| This stela portrays Chaan Maun preparing for a ritual bloodletting ceremony done to communicate with deceased ancestors. He is assisted by his mother [on the right] and his wife, the sister of Shield Jaguar of Yaxchilan. His mother is handing him a sting-ray spine and a bowl of paper strips. |
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| We, the deputies of the people of the Delaware state, in Convention met, having taken in our serious consideration the Federal Constitution proposed and agreed upon by the deputies of the United States in a General Convention held at the city of Philadelphia, on the seventeenth day of September, in the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and eighty-seven, have approved, assented to, ratified, and confirmed, and by these presents do, in virtue of the power and authority to us given, for and in behalf of ourselves and our constituents, fully, freely, and entirely approve of, assent to, ratify, and confirm, the said Constitution. |
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| The first concert of the New York Philharmonic, on December 7, 1842, took place in the Apollo Rooms on lower Broadway before an audience of 600. The first conductor on this concert was the orchestra's founder, American-born Ureli Corelli Hill (1802-1875). |
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| Shortly after noon on December 7, 1869, Frank and Jesse James walked into the Daviess County Savings Association in Gallatin, Missouri. There were two men inside the modest one-story building; the bank cashier and a lawyer named William McDowell. One of the robbers, possibly Jesse, walked up to the cashier and asked to have a $100 banknote changed. As the cashier wrote out a receipt, the robber drew his revolver and fired two shots, one into the man's chest and another into his forehead. |
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| The Mutuals and Athletics failed to make their last western swing of 1876. Both claimed that it was a financial hardship at the end of a tough year. The Athletics, in particular, claimed that injuries, heavy debts and strong competition for local entertainment dollars forced them from completing the league schedule. They were even willing to accommodate the other teams by giving them 80% of the gate if they would come to Philadelphia and play. Their opponents refused. In actuality, each had been eliminated from the pennant race and felt they could make more money with fewer costs by playing exhibition games closer to home. |
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| This first device was crude, using a diaphragm with a sharp point to etch variable-depth indentations in tinfoil wrapped around a hand-cranked cylinder, and the sound was replayed by a lighter diaphragm/needle combo tracking those same grooves. The cylinders were not removable, although Edison proposed removable foil sheets that could be reproduced by creating masters from Plaster of Paris molds. |
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| The Gondoliers or The King of Barataria opened December 7, 1889 at London's Savoy Theatre One of two just-married gondoliers is the King of Barataria, but no one knows which one. As Barataria needs a king to put down unrest in the country, they travel there to reign jointly, leaving their wives behind. |
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| In 1907, while experimenting to find a substitute for shellac, Baekeland produced the first thermoset plastic, a synthetic substance he called Bakelite. The extraordinary resin was so soft that it could be molded into shape and then permanently hardened under extreme pressure. A manufacturer's dream, it was quick and inexpensive to work with, would not catch fire or break, and did not conduct electricity. |
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| Until 1910, professionals and amateurs were allowed to play together on "mixed teams," but this arrangement ended with the formation of the first "big league," the National Hockey Association, in eastern Canada in 1910. The Pacific Coast League was organized in 1911 for western Canadian hockey. The league included Seattle and later other American cities. The National Hockey League replaced the National Hockey Association in 1917. |
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| His time was 1 minute, 25 and 2/5 seconds at the meet in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Weissmuller won five gold medals as a swimmer at the 1924 and 1928 Olympics, setting many free-style records. Weissmuller appeared in several sports shorts, then was hired by MGM to play Tarzan onscreen. Beginning in 1932, he starred in 12 "Tarzan" adventures. |
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| In 1926, the first U.S. patent for a household refrigerator, operating on gas, was issued to The Electrolux Servel Corporation. The gas-heat driven absorption refrigerator was invented by Swedish engineering students Carl G. Munters and Baltzar von Platen. The new concept avoided the use of toxic gases such as sulphur dioxide, methyl chloride, and ammonia gases, used in earlier mechanical compressor home refrigerators since 1918. |
