This Day in History.

DEC. 6th.

1790 United States US Capitol Moves From New York to Philadelphia: The United States Capitol moves from New York City to Philadelphia where it stays as the capitol until 1800 when the District of Columbia is completed and becomes the capitol.

1900 Great Britain Queens Speech: The Earl of Halsbury read the queen’s speech in the House of Lords. In this special session the monarch appealed for funds to keep the British army going in South Africa and China.

1917 Canada Munitions Ship Explodes In Halifax Harbor: A French munitions ship filled with highly explosive munitions--2,300 tons of picric acid, 200 tons of TNT, 35 tons of high-octane gasoline, and 10 tons of gun cotton, explodes 20 minutes after colliding with another vessel in Halifax Harbor killing more than 1,800 people and destroying more than 1,600 homes.

1921 France French Blue-Beard: A famous trial at Versailles pitted prosecutor Godefroy against a well known criminal Landru, referred to as the “French Blue-Beard”. The prosecutor exclaimed, “The Landru who you have to judge is a savage beast tracked down in the midst of his career of crime. He is a murderer, a monster whose heart no human sentiment has ever touched.”

1922 Irish Free State Created: The Irish Free State is created as a dominion with British sovereign authority under the terms of the Anglo Irish Treaty. Originally the agreement did cover Northern Ireland but Northern Ireland chose the option to opt out of the dominion.

1938 Lithuania German Control: The Lithuanian government was rearranged because of Nazi German insistence. Bronius K Balutis, who worked as an editor for a Chicago Lithuanian-American newspaper became deputy prime minister in order to maintain German control.

1941 Tunisia Germans Move into Tunisia: The allies feared that German inroads in Tunisia would pave the way for Nazi control over Africa. President Petain of France let the Germans move into Tunisia, but he would not allow them to use the French navy against Britain.

1947 U.S.A. The Everglades National Park: Everglades National Park in Florida is the largest subtropical wilderness in the United States. It contains the southern 20% of the Everglades which was established as a National Park in 1934. The park is dedicated by President Harry S. Truman after 14 years on this date in history.

1954 U.S.A. Wonder Dog: A wonder dog named “Kid” was astounding the public with her uncanny genius. Owner H.S. Catchell claimed the canine understood more than 2,000 words and was still learning. Kid came from Omaha, Nebraska and her mother was a Labrador-Airedale cross. Apparently, the dog can point to light switches, identify certain stripes of neckties, and retrieve maps from a pile of papers. Kid’s owner claims that mutts are smarter than purebreds when it comes to learning human language.

1962 England Deadly Smog: The thick layer of smog which has covered London causing the death of 90 people for the last three days is spreading across the country. Due to the high concentration of sulfur dioxide in the smog the Ministry of Health has advised those who are vulnerable to stay indoors or make "do-it-yourself masks" such as thick cotton gauze or a scarf around the mouth and nose.

1966 Hawaii Pearl Harbor: Captain James L. Holloway III master of the globe’s most immen'se nuclear warship thinks that a second attack on Pearl Harbor on the scale of December 7th, 1941 was unlikely. He remarked, “Since World War II, we have been at war more than we have not been at war… This is the most proficient and most competent military that I can imagine has ever existed in history.”

1969 U.S.A. Altamont Rolling Stones Concert: A free concert organized by the Rolling Stones featuring Santana, Jefferson Airplane, The Flying Burrito Brothers, and Crosby, Stills, Nash and Young and The Rolling Stones at the disused Altamont Speedway in Livermore, Calif., is marred by the deaths of four people, including a man who was stabbed by a Hell's Angel, The stage, which was only four feet high, was surrounded by the Hells Angels, who acted as security for the concert.

1975 England Balcombe Street Hostages: Four armed men believed to be members of an IRA hit squad accused of shooting dead TV presenter Ross McWhirter on the run from police burst into a flat in in Balcombe Street, central London and take two hostages, The siege lasts six days and ends when the men surrendered themselves to detectives.

1978 Spain Free Elections: Spaniards cast a vote for democracy and are expected to endorse a new constitution in the referendum ending 40 years of dictatorial rule.

1979 Israel Iranian hostage crisis: Israel was hoping that the Iranian hostage crisis would propel Jimmy Carter’s government towards a more pro-Israel mode. For quite some time Israel had accused the president of leaning towards a pro-Arab stance.

1983 Philippines Lean Christmas: Ferdinand Marcos told Filipinos to have a lean Christmas without luxury items. On the list of luxuries not to be purchased were apples, grapes, oranges, some kinds of fish, certain meats and other items.

1989 Canada École Polytechnique massacre: A gunmen dressed in combat fatigues enters the École Polytechnique a Montreal engineering school Cafeteria where he separates the male and female students and begins shooting the female students, he then went into other classrooms doing similar thing. By the end of his reign of terror he had killed murdered 14 women students and injured a further 12 before killing himself. The gunmen was 25 year-old Marc Lépine, armed with a legally obtained semi-automatic rifle.

