December 23
1783 - George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
1788 - Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the District of Columbia.
1823 - The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("Twas the Night Before Christmas") was published for the first time, in the Troy Sentinel of New York.
1913 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the Federal Reserve System.
1933 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored the civil rights of about 1,500 people who had been jailed for opposing World War I.
1941 - American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
1947 - The transistor was unveiled by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley.
1948 - Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed.
1954 - The first successful human kidney transplant took place at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston as a surgical team removed a kidney from 23-year-old Ronald Herrick and implanted it in Herrick's twin brother, Richard.
1962 - Cuba began releasing prisoners from the failed Bay of Pigs invasion under an agreement in which Cuba received more than $50 million worth of food and medical supplies.
1968 - Eighty-two crew members of the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.
1972 - A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Nicaragua, killing more than 5,000 people.
1986 - Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling aboard the experimental airplane Voyager.
1995 - A fire in Dabwali, India killed 540 people, including 170 children, during a year-end party being held near the children's school.
1997 - A federal jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. (Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
2003 - The government announced the first suspected case of mad cow disease in the United States.
2003 - A jury in Chesapeake, Virginia sentenced teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty.
2004 - Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland pleaded guilty to a corruption charge. (He served 10 months in prison.)
2009 - The parents who pulled the "balloon boy" hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show, were sentenced to jail by a judge in Fort Collins, Colorado.
2015 - Protesters blocked access to a terminal and caused significant holiday traffic delays around Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after staging a Black Lives Matter rally that also briefly shut down part of the Mall of America; the demonstrations were organized to draw attention to the recent police shooting of a Black man in Minneapolis.
2019 - Boeing ousted CEO Dennis Muilenburg as the company remained engulfed in the crisis stemming from the crash of two of its 737 Max airliners.
Birthdays
22 - Tori Keeth (actress)
26 - Isabella Castillo (actress)
27 - Caleb Foote (actor)
28 - Spencer Daniels (actor)
29 - Sofia Black D'elia (actress)
29 - Liz Nolan (reality star)
30 - Anna Maria Perez de Tagle (actress)
33 - Elvy Yost (actress)
41 - Holly Madison (model)
42 - Estella Warren (actress)
53 - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (model/former first lady of France)
56 - Eddie Vedder (singer)
57 - Terry Weeks (singer)
62 - Joan Severance (actress)
74 - Susan Lucci (actress)
77 - Harry Shearer (actor/comedian)
84 - Frederic Forrest (actor)
89 - Ronnie Schell (actor)
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Today in Sports History - December 23
1951 - The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cleveland Browns 24-17 in the first nationally televised NFL championship game.
1972 - The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an NFL playoff game on a last-second touchdown catch by Franco Harris that was dubbed the "immaculate reception".
1991 - Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll retired after 23 seasons. He was the only coach to win four Super Bowls.
1994 - Fiercely opposed by players, MLB owners approve to impose a salary cap.
1997 - Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson becomes the quickest to reach 500 wins (in 682 games).
1997 - Jari Kurri of the Colorado Avalanche became the eighth player in NHL history to score 600 career goals.
1783 - George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the U.S. Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Virginia.
1788 - Maryland voted to cede a 100-square-mile area for the District of Columbia.
1823 - The poem "A Visit from St. Nicholas" ("Twas the Night Before Christmas") was published for the first time, in the Troy Sentinel of New York.
1913 - President Woodrow Wilson signed the act creating the Federal Reserve System.
1933 - President Franklin D. Roosevelt restored the civil rights of about 1,500 people who had been jailed for opposing World War I.
1941 - American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese during World War II.
1947 - The transistor was unveiled by American physicists John Bardeen, Walter H. Brattain and William Shockley.
1948 - Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed.
1954 - The first successful human kidney transplant took place at the Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston as a surgical team removed a kidney from 23-year-old Ronald Herrick and implanted it in Herrick's twin brother, Richard.
1962 - Cuba began releasing prisoners from the failed Bay of Pigs invasion under an agreement in which Cuba received more than $50 million worth of food and medical supplies.
1968 - Eighty-two crew members of the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.
1972 - A 6.2 magnitude earthquake struck Nicaragua, killing more than 5,000 people.
1986 - Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager completed the first non-stop, around-the-world flight without refueling aboard the experimental airplane Voyager.
1995 - A fire in Dabwali, India killed 540 people, including 170 children, during a year-end party being held near the children's school.
1997 - A federal jury in Denver convicted Terry Nichols of involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy for his role in the Oklahoma City bombing. (Nichols was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.)
2003 - The government announced the first suspected case of mad cow disease in the United States.
2003 - A jury in Chesapeake, Virginia sentenced teen sniper Lee Boyd Malvo to life in prison, sparing him the death penalty.
2004 - Former Connecticut Gov. John G. Rowland pleaded guilty to a corruption charge. (He served 10 months in prison.)
2009 - The parents who pulled the "balloon boy" hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show, were sentenced to jail by a judge in Fort Collins, Colorado.
2015 - Protesters blocked access to a terminal and caused significant holiday traffic delays around Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport after staging a Black Lives Matter rally that also briefly shut down part of the Mall of America; the demonstrations were organized to draw attention to the recent police shooting of a Black man in Minneapolis.
2019 - Boeing ousted CEO Dennis Muilenburg as the company remained engulfed in the crisis stemming from the crash of two of its 737 Max airliners.
Birthdays
22 - Tori Keeth (actress)
26 - Isabella Castillo (actress)
27 - Caleb Foote (actor)
28 - Spencer Daniels (actor)
29 - Sofia Black D'elia (actress)
29 - Liz Nolan (reality star)
30 - Anna Maria Perez de Tagle (actress)
33 - Elvy Yost (actress)
41 - Holly Madison (model)
42 - Estella Warren (actress)
53 - Carla Bruni-Sarkozy (model/former first lady of France)
56 - Eddie Vedder (singer)
57 - Terry Weeks (singer)
62 - Joan Severance (actress)
74 - Susan Lucci (actress)
77 - Harry Shearer (actor/comedian)
84 - Frederic Forrest (actor)
89 - Ronnie Schell (actor)
============================================
Today in Sports History - December 23
1951 - The Los Angeles Rams defeated the Cleveland Browns 24-17 in the first nationally televised NFL championship game.
1972 - The Pittsburgh Steelers defeated the Oakland Raiders 13-7 in an NFL playoff game on a last-second touchdown catch by Franco Harris that was dubbed the "immaculate reception".
1991 - Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll retired after 23 seasons. He was the only coach to win four Super Bowls.
1994 - Fiercely opposed by players, MLB owners approve to impose a salary cap.
1997 - Chicago Bulls head coach Phil Jackson becomes the quickest to reach 500 wins (in 682 games).
1997 - Jari Kurri of the Colorado Avalanche became the eighth player in NHL history to score 600 career goals.