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| The Keebler bakery grew quickly after its founding in 1853. Once the automobile arrived, Keebler products were delivered beyond the neighborhood and the concept of regional distribution began. Keebler then became a part of the United Biscuit Company of America in 1926 and by 1944, there were 16 bakeries across the country from Philadelphia to Salt Lake City. In 1966, Keebler Company became the official corporate name and Keebler the single brand name for all products. |
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| In 1932, the first gyro-stabilized vessel to cross the Atlantic, the Conte di Savoia of the Italian Line, arrived in New York City. The ship had 48,502 gross tons, overall length 814.6ft x beam 96.1ft, two funnels, two masts, four screws and a speed of 27 knots. As one of the first ships to be fitted with gyro-stabilizers, it was claimed that rolling was limited to a maximum of three degrees. |
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| Post planned flights to test the "thin air" in the stratosphere above 50,000 feet. The Winnie Mae, made of plywood, could not be pressurized so Post developed the pressurized flying suit, forerunner of the modern space suit. Made by B.F. Goodrich, it was of double ply rubberized parachute fabric, with pigskin gloves, rubber boots, and aluminium helmet, pressurized to 0.5 bar. |
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| The Red Sox' Ted Williams was one of baseball's greatest hitters. Combining keen vision with quick wrists and a scientific approach to hitting, he set numerous batting records despite missing nearly five full seasons due to military service and two major injuries. His accomplishments include a .406 season in 1941, two Triple Crowns, two MVPs, six American League batting championships, 521 home runs, a lifetime average of .344, 17 All-Star game selections, and universal reverence. |
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| Here Come the Clowns. Barry's most experimental play was an often preachy, symbolic drama depicting a group of vaudeville performers confronting the reality of their lives. The play baffled the critics and audiences. |
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| The Americans were taken completely by surprise. The first attack wave targeted airfields and battleships. The second wave targeted other ships and shipyard facilities. The air raid lasted until 9:45 a.m. Eight battleships are damaged, with five sunk. Three light cruisers, three destroyers and three smaller vessels were lost along with 188 aircraft. The Japanese lose 27 planes and five midget submarines which attempted to penetrate the inner harbor and launch torpedoes. Escaping damage from the attack were the prime targets, the three U.S. Pacific Fleet aircraft carriers, Lexington, Enterprise and Saratoga, which were not in the port. Also escaping damage are the base fuel tanks. The casualty list included 2,335 servicemen and 68 civilians killed, with 1,178 wounded. Included are 1,104 men aboard the Battleship USS Arizona killed after a 1,760-pound air bomb penetrated into the forward magazine causing catastrophic explosions. |
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| While patrolling Pearl Harbor Entrance on Sunday, December 7, 1941, the U.S.S. Ward attacked an unidentified submarine in the Restricted Area off the Harbor. At 0645 the Ward opened fire with No. 1 and 3 guns and began dropping depth charges. One shot was fired from each gun. The shot from No. 1 gun missed, passing directly over the conning tower. The shot from No. 3 gun fired at a range of 560 yards or less struck the submarine at the waterline which was the junction of the hull and coning tower. Damage was seen by several members of the crew. This was a square positive hit. There was no evidence of ricochet. The submarine was seen to heel over to starboard. The projectile was not seen to explode outside the hull of the submarine. There was no splash of any size that might results from an explosion or ricochet. |
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| The task of designing and building the new oven went to Marvin Bock, a young Raytheon engineer. Making a device for sale to the general public was something new for Raytheon; most of its equipment was built to be run by trained specialists, like military officers, who could be trusted to read the manual and handle an instrument carefully. But the oven would have to be much more foolproof than any military device if it was going to be put to work in restaurants, which were seen as its main market. Operation had to be as automatic as possible, for many users would be short-order cooks, and Bock also had to anticipate that most of them would experiment with it. |
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| In this tumultuous climate, after the defeat of the KMT in 1949, Chiang Kai-shek evacuated the government of the Republic of China to Taiwan and declared Taipei the provisional capital of China. Accompanying his retreat were some 2 million refugees from mainland China, adding to the earlier population of approximately 6 million. Because of the fear of the spread of Communism during the Cold War, the Republic of China on Taiwan was at first seen by the Western world, meaning mainly the United States and its allies, as "Free China." |
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| Starring Gale Storm and Charles Farrell, "My Little Margie" presented 21 year-old Margie Albright, who lived with her widowed father Vernon in a New York City penthouse. Mr. Albright worked as an executive for the investment counseling firm Honeywell & Todd, and was perpetually in fear of losing "the big account" because of Margie's meddling. In an unusual move, "My Little Margie" began a radio series in December 1952, a little more than two months after the first TV series had finished. |
