This Week in History

DECEMBER 21

Tana Drysdale Hickey was born.

Kim Mullen Maher was born.

1970 – Elvis Presley met with President Richard Nixon in the White House.

1988 – A terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pan Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.

December 22

Emma Wresch was born.

Rita Regan was born.

Alex Venier was born.

1864 – During the Civil War, Union general William T. Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln saying, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.”

2010 – President Obama officially repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy.

December 23

Paul Thomas was born.

1823 – The poem “A Visit from St. Nicholas” (“Twas the night before Christmas”), written by either Clement C. Moore or Maj. Henry Livingston, Jr., was published in the Troy Sentinel of New York.

December 24

Ryan Atwood was born.

Elizabeth Gardner was born.

Steve Feuer was born.

1814 – The War of 1812 between America and Britain ended with the signing of the Treaty of Ghent.

1943 – Gen. Dwight Eisenhower was appointed supreme commander of Allied Forces by President Franklin Roosevelt.

December 25

Jesus was born.

Dorothy Dunne was born.

Kristen Brady was born.

Noelle Riches was born.

1066 – William the Conqueror was crowned King of England.

1776 – George Washington crossed the Delaware River and surprised the Hessians.

December 26

Brian Boyle was born.

Nicole Frontera was born.

1865 – James H. Nason received a patent for a coffee percolator.

December 27

Sean Kelleher was born.

Maureen Meier was born.

1979 – The Soviet Union took control of Afghanistan, installing Afghan politician Babrak Karmal as president.

2001 – The U.S. announced plans to hold Taliban and al-Qaeda prisoners at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.