Friday, December 18th
The 352nd day of 2009.
There are 13 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Dec. 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online. (Go to article.)
On Dec. 18, 1888, Robert Moses, the American public servant who supervised the construction of many New York landmarks, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium , was born. Following his death on July 29, 1981, his obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On December 18, 1909, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about airplane travel. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1787 New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1865 Slavery ended in the United States as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect.
1886 Baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, Ga.
1892 Peter Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker Suite" premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1915 President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt.
1944 The Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans.
1956 Japan was admitted to the United Nations.
1958 The world's first communications satellite was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
1969 Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.
1972 The United States began the heaviest bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
1987 Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street's biggest insider-trading scandal.
1997 Comedian and "Saturday Night Live" alum Chris Farley was found dead at age 33 of an accidental overdose of morphine and ****.
1998 The House of Representatives began debate on four articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
1999 Environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill came down after spending two years living atop an ancient redwood in Humboldt County, Calif., to protest logging.
2003 A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River killer Gary Ridgeway to 48 consecutive life terms.
2003 A jury in Chesapeake, Va., convicted teenager Lee Boyd Malvo of two counts of murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings. (He was later sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
2008 A U.N. court in Tanzania convicted former Rwandan army Col. Theoneste Bagosora of genocide and crimes against humanity for masterminding the killings of more than half a million people in a 100-day slaughter in 1994.
2008 W. Mark Felt, the former FBI second-in-command who'd revealed himself as "Deep Throat" three decades after the Watergate scandal, died at age 95.
Current Birthdays
Brad Pitt turns 46 years old today.
AP Photo/Matt Sayles Actor Brad Pitt turns 46 years old today.
91 Hal Kanter
TV writer, producer
82 Ramsey Clark
Former U.S. attorney general
77 Roger Smith
Actor
76 Lonnie Brooks
Blues musician
66 Keith Richards
Rock musician (Rolling Stones)
66 Alan Rudolph
Writer, director
62 Rod Piazza
Blues musician
59 Gillian Armstrong
Director
59 Leonard Maltin
Movie critic
56 Elliot Easton
Rock musician (The Cars)
54 Ray Liotta
Actor
53 Ron White
Comedian
41 Rachel Griffiths
Actress
41 Alejandro Sanz
Singer
39 Cowboy Troy
Country singer, rapper ("Nashville Star")
39 DMX
Rapper
38 Arantxa Sanchez Vicario
Tennis Hall of Famer
37 DJ Lethal
DJ (Limp Bizkit)
31 Katie Holmes
Actress
29 Christina Aguilera
Singer
Historic Birthdays
Robert Moses
12/18/1888 - 7/29/1981
American public works planner; supervised construction of Lincoln Center and Shea Stadium
(Go to obit.)
83 Sir J. J. Thompson
12/18/1856 - 8/30/1940
English physicist
50 Francis Ferdinand
12/18/1863 - 6/28/1914
Austrian archduke
60 Paul Klee
12/18/1879 - 6/29/1940
Swiss painter
74 Ty Cobb
12/18/1886 - 7/17/1961
American baseball player
82 Dame Gladys Cooper
12/18/1888 - 11/17/1971
English actress
70 George Stevens
12/18/1904 - 3/8/1975
American film director
78 Willy Brandt
12/18/1913 - 10/8,9/1992
German statesman
56 Betty Grable
12/18/1916 - 7/2/1973
American actress
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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