Monday, December 07th
The 341st day of 2009.
There are 24 days left in the year.
Go to a previous date.
Go to lesson
Today's Highlights in History
On Dec. 7, 1941, Japanese warplanes attacked the home base of the U.S. Pacific fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, drawing the United States into World War II. More than 2,300 Americans were killed. (Go to article.)
On Dec. 7, 1873, Willa Cather, the American novelist famous for her descriptions of life on the American frontier, was born. Following her death on April 24, 1947, her obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On December 7, 1872, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about President Ulysses S. Grant and civil service reform. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1787 Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1796 Electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.
1836 Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
1842 The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert.
1963 Videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast during the Army-Navy football game on CBS.
1972 America's last moon mission was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
1982 A U.S. prisoner was executed by injection for the first time, in Huntsville, Texas.
1985 Retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart died at age 70.
1988 An earthquake in northern Armenia claimed an estimated 25,000 lives.
1993 A gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17. Colin Ferguson was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.
1995 A 746-pound probe from the Galileo spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter's atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was destroyed.
2001 Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion in Afghanistan, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar.
2002 Iraq denied it had weapons of mass destruction in a declaration to the United Nations.
2004 Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.
2007 Baseball home run king Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty in San Francisco to charges he'd lied to federal investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs.
Current Birthdays
Susan Collins turns 57 years old today.
AP Photo/Harry Hamburg Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, turns 57 years old today.
78 Bobby Osborne
Bluegrass singer
77 Ellen Burstyn
Actress
72 Thad Cochran
U.S. senator, R-Miss.
69 Gerry Cheevers
Hockey Hall of Famer
69 Carole Simpson
Broadcast journalist
62 Johnny Bench
Baseball Hall of Famer
61 Gary Morris
Country singer
60 Tom Waits
Rock singer, actor
53 Larry Bird
Basketball Hall of Famer
52 Priscilla Barnes
Actress
51 Tim Butler
Rock musician (The Psychedelic Furs)
51 Edd Hall
Actor, announcer
44 Jeffrey Wright
Actor
43 C. Thomas Howell
Actor
36 Terrell Owens
Football player
34 Nicole Appleton
Singer (All Saints)
33 Sunny Sweeney
Country singer
32 Eric Chavez
Baseball player
31 Shiri Appleby
Actress
30 Sara Bareilles
Singer
22 Aaron Carter
Singer
Historic Birthdays
Willa Cather
12/7/1873 - 4/24/1947
American novelist
(Go to obit.)
81 Gian Lorenzo Bernini
12/7/1598 - 11/28/1680
Italian sculptor
57 Allan Cunningham
12/7/1784 - 10/30/1842
Scottish poet
86 Sir Joseph Cook
12/7/1860 - 7/30/1947
Australian prime minister (1913-14)
81 Pietro Mascagni
12/7/1863 - 8/2/1945
Italian operatic composer
50 R.W. Sears
12/7/1863 - 9/28/1914
American merchant and founder of Sears, Roebuck retail company
92 Rudolf Friml
12/7/1879 - 11/12/1972
American operetta composer
102 Hamilton Fish
12/7/1888 - 1/18/1991
American politician
51 Joyce Cary
12/7/1888 - 12/18/1957
English novelist
51 Heywood Broun
12/7/1888 - 12/18/1939
American journalist
Go to a previous date.
SOURCE: The Associated Press
Front Page Image Provided by UMI
Copyright 2009 The New York Times Company
Children's Privacy Notice