- 1784: David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patented the first screw.
               - 1787: Delaware became the first colony to ratify the U.S.
                 Constitution and was the first state admitted to the Union.
               - 1842: The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert, performing
                 works by Ludwig van Beethoven and Karl Maria von Weber.
               - 1909: Leo Baekeland patented the process for making Bakelite,
                 giving birth to the modern plastics industry.
               - 1926: The household refrigerator, operating on gas, was patented by
                 The Electrolux Servel Corporation.
               - 1934: Wiley Post discovered the jet stream.
               - 1941: In a surprise attack, Japanese warplanes attacked the home
                 base of the U.S. Pacific fleet located at Pearl Harbor at 7:55 a.m.
                 local time. More than 2,400 U.S. Americans were killed in the event
                 that got the U.S. into World War II.
               - 1963: James Carroll, a disc jockey at WWDC in Washington, D.C.,
                 became the first person to broadcast a Beatles record on American
                 airwaves: "I Wanna Hold Your Hand."
               - 1963: Instant replay was used for the first time during the
                 Army-Navy game, broadcast on CBS-TV.
               - 1969: "Frosty The Snowman" first aired on CBS.
               - 1969: The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) TV Network was
                 inaugurated.
               - 1970: Harry Reasoner, who had left CBS News weeks before, joined
                 Howard K. Smith for "The ABC Evening News."
               - 1972: Apollo 17, the sixth and last U.S. moon mission, blasted off
                 from Cape Canaveral. Flight Commander Eugene Cernan was the last
                 man on the moon.
               - 1987: Soviet leader Mikhail S. Gorbachev set foot on American soil
                 for the first time, arriving for a Washington summit with President
                 Reagan.
               - 1995: U.S. space probe Galileo began orbiting Jupiter.

               *Happy Birthday*
               ----------------
               - Johnny Bench, 51, MLB announcer, Hall-of-Fame catcher
               - Larry Bird, 42, NBA coach, Hall-of-Famer
               - Ellen Burstyn, 66, actress, "The Exorcist"
               - Noam Chomsky, 70, linguist, educator
               - Edd Hall, 40, announcer, "Tonight Show With Jay Leno"
               - C. Thomas Howell, 32, actor, "The Outsiders"
               - Tino Martinez, 31, MLB 1st baseman
               - Gary Unger, 51, NHL "Iron Man," with record 914 consecutive games
               - Tom Waits, 49, singer
               - Eli Wallach, 83, actor