2014 A live Ebola sample is mistakenly sent to a U.S. Centers for Disease Control laboratory that does not meet safety and security standards for handling the virus; a laboratory worker is being monitored for 21 days due to potential exposure 2013 To avoid Obamacare penalties, today is the last day consumers in the U.S. can sign up for the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 2013 Before celebrating Christmas Mass at Pope Francis pays a visit to Pope Benedict XVI at his retirement home 2012 Pakistan's government announces it will accord recognition to the Republic of Kosovo 2012 A video of SpaceX's latest test of the company's Grasshopper rocket with vertical takeoff and vertical landing, is released; the rocket rose 131 feet, hovered and landed safely on the landing pad December 17, 2012 2011 The world's oldest performer, Dutch actor and singer Johannes Heesters dies at the age of 108 2011 Cuba announces plans to release 2,900 prisoners, including political prisoners 2010 Heavy snowfall causes large-scale disruptions in Europe 2010 In a new deal, France is contracted to build two warships for Russia 1997 1st time a Channukah candle is officially lit in Vatican City 1994 4 Moslem fundamentalists capture Air France pilot in Algiers 1992 President Bush pardons Caspar Weinberger in Iran-contra affair 1990 Expos trade Tim Raines to White Sox for Ivan Calderon and Barry Jones 1990 Saddam says Israel will be Iraq's 1st target 1989 Charles Taylor enters Liberia to unseat President Samuel K Doe 1989 Panama's dictator, Manual Noriega seeks asylum at Vatican embassy 1986 French hostage Aurel Cornea, held in Lebanon for 9 months, released 1986 Iran offensive against Iraqi islands of Shatt al-Arab 1984 Palace coup in Mauritania 1982 Chaminade, with a student body of only 850 students, beats #1 ranked Virginia 77-72 in a Honolulu holiday basketball classic 1981 Guardian Angels Curtis Sliwa and Lisa Evers marry 1981 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Semipalitinsk, Eastern Kazakhstan U.S.S.R. 1980 Americans remembered Iran hostages by shining lights for 417 seconds 1979 1st Ariane-rocket launched 1974 Cardinals' Lou Brock is named Sportsman of the Year 1973 Ferryboat capsized off coast of Equador, drowning 200 1971 Peruvian Airlines Electra crashes at headwaters of Amazon, killing all except Juliane Margaret Koepcke found 10 days later 1970 9 Jews are convicted in Leningrad of hijacking a plane 1970 Walt Disney's "Aristocats" is released 1968 Apollo 8 astronauts read passages from Book of Genesis 1968 WATU (now WAGT) TV channel 26 in Augusta, Georgia (CBS) begins broadcasting 1967 China performs nuclear test at Lop Nor PRC 1966 "Joyful Noise" closes at Mark Hellinger Theater New York City after 12 performances 1966 Luna 13 lands on Moon 1966 USAF C144 military charter crashes near Binh Thai Vietnam kills 129 1964 Shooting begins on "The Cage" the pilot for Star Trek 1963 Greek and Turks riot in Cyprus 1962 U.S.S.R. performs nuclear test at Novaya Zemlya U.S.S.R. 1961 Houston Oilers beat San Diego Chargers 10-3 in AFL championship game 1960 Dutch bishops question papacy values 1956 "I Love Lucy" Christmas show airs, never put in syndication 1956 Ferdinand de Lesseps statue blown up in Port Said Egypt 1954 Council for the Children Protection forms in Netherlands 1954 Laos gains its independence 1953 2 fast express trains crash head-on killing 103 (Czechoslovakia) 1953 KHOL (now KHGI) TV channel 13 in Kearney, NB (ABC) begins broadcasting 1953 KOA (now KCNC) TV channel 4 in Denver, CO (NBC) begins broadcasting 1953 Rene Coty elected President of France 1953 Wellington-Auckland (New Zealand) express train swept away in flood kills 166 1951 1st televised opera (Amahl and Night Visitor) 1951 United Kingdom of Libya gains independence from Italy via