1990 Iraq Defiant To US: Although sanctions and diplomacy were tried with Iraq its dictator, Saddam Hussein, remained defiant. Therefore, the Bush government threatened to forcibly throw Iraq out of Kuwait by January 15 if it did not leave peacefully.

1992 India Hindu Militants: A mob of Hindu militants tears down the Babri mosque in Ayodhya and attacked Muslim houses and property in the area setting off two months of Hindu-Muslim rioting that claimed at least 2,000 lives.

1994 U.S.A. Orange County: Orange County, Calif. an affluent California community filed for bankruptcy protection due to investment losses of about $2 billion on its multi-billion-dollar investment fund.

1994 England Oil Found Under Windsor Castle: Studies have shown there could be up to £1bn of oil lying beneath the Windsor Castle, in Berkshire, and the Queen has given the go ahead for oil drilling to take place in the grounds of Windsor Castle.

1998 Venezuela Hugo Chávez: Hugo Chávez Frías the leader of the left-wing Fifth Republic Movement is elected President of Venezuela.

2002 U.S.A. Winona Ryder: Winona Ryder is sentenced to community service for stealing more than $5,500 worth of merchandise from a Saks Fifth Avenue store in Beverly Hills.

2004 Saudi Arabia Al Qaida: Al Qaida struck the U.S. Consulate in Jiddah, Saudi Arabia, with explosives and machine guns, killing nine people.

2006 Iraq Calls for Arab Nations Support: Tehran urged Arab nations to stand together and reject U.S. military bases on their soil. Iran’s chief security officer warned, “The security and stability of the region needs to be attained and we should do it inside the region, not through bringing in foreign forces.”

2006 Space NASA displays images of water sediment on Mars: NASA photographs reveal the deposits seen in two gullies on Mars that suggest that they have carried water through them over the past seven years. These are of liquid water, and not the water ice and water vapor that were already known to have existed on Mars. The photos have increased speculation of the potential for microbial life on the planet. 'These observations give the strongest evidence to date that water still flows occasionally on the surface of Mars,' said one of the Mars Exploration Program's scientists.

2006 U.S.A. Clint Eastwood’s Letters from Iwo Jima wins best film at the National Board of Review awards: Clint Eastwood's Letters from Iwo Jima has won one of the first major prizes of the film award season. The movie received first place in the National Board of Review (NBR) best film category. Letters from Iwo Jima tells the story of the battle for control of the island during World War II, and is told from the perspective of the Japanese soldiers. "Letters from Iwo Jima is probably Mr. Eastwood's masterpiece and perhaps one of the greatest films of our time," said NBR president Annie Schulhof.

2007 U.S.A. The C.I.A. admit to destroying interrogation tapes: The Central Intelligence Agency has destroyed at least two of the videotapes that documenting the interrogation of two al-Qaeda operatives in the agency’s custody. It took this step in the middle of Congressional and legal scrutiny about the agency’s secret detention program. The videotapes were said to show agency operatives subjecting terror suspects to effective interrogation techniques in 2002.

2007 U.S.A. Mitt Romney: The Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney has sought to dispel public scepticism about his Mormon faith by promising to defend religious freedom. Speaking only twenty-eight days before the first nominating race, he says that he would serve 'no one religion, no one group, no one cause, and no one interest' if elected. But Mr. Romney also criticized those who called for the removal from public life of 'any acknowledgement of God.'

2009 Iran Restrictions made on Iranian Students’ Day: Akbar Rafsanjani has been speaking a day before the annual Student Day, when demonstrations against the rule of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, the Iranian president, are expected to go ahead. Hashemi Rafsanjani, a former Iranian president and opposition member, has accused the country's rulers of being intolerant, when restrictions on journalists are being imposed by the authorities. 'The situation in the country is such that constructive criticism is not accepted,' Rafsanjani told students in Mashhad. He called on Iran's political groups to work together to 'create a climate of freedom which will convince the majority of people and erase ambiguities.' Several websites have urged people to gather on Student Day near Tehran University campus.

2009 U.S.A. Bin Laden Whereabouts Not Known: The United States has no idea where Osama bin Laden may be hiding, and has not had the benefit of any substantial intelligence on his possible whereabouts for years, the Secretary of Defence has conceded. The morning's talk-shows have been defending and explaining Barack Obama's new surge-and-exit strategy for the Afghanistan war, and Mr. Gates said that bin Laden's capture would remain important to the military effort in the region. He was quick to admit there had been no recent progress. 'The U.S. would go and get bin Laden if it could gather reliable information on his location,' he said. Asked how long it had been since the U.S. had reliable intelligence on his whereabouts, Gates admitted: 'I think it's been years.'

