43 BC Cicero,
considered one of the greatest sons of Rome, is assassinated on the orders of
Marcus Antonius.
983 Otto
III takes the throne after his father's death in Italy. A power struggle
between magnates ensues.
1787 Delaware
becomes the first state to ratify the Constitution of the United States.
1808 James
Madison is elected president in succession of Thomas Jefferson.
1861 USS
Santiago de Cuba, under Commander Daniel B. Ridgely, halts the British schooner
Eugenia Smith and captures J.W. Zacharie, a New Orleans merchant and
Confederate purchasing agent.
1862 Confederate
forces surprise an equal number of Union troops at the Battle of Prairie Grove,
Arkansas.
1863 Outlaw
George Ives, an alleged member of an outlaw gang known as the "Innocents,"
robs and then kills Nick Thiebalt in the Ruby Valley of what would become
Montana.
1917 The
United States declares war on Austria-Hungary with only one dissenting vote in
Congress.
1918 Spartacists
call for a German revolution.
1931 A
report indicates that Nazis would ensure "Nordic dominance" by
sterilizing certain races.
1941 Japanese
planes raid Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, in a surprise attack, bringing the US into
WWII.
1942 The
U.S. Navy launches USS New Jersey, the largest battleship ever built.
1946 The
president of the United Mine Workers, John L. Lewis, orders all striking miners
back to work.
1949 The
A.F.L. and the C.I.O. organize a non-Communist international trade union.
1970 Poland
and West Germany sign a pact renouncing the use of force to settle disputes,
recognizing the Oder-Neisse River as Poland's western frontier, and
acknowledging the transfer to Poland of 40,000 square miles of former German
territory.
1972 The
crew of Apollo 17, the last manned mission to the moon, lifts off at Cape
Canaveral, Florida.
1981 The
Reagan Administration predicts a record deficit in 1982 of $109 billion.
1988 An
earthquake in Armenia kills an estimated 100,000 people.
1988 Palestinian
leader Yasser Arafat recognizes Israel's right to exist.
1995 Galileo
spacecraft arrives at Jupiter after a 6-year journey.
1999 The
Recording Industry Association of America files a copyright infringement suit
against the file-sharing website Napster.
2003 A
tornado in Kensal Green, North West London, damages about 150 properties.
Born on December 7
1810 Theodor
Schwann, German physiologist.
1873 Willa
Cather, Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist (O Pioneers!, My Antonia).
1888 Joyce
Cary, Irish-born novelist (The Horse's Mouth).
1888 Ernst
Toch, composer and pianist.
1895 Sir
Milton Margay, the first prime minister of Sierra Leone.
1896 Stuart
Davis, painter.
1928 Noam
Chomsky, writer, linguist and political activist.
1932 Ellen
Burstyn, actress; won Best Supporting Actress Oscar for her role in Alice
Doesn't Live Here Anymore (1974); won Tony for Same Time, Next Year (1975).
1947 Johnny
Bench, pro baseball catcher; twice named National League Most Valuable Player,
he was dubbed the greatest catcher in baseball history by ESPN.
1949 Tom
Waits, singer, songwriter ("Jersey Girl," "Downtown
Train"), musician, actor (Down by Law).
1956 Larry
Bird, basketball player for the Boston Celtics.
1988 Emily
Browning, actress, singer, model; won AFI International Award for Best Actress
as Violet Baudelaire in Lemony Snicket's A Series of Unfortunate Events.
2003 Catharina-Amalia,
Princess of Orange, heiress apparent to the throne of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands.
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