Monday, December 14th
The 348th day of 2009.
There are 17 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Dec. 14, 1981, Israel annexed the Golan Heights, seized from Syria in 1967. (Go to article.)
On Dec. 14, 1919, Shirley Jackson, the American writer best known for her story "The Lottery", was born. Following her death on Aug. 8, 1965, her obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On December 14, 1901, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about the children of President Theodore Roosevelt. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1799 George Washington, the first president of the United States, died at his Mount Vernon, Va., home at age 67.
1819 Alabama joined the Union as the 22nd state.
1861 Prince Albert, husband of Britain's Queen Victoria, died in London.
1911 Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first man to reach the South Pole.
1946 The United Nations General Assembly voted to establish the U.N. headquarters in New York City.
1979 The album "London Calling" by the Clash was released.
1985 Wilma Mankiller became the first woman to lead a major American Indian tribe as she took office as principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma.
1989 Nobel Peace laureate Andrei D. Sakharov died in Moscow at age 68.
1993 A Colorado judge struck down as unconstitutional the state's voter-approved ban on gay rights laws.
1997 Cuban President Fidel Castro declared Christmas 1997 an official holiday to ensure the success of Pope John Paul II's upcoming visit to the communist country.
1999 U.S. and German negotiators agreed to establish a $5.2 billion fund for Nazi-era slaves and forced laborers.
1999 Charles M. Schulz announced he was retiring the "Peanuts" comic strip.
2000 The Federal Trade Commission unanimously approved the $111 billion merger of America Online and Time Warner.
2006 South Korea's Ban Ki-moon was sworn in as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations.
2008 An Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at President George W. Bush during a news conference in Baghdad; Bush was not hit. (The shoe-thrower, Muntadhar al-Zeidi, spent nine months in prison.)
Current Birthdays
Vanessa Hudgens turns 21 years old today.
AP Photo/Evan Agostini Actress Vanessa Hudgens ("High School Musical" movies) turns 21 years old today.
89 Clark Terry
Jazz trumpeter
71 Hal Williams
Actor
63 Patty Duke
Actress
63 Michael Ovitz
Former Walt Disney Co. president
63 Stan Smith
Tennis Hall of Famer
63 Joyce Vincent-Wilson
Singer (Tony Orlando and Dawn)
61 Dee Wallace
Actress
60 Cliff Williams
Rock musician (AC/DC)
51 Mike Scott
Rock singer, musician (The Waterboys)
51 Peter "Spider" Stacy
Singer, musician (The Pogues)
46 Cynthia Gibb
Actress
44 Craig Biggio
Baseball player
40 Natascha McElhone
Actress ("Californication")
38 Michaela Watkins
Actress, comedian
34 Brian Dalyrimple
R&B singer (Soul for Real)
34 KaDee Strickland
Actress ("Private Practice")
33 Tammy Blanchard
Actress
31 Patty Schnyder
Tennis player
30 Sophie Monk
Actress
Historic Birthdays
Shirley Jackson
12/14/1916 - 8/8/1965
American author
(Go to obit.)
62 Nostradamus
12/14/1503 - 7/2/1566
French astrologer and physician
54 Tycho Brahe
12/14/1546 - 10/24/1601
Danish astronomer
63 James Bruce
12/14/1730 - 4/27/1794
Scottish explorer of Ethiopia
77 Pierre du Pont
12/14/1739 - 8/6/1817
French economist
72 Louis Marshall
12/14/1856 - 9/11/1929
American lawyer and activist
67 Roger Fry
12/14/1866 - 9/9/1934
English artist and art critic
96 James Doolittle
12/14/1896 - 9/27/1993
American aviator and World War II army general
55 Lee Remick
12/14/1935 - 7/2/1991
American actress
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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