That Halifax explosion I think is still the largest peacetime disaster in terms of casualties.

And Generalissimo Francisco Franco is still dead. Chevy Chase

DEC. 7th. TODAY IS Pearl Harbor Day REMEMBER those souls that we lost, and thank those that defended U.S.

1911 India King George: King George and Queen Mary rode through Delhi amidst a military salute and the singing of the national anthem. The royal couple met with 150 Rajahs, Maharajahs, and Sultans and other classes of the rich and powerful of India.

1926 Africa Heikum Bushmen: The British government was interested in saving the Heikum Bushmen who were referred to as pygmies. The pygmies centuries ago had made up the majority of Africa, but their tribe had dwindled into such small numbers that they were believed to be extinct. Recently, an explorer had discovered some of the Bushmen and others went armed with sugar, tobacco, and a gramophone to gain their trust and persuade them to come to safety. Great Britain Col Josiah Wedgewood of the Labor Party suggested that the Duke of Windsor should be brought back to England and made governor general of either Canada or Australia if one of the countries would have him.

1931 U.S.A. Ford Model A: Ford produces the last Ford Model A and discontinues production and closes the factory to retool ready for the Ford V8 which is planned for production starting in April 1932.

1941 Hawaii Japanese Attack Pearl Harbor: Japan launches a surprise dawn attack using midget submarines, 350 bombers and torpedo carrying planes targeting warships, aircraft and military installations on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii and has declared war on Britain and the United States. The attack destroyed two battleships, one minelayer, two destroyers with the loss of more than 2,300 US servicemen The US president, Franklin D Roosevelt, has mobilized all forces and is poised to declare war on Japan. The next day when the president addressed Congress and the nation he swore that America would never forget December 7, 1941, as a "date that would live in infamy."

1948 Canada 87 degrees Below Zero: In the Yukon a weather record was set when it dipped down to 87 degree below zero (Fahrenheit).

1955 UK Clement Attlee: Clement Attlee resigns as leader of the British labour Party who were beaten in general elections in 1951 by the Conservative party led by Sir Anthony Eden. Clement Attlee and the labour party came to power at the end of World War II in 1945 and implemented many of the recommendations of the report for social reform which became known as the 'cradle to grave' welfare state. The changes included the nationalisation of major industries and public utilities which by 1951 included 20% of the workforce who were then working for the government in Britain. The creation of the National Health Service which provided free healthcare for all. They implemented the National Insurance Act 1946 which deducted a flat rate of national insurance tax. These deductions in turn provided flat-rate pensions, sickness benefit, unemployment benefit, and funeral benefit.

1959 Antarctica Dogs: In McMurdo Sound the overabundance of dogs became a problem, since they were not being used as much. A female dog could potentially produce up to sixteen pups a year. With 11 male dogs and 10 females their capacity to breed could get astronomical.

1960 Great Britain Coronation Street: The first episode of "Coronation Street" based in Weatherfield, a fictional town in Greater Manchester is broadcast. Coronation Street is the longest running TV soap opera in the world, made by Granada Television.

1962 Israel Gentiles: Jews who have converted to another religion cannot enter Israel under the “law of return” as Brother Daniel (Oswald Rufeisen) found out. While hiding from the Nazis Brother Daniel stayed in a convent and became Catholic, however, he considers Israel to be his home. In the end he said he would try to enter the county by applying as a gentile.

1977 Egypt Soviets Thrown Out: All Soviet consulates and educational centers were ordered to be shut down by Egypt’s Prime Minister, Mamdouth Salem. The Soviets and four other ousted European nations were accused of interfering with Egyptian-Israeli peace negotiations.

1979 Rhodesia Independence: Following the agreement to grant Rhodesia independence British cabinet minister Lord Soames has been named transitional governor of Rhodesia to oversee its progress towards independence.

1986 U.S.A Arms To Iran: Under great political pressure, President Reagan admitted that there were mistakes made in the diversion of arms to Iran. He claimed that he had no knowledge that Iran got armaments from the U.S. . However, the majority of the American public did not believe Reagan. The president claimed that he was trying to encourage moderate Iranians, get the release of hostages in Lebanon, and stop the Iran-Iraq war.

1987 U.S.A Mikhail Gorbachev: Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in the United States for an arms control summit with Ronald Reagan. The summit resulted in one of the most significant arms control agreements of the Cold War. Reagan and Gorbachev signed off on the Intermediate-Range Nuclear Force (INF) Treaty, which called for the elimination of all ground cruise and ballistic missiles and launchers in Europe with ranges of 320 to 3,400 miles.

1988 Soviet Union Earthquake: An 7.2 magnitude earthquake in the Soviet Union completely destroyed the city of Spitak in Armenia with an estimated 50,000 people killed.

