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their “March to the Sea” as they captured Savannah, Georgia.
1898 - Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.
1913 - The first crossword puzzle was printed in the New York World.
1914 - The U.S. government began requiring passport applicants to provide photographs of themselves.
1937 - Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length color and sound cartoon, had its world premiere.
1945 - U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton died at age 60 in Heidelberg, Germany, 12 days after being seriously injured in an automobile accident.
1948 - Ireland became an independent republic.
1958 - Charles de Gaulle was elected the first president of France's Fifth Republic.
1968 - Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.
1970 - Elvis Presley met with President Richard Nixon at the White House to discuss fighting drugs.
1976 - The Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island off Massachusetts almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.
1978 - Police in Des Plaines, Illinois arrested John W. Gacy Jr. and began unearthing the remains of 33 men and boys he was later convicted of murdering.
1988 - A terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
1991 - Eleven of the former Soviet republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent States.
1995 - Palestinians took over control of the city of Bethlehem.
1996 - After two years of denials, House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted violating House ethics rules.
2011 - The U.S. Army announced charges against eight soldiers related to the death of a fellow GI, Pvt. Daniel Chen, who apparently shot himself in Afghanistan after being hazed. (Of the eight, five received prison sentences and two received demotions; four of the eight faced dismissal from the service.)
2015 - The nation’s three-decade-old ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men was formally lifted, but major restrictions continued to limit who could give blood in the U.S.
2020 - President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations were safe.
2020 - Undercutting President Donald Trump on multiple fronts, Attorney General William Barr said he saw no reason to appoint a special counsel to look into Trump’s claims about the 2020 election or to name one for the tax investigation of Joe Biden’s son.
2020 - A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol was removed.
Birthdays
24 - Madelyn Cline (actress)
24 - Kida (singer)
25 - Kaitlyn Dever (actress)
30 - Otis Dozovic (professional wrestler)
31 - Taylor Louderman (actress)
37 - Mahira Khan (actress)
38 - Steven Yeun (actor)
39 - Luke Stricklin (singer)
47 - Kerrie Webb (golfer)
50 - Glenn Fitzgerald (actor)
50 - Natalie Grant (singer)
52 - Julie Delpy (actress)
53 - Khrystyne Haje (actress)
55 - Karri Turner (actress)
55 - Kiefer Sutherland (actor)
55 - Michelle Hurd (actress)
56 - Andy Dick (actor/comedian)
64 - Ray Romano (actor/comedian)
65 - Lee Roy Parnell (singer)
66 - Jane Kaczmarek (actress)
67 - Chris Evert (tennis player)
69 - Dennis Boutsikaris (actor)
71 - Kay Robertson (reality star)
73 - Samuel L. Jackson (actor)
75 - Josh Mostel (actor)
79 - Carla Thomas (singer)
83 - Larry Bryggman (actor)
84 - Jane Fonda (actress)
86 - Phil Donahue (talk show host)
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Today in Sports History - December 21
1891 - The first basketball game, invented at Springfield College in Massachusetts by James Naismith, was played.
1941 - Ray McLean (Chicago Bears) performed a drop kick for an extra point in the NFL. The next one would not happen until Doug Floutie performed on 61 years later.
1941 - The Chicago Bears defeat the New York Giants 37-9 in the NFL Championship Game.
1951 - Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement from baseball.
1959 - Tom Landry accepted the head coaching position with the Dallas Cowboys; he would lead the team to 22 consecutive winning seasons in his 29 years as coach.
1969 - Vince Lombardi coached his final football game, as his Washington Redskins lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-10; the Redskins finished the year with a 7-5-2 record, the franchise's first winning record in 14 years.
1975 - George Blanda, in his final regular-season game, became the first professional football player to reach 2,000 points. His total was 2,002 points over a 26-year career.
1981 - Cincinnati defeated Bradley 75-73 in seven overtimes. The game was the longest collegiate basketball game in the history of NCAA Division I competition.
1984 - BYU secured an undefeated season by defeating Michigan 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl; the Cougars would go on to win college football's national championship.
1983 - The Indiana Pacers ended an NBA 28-game losing streak.
1997 - Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions becomes the third player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.
2012 - The NHL announces a further cancellation of games until January 14 bringing the total number of cancelled games to 625.
Today is the 355th day of 2021. There are 10 days left in the year. Today is the winter solstice, with winter officially arriving at 9:59 a.m. Central Standard Time. This is the shortest day of the year in terms of daylight in the northern hemisphere.
1620 - The Pilgrims landed at Plymouth, Massachusetts.
1864 - During the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their “March to the Sea” as they captured Savannah, Georgia.