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| In 1950 O'connell began a successful solo career, making occasional records, appearing regularly on television (she spent a period as co-host of The Today Show), toured as part of Four Girls Four (which also included Kay Starr, Rosemary Clooney and Rose Marie) and made guest appearances with the Jimmy Dorsey ghost band, singing in an unchanged style. |
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| Between 1956 and 1963, Boone made some 54 chart appearances, many of them with two-sided hits; his biggest smashes included the number one records "Don't Forbid Me," "Love Letters in the Sand" and "April Love," all three issued in 1957. That year he also began hosting his own ABC television series, The Pat Boone-Chevy Showroom; he also conquered film, starring in 15 features including 1957's Bernadine and April Love. |
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| WABC's early days as a Top 40 station were humble to say the least. Competitor Top 40 WINS was the #1 music station and WABC's ranking was barely in the New York top ten. It could only go up. Fortunately for them, Top 40 could not be heard well in certain surburbs since WINS, WMGM, and WMCA were directional stations. |
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| The singing Nun was Sister Luc-Gabrielle (born Jeanine Deckers), from a Fichermont, Belgium convent. The LP was released in the US as "The Singing Nun," but there was no American reaction until this was released as a single, then both the LP and the single worked their way up to the top of the albums and singles charts. It was the first time that a single topped the Hot 100 as the same time that its LP topped the Billboard album chart. |
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| First used in a televised sports event at the Army-Navy football game. When CBS director Tony Verna first ran back tape showing Army's Rollie Stichweh's 1-yard touchdown, announcer Lindsey Nelson told viewers, "This is not live! Ladies and gentlemen, Army has not scored again!" |
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| "How Now, Dow Jones" was a Broadway musical comedy. From an original concept by Carolyn Leigh, the book was written by Max Shulman, the lyrics by Leigh herself, and the music by Elmer Bernstein. The original production, which premiered at the Lunt-Fontanne Theatre on 7 December 1967, was produced by David Merrick and directed by George Abbott. The lead parts were played by Tony Roberts (Charley), Marlyn Mason (Kate), Brenda Vaccaro (Cynthia), and Hiram Sherman (Wingate); other now-familiar names in the original cast included Tommy Tune as the Waiter, and Barnard Hughes as Senator McFetridge. |
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| The wistful "(Sittin' On) The Dock Of The Bay", a song Redding had recorded just three days before he perished in a plane crash, was immediately mixed and released. It became his only million-seller and US pop number 1. The single's seeming serenity about sitting on a jetty in San Francisco's harbour, as well as several posthumous album tracks, suggested a sadly unfulfilled maturity as a songwriter. |
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| OAO-2 was successfully launched on December 7, 1968, carried 11 UV telescopes, and was actively observing for years. It detected a supernova in May 1972, as well as the first UV radiation from the center of the Andromeda Galaxy M31 |
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| Motown founder Berry Gordy wrote this with staff songwriters Deke Richards, Pam Sawyer, R Dean Taylor and Frank Wilson. Instead of writing about love, they come up with a much more controversial song about a child born to unmarried parents. |
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| Richard Dodd returned a book on febrile diseases checked out by his great grandfather from the University of Cincinnati Medical Library in 1823. The fine, $22,646, was waived. |
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| Hearing that Dylan cut his albums in three days, McCartney decided to be no less spontaneous and "natural" on his first Wings album. "I was inspired by Dylan, the way he just kind of comes in the studio and everyone falls in and makes a track." Unfortunately, what might pass for "rough-hewn" with Dylan translated into "shoddy" in the case of Wild Life. The entire record was sloppily performed, musically listless, and lyrically excrutiating. |
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| Scientific objectives of the Apollo 17 mission included geological surveying and sampling of materials and surface features in a preselected area of the Taurus-Littrow region, deploying and activating surface experiments, and conducting inflight experiments and photographic tasks during lunar orbit and transearth coast (TEC). |
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| McCartney combined pieces of different songs to make this. The Beatles did a lot of this on their Sgt. Pepper and Abbey Road albums, since it provided a way to use unfinished songs. "A Day In The Life" is a good example of two Beatles songs combined to make one. |