1993 U.S.A Commuter Train Shooting: Colin Ferguson opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17, before other passengers stopped him by tackling and holding him down. He was later convicted and sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.

1995 Jupiter Galileo spacecraft: The unmanned Galileo spacecraft arrives at the planet Jupiter on it's mission to study the planet and its moons. It had been launched on October 18, 1989 6 years earlier by the Space Shuttle Atlantis.

1999 China Human Rights Abuses: For the first time President Bill Clinton spoke out against human rights abuses in China. He pointed out that thousands of Falun Gong members had been imprisoned as threats to China’s government. Falun Gong is a mixture of Buddishm, Taoism, and slow exercises.

1999 U.S.A. Napster: The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) files a lawsuit against the new but fast growing Napster file sharing service, on charges of copyright infringement. It was two years in July 2001 before napster was closed down when they lost their case bought using the US Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

2001 Mexico GM Food: Genetically modified food could feed the world’s hungry if the rich nations would stop fearing it a U.N. report asserted. The report explained, “Crops altered to produce higher yields could revolutionize farming in Africa, Latin America, and across the underdeveloped world… .” However, those who believe that nature should not be tampered with call genetically modified food “Frankenfood”.

2001 Afghanistan Taleban Regime Surrenders: The Taleban regime gives up its stronghold in Kandahar, after only 61 days of war in Afghanistan. US Planes have been bombing the area since the beginning of the war. Taleban fighters have been laying down their arms.

2002 Iraq No Weapons Of Mass Destruction: Iraq assures the United Nations it does now have weapons of mass destruction in a declaration to the UN.

2006 UK Tornado strikes Kensal Green, London: A Tornado strikes Kensal Green, London damaging 150 homes, ripping up trees and damaging hundreds of cars. Although tornadoes are not common in the UK there are about 50 reported per year but very few do much damage, this is the worst tornado in the UK for more than 40 years.

2006 Italy Saint Paul’s tomb is uncovered: Vatican archaeologists have unearthed a sarcophagus that might have the remains of the Apostle Paul in it. It had been buried beneath Rome's second largest basilica. The sarcophagus, which dates back to at least 390 A.D., has been part of the excavation that began in 2002. "Our objective was to bring the remains of the tomb back to light for devotional reasons, so that it could be venerated and be visible," said Giorgio Filippi, the Vatican archaeologist who headed the project at St. Paul Outside the Walls basilica. The interior of the sarcophagus has not yet been explored.

2007 Sudan / Darfur Refugee Camps Under Attack: Beginning in 2003 when rebel Darfur groups began attacking Sudanese targets and Sudanese military responded. Now 4 years on nearly 200,000 are dead and over four million have fled their homes now living in refugee camps in Chad and elsewhere. A cease fire was agreed in 2004 and 2006 but the fighting and murder on both sides have continued with no end in sight. The problems have now moved into the refugee camps where those trying to feed and house the refugees are now being targeted by armed militia groups who shoot, rob, beat and abduct aid workers. Oxfam and other aid agencies may soon be forced to pull out leaving the 4 million in refugee camps defenceless, and without food, water and shelter unless the United Nations can find a solution.

2009 Denmark Climate summit starts in Copenhagen: The biggest climate meeting in history, with attendants from one hundred and ninety two countries has opened in Copenhagen. It will be commonly known as the Copenhagen Summit. Danish Prime Minister Lars Rasmussen has said that one hundred and ten world leaders, including the U.S. President Barack Obama, would be attending the summit, which runs between December 7th and 18th. It is hoped that there will be agreements on cutting greenhouse gas emissions for the richer nations and that billions of dollars will be raiused for the poorer ones.

Pearl Harbor. Anyone think FDR knew it was coming? I don't think so. Too hard to hide something like that, especially decades later.

Maybe he didn't know the target was Pearl Harbor, but there was chatter across the airwaves about an attack on America and when this information was brought forward up the chain, it was ignored.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/ ... story.html

DEC. 8th.

1902 U.S.A. Suffragette Movement: In Washington a leading suffragette, Mrs. France, an outstanding woman of the Coeur d’Alene area, spoke on women getting the vote to an appreciative audience of females.

1923 Italy Homeless: Many Italians in Rome were rendered homeless and had to run for the hills as a result of severe flooding.

1934 Canada Hungarian Children's’ Club: The Hungarian Children's’ Club had 50 members and joined with the global Junior Red Cross movement. Their slogan is “I serve”. In the club children are taught cleanliness and play games and sports to develop their social skills. The Canadian group communicates with the Red Cross in Budapest.

1941 U.S.A. US Enters World War II: Following the unprovoked Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor yesterday the United States entered World War II as Congress declared war against Japan.

1941 China At War with Germany, Japan and Italy: In Chungking, Quo Tai-Chi, China’s foreign minister confirmed that China was now at war with Germany, Japan, and Italy. The minister declared that the Chinese would back the allies, the U.S., and Great Britain one hundred percent.

