1854 – The Examiner printed Alfred Lord Tennyson’s poem, The Charge of the Light Brigade, which commemorated the courage of 600 British soldiers charging a heavily defended position during the Battle of Balaklava, in the Crimea, just six weeks earlier.
1907 – The U.S. Post Office in Wilmington, Delaware offered Christmas Seals for sale for the first time. Contributions for the original seals, designed by Emily P. Bissell, helped in the fight against tuberculosis.
1934 – Because of ground conditions (freezing rain the night before the game froze the Polo Grounds field), the New York Giants changed from their leather cleats to rubber-soled basketball sneakers, and defeated the Chicago Bears, 30-13, for the NFL championship.
1935 – After writing an expose on the connection between organized crime and Minnesota governor Floyd Olson, newspaper journalist Walter Liggett died after being machine gunned in the alley behind his apartment, in view of his wife and two children. His murder remains unsolved.
1935 – The Downtown Athletic Club Trophy, later renamed the Heisman Trophy, was awarded for the first time. The winner was halfback Jay Berwanger of the University of Chicago.
1946 – The Doctor’s trials collectively known as the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials ( but formally the “Trials of War Criminals before the Nuremberg Military Tribunals”) began. Twenty of the 23 defendants were medical doctors. The Doctors’ trials ran until August 20, 1947. Of the 23 defendants, seven were acquitted and seven received death sentences; the remainder received prison sentences ranging from 10 years to life imprisonment.
1950 – Harry Gold – who had confessed to serving as a courier between Klaus Fuchs, a British scientist who stole top-secret information on the atomic bomb, and Soviet agents – was sentenced to 30 years in jail for his crime. Gold’s arrest and confession led to the arrest of David Greenglass, who then implicated his brother-in-law and sister, Julius and Ethel Rosenberg.
1953 – General Electric announced all Communist employees would be fired.
1958 – In Indianapolis, retired Boston candy manufacturer Robert H.W. Welch, Jr., established the John Birch Society, a right-wing organization dedicated to fighting what it perceived to be the extensive infiltration of communism into American society.
The John Birch Society, initially founded with only 11 members, had by the early 1960s, grown to a membership of nearly 100,000 Americans and received annual private contributions of several million dollars. The society revived the spirit of McCarthyism, claiming in unsubstantiated accusations that a vast communist conspiracy existed within the U.S. government. Among others, the organization implicated President Dwight Eisenhower and Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren.
1965 – A Charlie Brown Christmas premiered on CBS. Although everyone involved with the making of the special thought it was going to bomb, it was viewed by 45% of those watching television that evening, and has been aired during the Christmas season traditionally every year since its premiere.
1979 – The World Health Organization announced the eradication of Smallpox.
“Having considered the development and results of the global program on smallpox eradication initiated by WHO in 1958 and intensified since 1967 … Declares solemnly that the world and its peoples have won freedom from smallpox, which was a most devastating disease sweeping in epidemic form through many countries since earliest time, leaving death, blindness and disfigurement in its wake and which only a decade ago was rampant in Africa, Asia and South America.”
1979 – Bishop Fulton J. Sheen (best known for his work on television; Life Is Worth Living and The Fulton Sheen Program) died of heart disease at the age of 84. He was buried in the crypt of St. Patrick’s Cathedral.
1982 – Leon Jaworski, the second special prosecutor during the Watergate Scandal after the dismissal of his predecessor, Archibald Cox, died at the age of 77.
1983 – U.S. Attorney General Edwin Meese created a storm of controversy with his responses to questions about hunger in America. In response to a question about balancing spending cuts against the need to feed hungry children, Meese said that he hadn’t seen “authoritative” evidence that children in America were going hungry and that some of the allegations of this “are purely political.”
When asked about soup kitchens, he said that “some people are going to soup kitchens voluntarily. I know we’ve had considerable information that people go to soup kitchens because the food is free and that that’s easier than paying for it.” Democratic leaders and social welfare activists called his comments “disgraceful” and “an outrage.”
1983 – Scarface, starring Al Pacino as a Cuban refugee who becomes a Miami crime boss, premiered. The film was loosely based on a 1932 gangster film of the same name. While it received mixed reviews upon its initial release and was criticized for its violence, it proved to be a success at the box-office and went on to achieve pop-culture status.
1984 – Eric Dickerson of the Los Angeles Rams became only the second pro football player to run for more than 2,000 yards (2,105) in a season. He passed O.J. Simpson’s record of 2,003.
1990 – Lech Walęsa defeated Prime Minister Mazowiecki and other candidates to become the first democratically elected President of Poland.
1992 – British Prime Minister John Major announced the formal separation of Charles, Prince of Wales and heir to the British throne, and his wife, Princess Diana. Major explained that the royal couple had separated “amicably.” The report came after several years of speculation by the tabloid press that the marriage was in peril, citing evidence that Diana and Charles spent vacations apart and official visits in separate rooms.
1998 – Former light heavyweight champion Archie Moore died of heart failure at the age of 81. Moore fought an amazing 219 times, winning 185. He holds the record for the most career knockouts with 131.
2008 – Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich was arrested at his home by federal agents. Blagojevich was charged with one count of conspiracy to commit mail and wire fraud, and one count of soliciting bribes.
The case involved sweeping influence peddling allegations, including the alleged solicitation of personal benefit in exchange for an appointment to the United States Senate as a replacement for Sen. Barack Obama, who had resigned after being elected President of the United States. United States Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald noted that there had been no evidence of wrongdoing by Obama.
2009 – Actor Gene Barry (best remembered for his leading roles in the films The Atomic City and The War Of The Worlds and for his portrayal of the title characters in the TV series Bat Masterson and Burke’s Law) died of natural causes at the age of 90.
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