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| Pye Records were putting together a tribute song to the popularity of martial arts films of the time and several Pye session musicians were gathered to put the song down. "Kung Fu Fighting" was recorded but Douglas' stand out effort on the track didn't go unnoticed by studio execs and the single was subsequently re-recorded with Douglas on lead vocals. The story sometimes goes that Douglas was working on an A-side of his own, "I Want To Give You My Everything", and a B-side was needed. "Kung Fu Fighting" was put together in ten minutes for this job but the label execs wanted it as the A-side |
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| A right wing, Bossy was the key offensive player on the New York Islander teams that won four straight Stanley Cups from 1980 through 1983. He won the Conn Smythe Trophy as the most valuable player in the 1982 Stanley Cup series, when he tied a record by scoring 7 goals in a four-game sweep of the Vancouver Canucks in the final series. He joined the Islanders in 1977 and spent his entire 10-year NHL career with the team. Bossy won the 1978 Calder Trophy as the league's rookie of the year, scoring 91 points in just 73 games, and he won the Lady Byng Trophy, for a combination of playing ability and sportsmanship, in 1983, 1984, and 1986. |
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| Their debut in 1984, I Wear The Face, provided the minor US hit "Hunters Of The Night." The album was released in the UK two years later. The next album broke the band by scaling the top of the charts in 1985 and delivering two US number 1 singles in "Broken Wings" and "Kyrie." |
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| Showtime had arrived in L.A., and a rivalry between the Lakers and Celtics, led by Larry Bird, soon developed. They battled throughout the 1980s, arguably the NBA's heyday, and Riley was hailed as a legend after his nine seasons on the West Coast. He added three more championships in '85, '87 and '89. |
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| Gorbachev yielded to Reagan's terms. The USSR was in dire economic straits, and Gorbachev needed a respite from the arms race. When Reagan and Gorbachev signed the INF Treaty in Washington, in 1987, the first treaty to reduce the number of nuclear weapons, the United States and Western Europe rejoiced. Later when they called each other "friend" in Moscow, many saw it as "the ratification of their mutual desire for peace." |
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| On December 7, 1988, Soviet General Secretary Mikhail Gorbachev addressed the United Nations General Assembly. After speaking about the recent changes in the Soviet Union, Gorbachev amazed the global community when he announced drastic cuts in the Soviet military presence in Eastern Europe and along the Chinese border -- a move that ultimately allowed Soviet satellites to choose their own paths. |
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| Baseball's all-time strikeout leader and author of a major-league record seven no-hitters, Ryan was in many ways the most remarkable pitcher ever to play the game. He was often maligned as a ".500 pitcher" despite his high strikeout totals, and he walked over 4.5 batters per nine innings each year until 1980, his 14th major-league season. But at the age of 42, Ryan -- still overwhelming hitters with a 95-mph fastball -- reached the unbelievable milestone of 5,000 strikeouts. |
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| Cy Coleman and David Zippel's City of Angels is a seductive depiction of 1940s Los Angeles, capturing swinging jazz, torchy ballads, witty lyrics, and even a Manhattan Transfer-like Greek. James Naughton and Gregg Edelman star as Stone and Stine, respectively a tough Raymond Chandleresque PI and the writer who dreams up his adventures. |
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| Jackson wrote this with producer Bill Bottrell, who also worked with Jackson on his Bad album and won the 1994 Grammy for Record of the Year for Sheryl Crow's "All I Wanna Do." |
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| Galileo is to robotic planetary science missions what Apollo 13 was to manned exploration, only better. After all the near disasters and heroic improvisation, the spacecraft and its probe have accomplished their primary goal and made it to Jupiter. |
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| In 1995, the Galileo spacecraft arrived at Jupiter and entered orbit after 6 years years of travel including a flyby of Venus and two asteroids, Gaspra and Ida. The orbiter had also carried an atmospheric probe with scientific instruments, which it had released from the main spacecraft in Jul 1995, five months before reaching Jupiter Galileo then spent a further 8 years examining Jupiter and its moons Io and Europa. |
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| Working heavily with L.A. Reid and Babyface, Braxton released her second album, Secrets, in the summer of 1996, and predictably, it was another enormous hit. The first single, "You're Makin' Me High," was Braxton's most overtly sexual yet, and it became her biggest pop hit to date; however, its success was soon eclipsed by the follow-up single, the Diane Warren-penned ballad "Un-break My Heart." "Un-break My Heart" was an inescapable juggernaut, spending an amazing 11 weeks on top of the pop charts |
