- 1606: Virginia Company settlers left London to establish Jamestown,
Va., the first permanent English settlement.
- 1669: The first jury trial in Delaware took place, with Marcus
Jacobson condemned for insurrection and sentenced to flogging,
branding and slavery.
- 1803: The Louisiana Purchase was completed as ownership of the
territory was formally transferred to the United States during
ceremonies in New Orleans.
- 1860: South Carolina became the first state to secede from the
Union.
- 1879: Thomas A. Edison privately demonstrated his incandescent
light at Menlo Park, N.J.
- 1880: New York's Broadway was first lighted by electricity and
became known as the "Great White Way."
- 1920: Bob Hope became an American citizen.
- 1922: Fourteen republics formed the Union of Soviet Socialistic
Republics (USSR).
- 1938: Vladimir Kosma Zworykin of Wilkinsburg, Pa., patented the
iconoscope television system.
- 1950: "Harvey," starring James Stewart, premiered in New York.
- 1956: Montgomery, Ala., removed race-based seat assignments on its
city's buses.
- 1957: Elvis Presley was given his draft notice to join the U.S.
Army for National Service.
- 1962: The Osmond Brothers appeared for the first time on NBC's
"Andy Williams Show."
- 1963: The Berlin Wall was opened for the first time. It remained
open for the holiday season, but closed again on Jan. 6, 1964. About
4,000 people crossed over to visit relatives during this period.
- 1967: Ian Anderson and Glenn Cornick formed the rock group Jethro
Tull; Director Mike Nichols' "The Graduate," starring Dustin
Hoffman and Anne Bancroft, premiered.
- 1968: Author John Steinbeck died in New York at age 66.
- 1973: Bobby Darin, a teen idol of the '50s, died of heart failure
at age 37.
- 1975: Joe Walsh was recruited to join The Eagles.
- 1976: Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley died at age 74.
- 1980: NBC experimented by broadcasting the New York Jets' 24-17
victory over the Miami Dolphins without play-by-play audio or color
commentary.
- 1985: The position of American Poet Laureate was established;
Robert Penn Warren was the first.
- 1985: Howard Cosell retired from television sports after 20 years
with ABC.
- 1987: The worst-ever peacetime shipping disaster occurred as Dona
Paz, a Philippine passenger ship, collided with the tanker Vector
off Mindoro island, setting off an explosion that resulted in more
than 3,000 deaths.
- 1989: The United States launched Operation Just Cause, sending
12,000 troops into Panama to topple the government of General
Manuel Noriega after he declared war on the U.S.
*Happy Birthday*
----------------
- Anita Baker, 41, singer
- Billy Bragg, 41, Singer/songwriter
- Peter Criss, 53, musician, Kiss
- Uri Geller, 52, magician/illusionist
- George Roy Hill, 76, film director, "Butch Cassidy & the Sundance
Kid"
- John Hillerman, 66, actor, "Magnum P.I."
- Chris Robinson, 32, singer, The Black Crowes
- Jim Simpson, 71, sportscaster
- Patti Smith, 52, singer/songwriter
- John Spencer, 52, actor, "L.A. Law"