1952 Germany Saar Region: On the boundary between France and Germany is a small region called the Saar which has created many years of conflict between the two countries because the region is rich in coal and steel. The Nazis seized control of it during the war, but a French plebiscite indicated that the people of the Saar preferred to be French. The Edwardsville Intelligencer commented, “It is no exaggeration to say, however, that failure to resolve this dilemma could put in jeopardy the whole project for European unity – political, economic, and military.”

1965 England Race Relations Act: A new Race Relations Act comes into force forbidding discrimination on the "grounds of colour, race, or ethnic or national origins" in public places and covers both British residents and overseas visitors.

1966 Greece Ship Sinks: Two hundred and eighty-two individuals perished in the Aegean Sea during a raging storm on this day. Only 20 survived. The ship called “The Heraklin” weighing some 8,900 tons went down to its doom halfway between the Island of Crete and Greece.

1977 Portugal Economic Problems: Portugal’s government under Prime Minister Mario fell after a vote of non-confidence. The country had been experiencing severe economic problems and the International Monetary Fund would not loan Portugal any more money unless extreme measures were taken.

1980 U.S.A. John Lennon Shot: Former Beatle John Lennon was shot dead by an unknown gunman who opened fire outside the musician's New York apartment. The gunman is later identified as Mark David Chapman.

1982 U.S.A. Norman David Mayer: Norman David Mayer an American anti-nuclear weapons activist is shot and killed by the United States Park Police after threatening to use 1,000 pounds of TNT loaded in his van to blow up the Washington Monument. When he drives off to carry out his threat the police are forced to shoot him, Afterwards police realize he did not have the TNT to carry out his threat.

1983 England House of Lords: The House of Lords votes in favour of allowing cameras to broadcast live discussions from its chamber.

1987 Palestine Intifada: The First Intifada (1987-1993) a mass uprising against Israeli military occupation, begins in Jabalia refugee camp and spread to Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. The Intifada included civil disobedience, general strikes, boycotts on Israeli products, graffiti, barricades, throwing Molotov cocktails grenades and stones at the occupying Israeli soldiers and vehicles.

1987 U.S.A. Nuclear War Head Reductions: The first ever treaty is signed between the Soviet Union and the United States to reduce the number of ground based nuclear arsenals reversing 30 years of nuclear weapons build up during the cold war years.

1987 Australia Queen Street Post Office Massacre: Frank Vitkovic enters Melbourne's Queen Street Post Office and opens fire on customers and staff with a sawn-off shotgun killing 8 before taking his own life.

1989 Vietnam Soviet Pull Out: There was a mysterious pulling out of Soviet MiG-23 war jets from Ranh Bay in Vietnam. The cause of the exit was not clear, but a couple of possibilities were put forth. One reason was the Soviet Union’s economic problems. However, another reason was that President Gorbacjev had wanted the U.S. to abandon six military bases in the Philippines in return for the Soviet’s leaving their second most important military site in Ranh Bay.

1992 Somalia Operation Restore Hope: The United Nations intervention in Somalia OPERATION RESTORE HOPE a UN sanctioned US military operation begins. The operation was planned to avert the growing humanitarian disaster of severe famine and general chaos.

1993 U.S.A. NAFTA: The North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), (United States, Canada, and Mexico) is signed into law by US President Bill Clinton. In terms of gross domestic product (GDP) it is the largest trading bloc and trade agreement in the world.

1995 England Gang Violence Schools: As gang violence in schools in inner cities continues to be a problem a head teacher (Philip Lawrence) is stabbed to death in an inner city London School while protecting a pupil who was being assaulted.

1995 U.S.A. Grateful Dead: The American rock band Grateful Dead announce they are breaking up after 30 years of making music. The news came four months after the death of lead guitarist Jerry Garcia.

1999 New Zealand Cricket: In cricket, the West Indies challenged New Zealand and the teams tied. The Gleaner reported, “On Monday, the West Indies declared at 450 for five after number three batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul hit an unbeaten 216 from 397 balls.”

2000 U.S.A. 2000 Presidential Elections: The Florida Supreme Court ordered an immediate hand count of about 45,000 disputed presidential ballots.
Republican Candidate George W Bush won the most electoral votes
Democratic candidate Al Gore, received more popular votes
In the American system of presidential elections, the electoral vote system determines the winner and George W Bush went onto becoming the President of the United States.

2004 Iraq State Of Emergency: A two month state of emergency was declared by the Iraq government as rebels stepped up their attacks and the American military fought back. U.S. forces stormed the city of Fallujah and pummelled it with an AC-130 gun ship shooting 40 mm cannon fire.

