Sunday, December 27th
The 361st day of 2009.
There are 4 days left in the year.
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Today's Highlights in History
On Dec. 27, 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal. (Go to article.)
On Dec. 27, 1901, Marlene Dietrich, the magnetic movie star and singer who was considered an international symbol of glamour, was born. Following her death on May 6, 1992, her obituary appeared in The Times. (Go to obit. | Other Birthdays)
Editorial Cartoon of the Day
On December 27, 1879, Harper's Weekly featured a cartoon about Senator Thomas Bayard of Delaware, a leading contender for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1880. (See the cartoon and read an explanation.)
On this date in:
1822 Scientist Louis Pasteur was born in Dole, France.
1831 British naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a voyage to the Pacific Ocean aboard the HMS Beagle. Darwin's discoveries during the nearly five-year journey helped form the basis of his theories on evolution.
1900 Prohibitionist Carry Nation carried out her first public smashing of a bar, at the Carey Hotel in Wichita, Kan.
1927 The landmark musical "Show Boat" - with music by Jerome Kern and libretto by Oscar Hammerstein II - opened at the Ziegfeld Theater in New York City.
1932 Radio City Music Hall opened in New York City.
1945 The World Bank was created with an agreement signed by 28 nations.
1947 The children's TV program "Howdy Doody" debuted on NBC.
1949 Queen Juliana of the Netherlands granted sovereignty to Indonesia after more than 300 years of Dutch rule.
1968 Apollo 8, the first spaceflight to orbit the moon, returned to Earth.
1970 "Hello, Dolly!" closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.
1979 Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. Babrak Karmal succeeded President Hafizullah Amin, who was overthrown and executed.
1985 Naturalist Dian Fossey, who had studied gorillas in the wild, was found hacked to death at a research station in Rwanda.
2001 U.S. officials announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.
2002 North Korea ordered U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country and said it would restart a laboratory capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons.
2004 Viktor Yushchenko wins a runoff in Ukraine's presidential election, completing the country's "Orange Revolution."
2005 Indonesia's Aceh rebels formally abolished their 30-year armed struggle for independence under a peace deal born out of the 2004 tsunami.
2007 Former Pakistani Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated in a bomb and shooting attack as she left an election rally in Rawalpindi.
2008 Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin's 18-year-old daughter Bristol gave birth to a son, Tripp.
2008 Israel bombed security sites in Hamas-ruled Gaza in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns, opening one of the Mideast conflict's bloodiest assaults in decades.
Current Birthdays
Emilie de Ravin turns 28 years old today.
AP Photo/Dan Steinberg Actress Emilie de Ravin ("Lost") turns 28 years old today.
85 James A. McClure
Former U.S. senator, R-Idaho
78 Scotty Moore
Rock musician
70 John Amos
Actor
66 Cokie Roberts
Broadcast journalist
65 Mick Jones
Rock musician (Foreigner)
65 Tracy Nelson
Blues singer
61 Gerard Depardieu
Actor
60 T.S. Monk
Jazz drummer, vocalist
57 Tovah Feldshuh
Actress ("Law and Order")
57 David Knopfler
Rock musician (Dire Straits)
53 Karen Hughes
Former White House aide
50 Andre Tippett
Football Hall of Famer
49 Maryam D'Abo
Actress
47 Jeff Bryant
Country musician
45 Ian Gomez
Actor
45 Theresa Randle
Actress
43 Eva LaRue
Actress ("All My Children")
40 Darrin Vincent
Bluegrass musician
40 Sarah Vowell
Author
37 Matt Slocum
Rock musician (Sixpence None the Richer)
36 Wilson Cruz
Actor
36 Olu
R&B singer
35 Masi Oka
Actor ("Heroes")
31 Deuce McAllister
Football player
30 Carson Palmer
Football player
26 Cole Hamels
Baseball player
Historic Birthdays
Marlene Dietrich
12/27/1901 - 5/6/1992
German-born American actress
(Go to obit.)
59 Louis Bromfield
12/27/1896 - 3/18/1956
American novelist and essayist
95 Cyrus Eaton
12/27/1883 - 5/9/1979
Canadian-born American industrialist and philanthropist
93 Sir Mackenzie Bowell
12/27/1823 - 12/10/1917
Canadian prime minister
72 Louis Pasteur
12/27/1822 - 9/28/1895
French biologist and chemist; invented pasteurization process
84 Sir George Cayley
12/27/1773 - 12/15/1857
English aerial navigator
62 William Johnson
12/27/1771 - 8/4/1834
American Supreme Court justice
58 Johannes Kepler
12/27/1571 - 11/15/1630
German astronomer
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SOURCE: The Associated Press
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