United Nations 1950 Cleveland Browns win NFL championship, beat LA 30-28 1948 1st U.S. house completely sunheated is occupied (Dover Massachusetts) 1948 Greek government disbands due to state of war, press censorship 1946 4th French republic established 1946 U.S. General MacNarney gives 800,000 "minor Nazi's" amnesty 1943 Franklin D. Roosevelt appoints General Eisenhower supreme commander of Allied forces 1943 Terence Rattigan's "While the Sun Shines," premieres in London 1942 1st powered flight of V-1 buzz bomb, Peenemunde, Germany 1942 Red army occupies German airports at Tasjinskaja and Morozowsk 1941 1st ships of Admiral Nagumo's Pearl Harbor fleet return to Japan 1937 Dutch government recognizes Italian king Emanuel III as emperor of Abyssinia 1936 1st radioactive isotope medicine administered, Berkeley, California 1935 Bradman scores 233 in 191 minutes, SA vs. Queensland, 28 fours 1 six 1934 Grimmett takes 9-180 for SA as Queensland make 430 1933 Paris express train derails and kills 160, injures 300 (France) 1932 Arturo Alessandri wins presidental election in Chile 1930 Bandung, Java: ir Sukarno 4 years jail sentenced 1930 F Garcia Lorca's "La Zapatera Prodigiosa," premieres in Madrid 1928 George Abbott Theater (Adelphi, 54 St) opens at 152 W 54th St. New York City 1927 Test Cricket debut of Walter Hammond, who scored 51 and took 5-36 vs. S Af 1924 1st radio transmission of NCRV in Netherlands 1924 Albania becomes a republic (ex-premier Ahmed Zogoe's coup) 1924 Richard Rodgers Theater (46th St. Chanin's) opens at 226 W 46th New York City 1924 School in Babb's Switch, Oklahoma catches fire, 36 die 1922 BBC sends 1st British radio play "Truth about Father Christmas" 1922 London Coloseum opens 1920 Enrico Caruso gives his last public performance (New York City) 1914 German plane drops bombs on Dover England 1912 Irving Fisher patents archiving system with index cards 1910 Luisa Tetrazzini sings to 250,000 people at Lotta's Fountain 1906 Reginald A Fessenden became 1st to broadcast music over radio (Mass) 1904 German SW Africa abolishes slavery of young children 1900 Herman Heijermans' "Hope of Blessing" premieres in Amsterdam 1898 Herman Heijermans' "Ghetto," premieres in Amsterdam 1894 Scheveningse fishing boats destroyed by storm 1894 Soccer team Achilles '94 forms in Axes 1893 Henry Ford completes his 1st useful gas motor 1889 Daniel Stover and William Hance patent bicycle with back pedal brake 1884 Austria-Hungary admits King Leopold II's Congo Free State 1874 Pope Pius IX proclaims a jubilee for 1875 1871 Giusseppi Verdi's "Aida" premieres in Cairo, at Suez canal opening 1865 Several Confederate veterans form Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tn 1864 Battle of Gordonsville, Virginia 1860 Joseph Jefferson's "Rip Van Winkle," premieres in New York City 1851 Fire devastates Library of Congress in Wash, destroys 35,000 volumes 1851 U.S. Library of Congress catches fire; 35,000 books burn 1832 HMS Beagle anchors in Wigwam Bay at Cape Receiver 1818 "Silent Night" composed by Franz Joseph Gruber; 1st sung next day 1818 Franz Xaver Gruber composes "Silent Night" 1814 Treaty of Ghent (end of US-Britain's War of 1812) signed 1799 Jakobijns plot against Napoleon uncovered 1798 Russia and England sign Second anti-French Coalition 1724 Benjamin Franklin arrives in London 1715 Swedish troops occupy Norway 1651 John van Riebeeck departs to Cape of Good Hope 1593 Storm hits Texel: 40 ships hit, 500 killed 1568 Uprising of Morisco's in Granada 1565 Compromise of the Nobles closes against inquisition 1515 Thomas Wolsey appointed English Lord Chancellor 1476 400 Burgundy soldiers freeze to death during siege of Nancy 1294 Cardinal Benedetto Gaetani chosen as Pope Boniface VIII 1046 Pope Clement II, Suitger, elected 640 John IV begins his reign as Catholic Pope