2007 U.S.A. Democratic presidential Campagn: U.S. chat show host Oprah Winfrey has appeared at a campaign rally in Iowa for the Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama. Over eighteen thousand people have attended the event in the state capital, Des Moines. The Clinton campaign has come up with a counter-programming move to drag press attention away from the Obama/Oprah rallies in Iowa by finally bringing Chelsea Clinton onto the stump.

2008 Cuba The Declaration of Santiago de Cuba: The leaders of the Caribbean states have called Barack Obama to lift the decades-old American trade embargo against Cuba. The call comes during the one-day summit between Cuba and the Caribbean regional trade bloc, Caricom. The serving president of Caricom, Antigua's Prime Minister Baldwin Spencer, asks for the U.S. embargo to be "relegated to history."

2009 United States The reparation of royalties to Native Americans: The Obama administration has announced that it would pay Native Americans $3.4 billion to settle a class-action lawsuit that claims the federal government cheated them for more than a century of royalties for oil, mineral and other leases. This settlement will be ending a thirteen-year legal battle that has led to 3,600 filings, millions of pages of discovery documents and eleven separate appellate decisions. It is the largest settlement Native Americans have ever received from the federal government, and eclipses the sum of all previous settlements.

2009 United States General McChrystal tells Congress how important finding bin Laden is: Finding al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, and rolling back the resurgent Taliban are necessary steps toward winning the war in Afghanistan, General McChrystal has told a Senate Committee. Bin Laden has remained at large for eight years since the September 11th, 2001 attacks on New York and Washington. General McChrystal, who is the commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, said that the world's most wanted terrorist is 'an iconic figure' whose survival 'emboldens al-Qaeda as a franchising organization across the world.' 'It would not defeat al-Qaeda to have him captured or killed, but I don't think we can finally defeat al-Qaeda until he is finally captured or killed.' He continued by saying that if bin Laden is hiding across the border, 'It is outside of my mandate.'

DEC. 9th.

1901 Canada Military to South Africa: The Canadian Mounted Military was going to supply 600-900 of its troops to help in fighting in the 2nd Boer War, to South Africa.

1923 Mexico Rebels: Insurgents and government soldiers fought in Vera Cruz. General Sanchez, leading the rebels, took the battle to Tampico near Mexico’s oil fields. American troops sailed from New Orleans to Vera Cruz to protect American interests.

1930 U.S.A. Lettuce Dress: A gorgeous dancer from Hollywood, Billie Stockton, fashioned herself a dress from an entire head of lettuce and played the part of Eve in the garden of Eden. Her backdrop was donated by the Chamber of Commerce. El Centro, where the unusual dress was from is famous for its lettuce.

1947 India Kashmir Not Resolved: Deputy Prime Minister of India, Sandar Valiabbhai Patel announced that for the most part India and Pakistan reached an accord on the division between the two countries. However, the issue of Kashmir had not yet been resolved.

1959 Norway Ship Sinks: Severe storms in the North Sea sunk a Norwegian freighter and twenty seamen were lost in the ocean. The Norwegian Air-Sea Rescue had three search planes looking for survivors. Seven men from the ship were rescued off of the Scottish coast. Radios were jammed in Norway due to all the emergency calls.

1963 U.S.A. Studebaker Production Ends: The last American made Studebaker is produced, and the factory in South Bend, Indiana, is closed.

1968 Albania Chinese Troops: Diplomats thought that China and Albania have come to a consensus about stationing Chinese troops in Albania to counter Russian aggression.

1973 Northern Ireland Sunningdale Agreement: Tripartite talks on Northern Ireland have end with the signing of the Sunningdale Agreement the historic agreement to set up a Council of Ireland. After less than 12 months following strikes and paramilitary involvement the Council of Ireland collapsed and direct rule was imposed.

1975 U.S.A. New York Bankruptcy: New York City government avoids bankruptcy when President Gerald R. Ford signed a $2.3 billion seasonal loan authorization to prevent the City from having to default and debt restructuring by the Municipal Assistance Corporation, headed by Felix Rohatyn. The city was also forced to accept increased financial scrutiny by an agency of New York State.

1981 Sweden Soviet Submarine Grounded: A Soviet submarine, stuck in the mud off of Sweden’s shores, provided a lot of sport for the pacifist nation. The Soviets had approached Sweden in a menacing manner with warships, however, Swedish authorities insisted on boarding the submarine. In the end the superpower’s submarine crew had to ask for Sweden’s help to get back to the Baltic Sea – a humbling experience.

1990 Poland Lech Walesa: Solidarity founder Lech Walesa wins Poland's presidential runoff by a landslide.

1992 England Charles Diana Separation: Prince Charles and Princess Diana announce a formal separation.

1993 U.S.A. Missiles Destroyed: The US Air Force destroys the first of 500 Minuteman II missile silos marked for elimination under the Soviet / US arms control treaty.