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0036 BC Earliest known Mayan inscription, Stela
2 at Chiapa de Corzo
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1787 Delaware becomes first state to ratify constitution
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1842 New York Philharmonic's first concert
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1868 Jesse James gang robs bank in Gallatin, MO
- kills 1
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1876 New York Mutuals & Philadelphia A's expelled
from NL for not completing schedule
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1877 Thomas A Edison demonstrates the gramophone
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1889 Gilbert & Sullivan's "Gondoliers"
premieres in London
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1891 52nd Congress (first to appropriate $1 billion)
holds first session
1907 Eugene Corri becomes first referee in a boxing
ring
1909 Leo Baekeland, Yonkers NY, patents first
thermosetting plastic (Bakelite)
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1911 National Hockey Association forms with New
Westminister, Vancouver & Victoria
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1925 Swimmer Johnny Weissmuller set a world record
in the 150-yard freestyle
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1926 Gas refrigerator patented
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1926 Keebler was trademark registered
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1932 First gyro-stabilized vessel to cross the
Atlantic arrives in New York
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1934 Wiley Post discovers the jet stream
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1937 Red Sox acquire the contract of 19-year-old
Ted Williams
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1938 W9XZY broadcasts facsimile of the St Louis
Post-Dispatch by radio
1938 Philip Barry's "Here Come the Clowns"
premieres in New York NY
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1941 Japanese attack Pearl Harbor (a date that
will live in infamy)
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1941 First Japanese submarine sunk by a US ship
(USS Ward)
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1945 Microwave oven patented
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1949 Chiang Kai-shek flees to Taiwan
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1952 "My Little Margie," made its debut on CBS radio
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1956 Helen O'Connell joins the Today Show panel
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1957 "April Love" by Pat Boone topped
the charts
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1960 WABC-AM, debuted its "Top 40" format
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1963 "Dominique" by Singing Nun topped
the charts
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1963 Instant replay was used for the first time
during the Army-Navy game
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1967 "How Now, Dow Jones" opens at Lunt
Fontanne Theater NYC for 220 performances
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1967 Otis Redding records "Sittin' on the
Dock of the Bay"
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1968 Orbiting Astronomical Observatory 2 launched
into Earth orbit
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1968 "Love Child" by Diana Ross &
the Supremes topped the charts
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1968 Richard Dodd returns a library book his great
grandfather borrowed in 1823
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1971 Wings release their first album "Wild
Life"
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1972 Apollo 17 (US), final manned lunar landing
mission launched
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1973 Wings release "Band on the Run"
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1974 "Kung Fu Fighting" by Carl Douglas
topped the charts
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1978 Islander's Mike Bossy's first career hat
trick
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1985 "Broken Wings" by Mr. Mister topped
the charts
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1986 Basketball coach Pat Riley got coaching victory
number 300
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1987 Mikhail Gorbachev arrives in the US for a
summit meeting
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1988 Gorbachev announces 10% unilateral Soviet
troop reductions at UN
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1988 Rangers sign free-agent pitcher Nolan Ryan
to a one-year contract
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1989 C Coleman & D Zippel's musical "City
of Angels" premieres in New York NY
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1991 "Black or White" by Michael Jackson
topped the charts
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1992 Galileo spacecraft passes North Pole of Moon
(Peary Crater)
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1995 NBA settles strike of referees, referees
to return on December 12
1995 US space probe Galileo begins orbiting Jupiter
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1996 "Un-Break My Heart" by Toni Braxton
topped the charts
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