1898 - Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium.
1913 - The first crossword puzzle was printed in the New York World.
1914 - The U.S. government began requiring passport applicants to provide photographs of themselves.
1937 - Disney's Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs, the first feature-length color and sound cartoon, had its world premiere.
1945 - U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton died at age 60 in Heidelberg, Germany, 12 days after being seriously injured in an automobile accident.
1948 - Ireland became an independent republic.
1958 - Charles de Gaulle was elected the first president of France's Fifth Republic.
1968 - Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.
1970 - Elvis Presley met with President Richard Nixon at the White House to discuss fighting drugs.
1976 - The Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island off Massachusetts almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.
1978 - Police in Des Plaines, Illinois arrested John W. Gacy Jr. and began unearthing the remains of 33 men and boys he was later convicted of murdering.
1988 - A terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
1991 - Eleven of the former Soviet republics formed the Commonwealth of Independent States.
1995 - Palestinians took over control of the city of Bethlehem.
1996 - After two years of denials, House Speaker Newt Gingrich admitted violating House ethics rules.
2011 - The U.S. Army announced charges against eight soldiers related to the death of a fellow GI, Pvt. Daniel Chen, who apparently shot himself in Afghanistan after being hazed. (Of the eight, five received prison sentences and two received demotions; four of the eight faced dismissal from the service.)
2015 - The nation’s three-decade-old ban on blood donations from gay and bisexual men was formally lifted, but major restrictions continued to limit who could give blood in the U.S.
2020 - President-elect Joe Biden received his first dose of the coronavirus vaccine on live television as part of a growing effort to convince the American public the inoculations were safe.
2020 - Undercutting President Donald Trump on multiple fronts, Attorney General William Barr said he saw no reason to appoint a special counsel to look into Trump’s claims about the 2020 election or to name one for the tax investigation of Joe Biden’s son.
2020 - A statue of Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee that represented Virginia in the U.S. Capitol was removed.
Birthdays
24 - Madelyn Cline (actress)
24 - Kida (singer)
25 - Kaitlyn Dever (actress)
30 - Otis Dozovic (professional wrestler)
31 - Taylor Louderman (actress)
37 - Mahira Khan (actress)
38 - Steven Yeun (actor)
39 - Luke Stricklin (singer)
47 - Kerrie Webb (golfer)
50 - Glenn Fitzgerald (actor)
50 - Natalie Grant (singer)
52 - Julie Delpy (actress)
53 - Khrystyne Haje (actress)
55 - Karri Turner (actress)
55 - Kiefer Sutherland (actor)
55 - Michelle Hurd (actress)
56 - Andy Dick (actor/comedian)
64 - Ray Romano (actor/comedian)
65 - Lee Roy Parnell (singer)
66 - Jane Kaczmarek (actress)
67 - Chris Evert (tennis player)
69 - Dennis Boutsikaris (actor)
71 - Kay Robertson (reality star)
73 - Samuel L. Jackson (actor)
75 - Josh Mostel (actor)
79 - Carla Thomas (singer)
83 - Larry Bryggman (actor)
84 - Jane Fonda (actress)
86 - Phil Donahue (talk show host)
=====================================
Today in Sports History - December 21
1891 - The first basketball game, invented at Springfield College in Massachusetts by James Naismith, was played.
1941 - Ray McLean (Chicago Bears) performed a drop kick for an extra point in the NFL. The next one would not happen until Doug Floutie performed on 61 years later.
1941 - The Chicago Bears defeat the New York Giants 37-9 in the NFL Championship Game.
1951 - Joe DiMaggio announced his retirement from baseball.
1959 - Tom Landry accepted the head coaching position with the Dallas Cowboys; he would lead the team to 22 consecutive winning seasons in his 29 years as coach.
1969 - Vince Lombardi coached his final football game, as his Washington Redskins lost to the Dallas Cowboys, 20-10; the Redskins finished the year with a 7-5-2 record, the franchise's first winning record in 14 years.
1975 - George Blanda, in his final regular-season game, became the first professional football player to reach 2,000 points. His total was 2,002 points over a 26-year career.
1981 - Cincinnati defeated Bradley 75-73 in seven overtimes. The game was the longest collegiate basketball game in the history of NCAA Division I competition.
1984 - BYU secured an undefeated season by defeating Michigan 24-17 in the Holiday Bowl; the Cougars would go on to win college football's national championship.
1983 - The Indiana Pacers ended an NBA 28-game losing streak.
1997 - Barry Sanders of the Detroit Lions becomes the third player in NFL history to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a season.
2012 - The NHL announces a further cancellation of games until January 14 bringing the total number of cancelled games to 625.