1993 Space Hubble Telescope Repair: A historic mission to repair the Hubble Telescope has ended and is considered a complete success with Hubble back in action . The repair involved of a number of space walks with the longest made by Story Musgrave and Jeff Hofman spending seven hours and 21 minutes on their final task to unravel the 40 ft solar panels which power Hubble.

1994 U.S.A. Joycelyn Elders: President Bill Clinton fires Surgeon General Joycelyn Elders after she tells a conference that masturbation should be discussed in school as a part of human sexuality.

1999 England Tyson Fight: The British could look forward to a fight between Mike Tyson and Julius Francis on January 29 in the city of Manchester. The British Commonwealth Championship was at stake and it was Tyson’s first fight outside America since his defeat by James “Buster” Douglas in Tokyo.

2002 U.S.A. United Airlines: United Airlines files for bankruptcy protection after losing $4 billion in the previous two years.

2004 Canada Gay Marriage: Canada's Supreme Court ruled that gay marriage is constitutional.

2006 Afghanistan Schools Built: Schools in Afghanistan needed to be rebuilt especially for girls, who under the Taliban, had been deprived of any education. Thirty-seven year old Ben Tupper from DeWitt, a member of the 27 Infantry Brigade, volunteered his time to help with the reconstruction along with sixteen other volunteers from New York.

2008 United States Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich Arrested: Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich is taken into federal custody at his Chicago home for trying to trade Obama’s Senate seat . Newspapers say that the action comes amid allegations that his pay-to-play politics could affect his pending choice of who will be selected for Barack Obama's Senate seat. (MY COMMENT: Sentenced to 14 years, 2nd Governor of Ill. to be prisoned)

2009 Norway Mysterious lights in sky over Norway: The Norwegian Metrological Institute has received hundreds of calls from confused observers, but so far has been unable to identify the origin of the skylights that have been seen. Some experts have speculated that the phenomenon might have been caused by a Russian rocket launch, although the Russian embassy has insisted such claims are completely unfounded. Neither meteorologists, astronomers, or the armed forces have offered a solution to the matter. The light was captured by amateur photographer while he was on his way to work at a salmon factory. 'The light appeared for two or three minutes. I could not believe my eyes, and got the shivers and was quite shaken by it,' he said. Another observor, who saw the light phenomena from Sortland in northern Norway, added: 'A large ring appeared, and then spread out, sending a green beam down to earth.'

DEC. 12th.

1900 Ireland Irish Party: In Dublin, Ireland Irish delegates convened to create what they called the “Irish Party” and denounced British atrocities in the Boer War. An applauded John Dillon proposed a resolution passed that “the South African war was entered upon in pursuance of a conspiracy to deprive two free nations of their liberty in the interests of capitalists and mine owners.”

1901 England Marconi: Marconi sends first wireless transmission over 2000 miles across the Atlantic Ocean from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada. The transmission consisted of the Morse-code signal for the letter "s" which consists of three dots ( ... ).

1913 France The Mona Lisa: The Mona Lisa is recovered Two years after it's theft from the Louvre Museum in Paris in Florence in Italian waiter Vincenzo Peruggia's hotel room.

1917 Israel Jerusalem: Major Vivian Gilbert of the British army revealed the inside story of how Jerusalem fell during the First World War. He said that an army cook was out looking for eggs and was presented with the keys to the city by the mayor. The British won the Holy Land back from the Turks.

1917 France Train Derailed: 500 French soldiers are killed when their train derails in Modane, France.

1917 U.S.A. Boys Town: Father Edward Flanagan founds Boys Town dedicated to the care of at-risk children, with national headquarters in the village of Boys Town, Nebraska.

1925 U.S.A. First Motel Opens: The first Motel opens the Milestone Mo-Tel of San Luis Obispo, California as the midpoint stop between Los Angeles to San Francisco and costing $1.25 per night per room, The word Motel was a shortening of the words Motorists and Hotel. A motel allowed the customers to park their car outside their room or chalet.

1937 Italy Withdraws from the League of Nations: Benito Mussolini withdrew Italy from the League of Nations and challenged democracies to fight with his army. One hundred thousand fascists stood in the rain and someone shouted, “We are leaving a tumbling temple where there is no talk of peace, but where wars are prepared.”

1937 U.S.A. U.S. Navy Gunboat Panay: Japanese Aircraft sink the U.S. Gunboat Panay in Chinese Waters, Japan appologises and makes reparations, This happened during Japan's war of Invasion against China and is not part of the second world war.

1944 Germany Mass Bombing By Allies: The U.S. 8th and 15th Air Force plus the RAF pummeled Germany in the biggest fighting force that was ever put in the air. Britain had 1,000 bombers and 800 fighters who bombed railways and other targets in Germany.

