Events, Births and Deaths Happening on this Date

1492

Christopher Columbus established the first Spanish settlement in the Americas on the island of Hispaniola, now Haiti.

1776

The British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton during the Revolutionary War.

1799

George Washington was eulogized by Col. Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

1865

James H. Nason of Franklin, Mass., received a patent for a coffee percolator.

1898

Scientists Pierre Curie and Marie Curie announced their discovery of the radioactive element radium.

1917

During World War I, the U.S. government took over operation of the nation's railroads.

1941

Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint meeting of the U.S. Congress, just three weeks after the U.S. entered World War II.

1944

In the World War II Battle of the Bulge, the embattled U.S. 101st Airborne Division was relieved by units of the 4th Armored Division.

1944

Tennessee Williams' play ''The Glass Menagerie'' premiered, at the Civic Theatre in Chicago.

1947

Heavy snow blanketed the Northeast, burying New York City under 25.8 inches of snow in 16 hours; the severe weather was blamed for some 80 deaths.

1966

The first Kwanzaa celebration was organized in Los Angeles, California, by Dr. Maulana Karenga, chairman of Black Studies at California State University at Long Beach. Kwanzaa is a non-religious African-American holiday.

1979

The Soviet Union began a massive airlift of men into Kabul, Afghanistan, in an effort to reinstate Communist rule in the nation.

1990

Iran's spiritual leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has said the death sentence on writer Salman Rushdie for alleged blasphemy will remain in force.

1995

Israel turned dozens of West Bank villages over to the Palestinian Authority in a smooth transfer of power.

1999

Alfonso Portillo, a populist lawyer, scored a resounding victory in Guatemala's first peacetime presidential elections in nearly 40 years.

2000

A gunman wielding a semiautomatic rifle and a shotgun opened fire at an Internet firm in Wakefield, Mass., killing seven workers.

2004

A tsunami with waves up to 30 m (100ft) high was triggered by the 9.1 magnitude Sumatra-Andaman earthquake beneath the Indian Ocean. It left more than 275,000 people dead or missing in eleven countries.

1716

Thomas Gray, English poet.

1792

Charles Babbage, English mathematician.

1837

Commodore George Dewey, American naval hero of the Spanish-American War.

1891

Henry Miller, American novelist.

1893

Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung (or Zedong or Zhedong) was born in Hunan province.

1921

Steve Allen, American comedian, author, musician, composer, TV host.

1940

Phil Spector, American music producer.

1972

Harry S. Truman, the 33rd president of the United States, died in Kansas City, Missouri.

1974

Jack Benny (Benjamin Kubelsky), American comedian, vaudeville performer, and radio, television, and film actor died in Los Angeles at age 80.

1996

Six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey, age 6, was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo. The slaying remains unsolved.

1999

Soul singer and songwriter Curtis Mayfield died in Roswell, Ga., at age 57.

2000

Jason Robards, American actor. He died of lung cancer at the age of 78 in Bridgeport, Connecticut.