1946 U.S.A. United Nations Headquarters: The millionaire benefactor John D. Rockefella Jr. offers the United Nations a six-block tract of Manhattan real estate for the site of U.N. headquarters, which is accepted by the UN.

1956 Africa Odongo: The movie “Odongo” revealed more about Africa than any movie before it ever had. Stars like MacDonald Carey, Rhonda Fleming, and a boy named Juma all gave cameo appearances, but the most praise went to the wildlife and scenes of Africa.

1963 India Karruppanna Kamraj: Karruppanna Kamraj became a folk hero in India because he was determined to haul down the Union Jack and create an independent country. Kamraj was uneducated and ended up in a British prison for his seditious political activities, however, he managed the political underground even from jail. He ended up minister of Madras Province, and many wanted him as prime minister, but he did not speak Hindi which is India’s main language.

1962 Iceland Military Base: Although Iceland is remote and does not have an army or navy, it had become an important military air base since World War II. Iceland’s parliament is the oldest government in existence -- it is 1,032 years old.

1963 Kenya Independence: Kenya gained its independence from Britain and the Kenya African National Union (KANU) headed by Jomo Kenyatta takes over the country.

1969 Italy Milan Bank Bombing: A bomb is exploded in a bank in Milan, Italy 13 people have been killed and more than 100 injured.

1975 Canada Firearms Laws: A federal licensing of all firearms was recommended by the dean of law, Martin Friedland, who works at the University of Toronto. He said that gun users should have to pass a competency test and undergo a criminal record check.

1975 England Balcombe Street Siege: A six-day siege has ends peacefully at Balcombe Street in London after four IRA gunmen freed their two hostages and gave themselves up to police.

{MY COMMENT:1977 San Diego, Califorina: God Blessed My wife & I with Justin Christopher [/size]

1980 England Leonardo da Vinci Auction: American oil tycoon Armand Hammer pays $5,126,000 at a London auction for a notebook containing writings written around 1508 by the legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci. When it went up for auction again in 1994 Bill Gates bought the Manuscript $30.8 million.

1988 England Clapham Junction Rail Crash: Three trains are involved in a collision during morning rush hour at Clapham Junction in south London, with 35 dead and 100 others injured.

1989 East Germany Going Forward: It was the first time since World War II that a prominent U.S. government official had gone to East Germany. Secretary of State James Baker met with East and West German politicians and talked about the new political realities since the crumbling of the Berlin Wall on November 9th.

1992 Scotland The Princess Royal: The Princess Royal the Queens daughter Princess Anne remarries and becomes Mrs Timothy Laurence after a small family wedding in Scotland.

1993 Hungary More Chaplains Needed: Atheism is out and religion is with the Hungarian military which has 100,000 soldiers. After years of not having a single army chaplain Hungary wants one chaplain for every 1,000 soldiers. The change came about because a lot of the soldiers are Roman Catholics.

2000 U.S.A. Bush v. Gore: The United States Supreme Court hands out it's ruling over the counting of ballets in Florida which allowed Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris's previous certification of George W. Bush as the winner of Florida's electoral votes to stand and effectively ending the 2000 presidential election in favor of George W. Bush.

2003 Norway Keiko From Free Willy Movies: Keiko the Orca (or killer whale) made famous by the "Free Willy" movies, died in the Norwegian fjord that had become his home. Keiko was originally captured near Iceland in 1979 and sold to the Icelandic aquarium, Following public pressure for his release after his starring role in the movies he was airlifted to Taknes fjord in Norway where many hoped he could be returned to the wild

2006 U.S.A. Soldier Report: Lance Cpl. Ryan Fleming, home on leave from fighting in Al Anbar province Iraq, spoke to North Aiken Elementary school children about the good and bad experiences he had in that country. The Aiken Standard reported that Fleming as saying, “Insurgents bury bombs under roads and even put them in animal carcasses”. The American soldiers are in constant danger from explosives. However, he said the positive part of his job was helping Iraqi kids.

2007 Russia Kasparov abandons his race for the Russian presidency: The Russian opposition figure and former world chess champion, Garry Kasparov, will no longer be contesting the presidential election in March. Mr. Kasparov has said that his Other Russia bloc had faced difficulty arranging for its supporters to meet in Moscow (which is an official requirement for his candidacy). Kasparov has announced that he is abandoning his bid for the presidency, although he did say that 'My electoral campaign finishes tomorrow.'

2008 Switzerland Switzerland negates cross-border passport checks: Switzerland is not part of the European Union but has opened its borders to E.U. member states. Under the Schengen Agreement, which Switzerland has signed, cross-border passport checks are to be abolished. The move is the latest in a series of bilateral agreements which the Swiss government has been negotiating with Brussels as a means of not to being isolated from the Eurobloc trade zone. The Swiss people have approved joining the Schengen Agreement by a nationwide referendum.