December 12
1745 - John Jay, statesman and the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was born in New York City.
1787 - Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1870 - Joseph Rainey of South Carolina took his seat as the first African-American in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Oscar Straus to be Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Straus became the first Jewish Cabinet member.
1913 - The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence, Italy after having been stolen two years earlier from the Louvre.
1914 - The New York Stock Exchange re-opened for the first time since July 30. The market had shut down when World War I broke out.
1917 - Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town outside Omaha, Nebraska.
1917 - During World War I, a train carrying some 1,000 French troops from the Italian front derailed while descending a steep hill in Modane; at least half of the soldiers were killed in France's greatest rail disaster.
1925 - The first motel, the Motel Inn, opened, in San Luis Obispo, California.
1947 - The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor.
1963 - Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
1975 - Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to trying to kill President Gerald R. Ford.
1985 - 248 American soldiers and eight crew members were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.
1995 - By three votes, the U.S. Senate killed a proposed Constitutional amendment giving Congress the authority to outlaw flag burning and other forms of desecration against Old Glory.
1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
2000 - A divided U.S. Supreme Court halted the presidential recount in Florida, effectively making Republican George W. Bush the winner.
2001 - Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
2009 - Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker.
2015 - Nearly 200 nations meeting in Paris adopted the first global pact to fight climate change, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that didn’t do so.
2016 - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed investigations into the CIA’s belief that Russia had meddled in the November election to help Donald Trump win, a claim the president-elect called “ridiculous.”
2020 - Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Washington for rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election that he lost to Joe Biden; sporadic fights broke out between pro-Trump and anti-Trump demonstrators after sundown, and four people were taken to the hospital with stab wounds. A federal judge in Wisconsin who’d been appointed by Trump dismissed Trump’s lawsuit asking that the Republican-controlled Legislature name Trump the winner in the state; the judge said Trump’s arguments “fail as a matter of law and fact.”
Birthdays
25 - Lucas Hedges (actor)
34 - Kate Todd (actress)
44 - Bridget Hall (model)
46 - Mayim Bialik (actress)
49 - Hank Williams III (singer)
51 - Regina Hall (actress)
51 - Jennifer Connelly (actress)
51 - Madchen Amick (actress)
52 - Maggie Rodriguez (news anchor)
59 - Tracy Austin (tennis player)
63 - Shree J. Wilson (actress)
72 - Bill Nighy (actor)
81 - Dionne Warwick (singer)
84 - Connie Francis (singer)
89 - Bob Pettit (basketball player)
98 - Bob Barker (game show host)
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Today in Sports History - December 12
1936 - Sam Francis of Nebraska was taken with the first pick in the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
1937 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Chicago Bears 28-21 in the NFL Championship Game.
1950 - Ohio State running back Vic Janowicz wins the Heisman Trophy.
1965 - Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers ties an NFL record with six touchdowns in a 61-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
1968 - Arthur Ashe became the first black man to be ranked #1 in tennis.
1976 - Joe Namath played his last game with the New York Jets.
1981 - Wayne Gretzky became the quickest to reach 50 goals in a season. It was in the 39th game.
1987 - Mookie Blaylock sets an NBA record with 13 steals in a game.
1992 - Miami (FL) quarterback Gino Torretta wins the Heisman Trophy.
2000 - The Texas Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez to a record breaking 10-year, $252 million contract. The contract amount broke all Major League Baseball records and all professional sports records.
2001 - Denver Nuggets coach Dan Issel was suspended for four games by his team for shouting a profanity and an ethnic remark at a fan.
2010 - The inflatable roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed following a snowstorm that had dumped 17 inches on the city. (The NFL was forced to shift an already rescheduled game between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants to Detroit’s Ford Field.)
2011 - Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III wins the Heisman Trophy.
2020 - Minnesota defeats Nebraska 24-17.
1745 - John Jay, statesman and the first chief justice of the U.S. Supreme Court, was born in New York City.
1787 - Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1870 - Joseph Rainey of South Carolina took his seat as the first African-American in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1906 - President Theodore Roosevelt nominated Oscar Straus to be Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Straus became the first Jewish Cabinet member.
1913 - The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence, Italy after having been stolen two years earlier from the Louvre.
1914 - The New York Stock Exchange re-opened for the first time since July 30. The market had shut down when World War I broke out.
1917 - Father Edward Flanagan founded Boys Town outside Omaha, Nebraska.
1917 - During World War I, a train carrying some 1,000 French troops from the Italian front derailed while descending a steep hill in Modane; at least half of the soldiers were killed in France's greatest rail disaster.
1925 - The first motel, the Motel Inn, opened, in San Luis Obispo, California.
1947 - The United Mine Workers union withdrew from the American Federation of Labor.
1963 - Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
1975 - Sara Jane Moore pleaded guilty to trying to kill President Gerald R. Ford.
1985 - 248 American soldiers and eight crew members were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.
1995 - By three votes, the U.S. Senate killed a proposed Constitutional amendment giving Congress the authority to outlaw flag burning and other forms of desecration against Old Glory.
1998 - The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Bill Clinton.
2000 - A divided U.S. Supreme Court halted the presidential recount in Florida, effectively making Republican George W. Bush the winner.
2001 - Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
2009 - Houston became the largest U.S. city to elect an openly gay mayor, with voters handing a solid victory to City Controller Annise Parker.
2015 - Nearly 200 nations meeting in Paris adopted the first global pact to fight climate change, calling on the world to collectively cut and then eliminate greenhouse gas pollution but imposing no sanctions on countries that didn’t do so.
2016 - Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell and House Speaker Paul Ryan endorsed investigations into the CIA’s belief that Russia had meddled in the November election to help Donald Trump win, a claim the president-elect called “ridiculous.”
2020 - Thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Washington for rallies to back his desperate efforts to subvert the election that he lost to Joe Biden; sporadic fights broke out between pro-Trump and anti-Trump demonstrators after sundown, and four people were taken to the hospital with stab wounds. A federal judge in Wisconsin who’d been appointed by Trump dismissed Trump’s lawsuit asking that the Republican-controlled Legislature name Trump the winner in the state; the judge said Trump’s arguments “fail as a matter of law and fact.”
Birthdays
25 - Lucas Hedges (actor)
34 - Kate Todd (actress)
44 - Bridget Hall (model)
46 - Mayim Bialik (actress)
49 - Hank Williams III (singer)
51 - Regina Hall (actress)
51 - Jennifer Connelly (actress)
51 - Madchen Amick (actress)
52 - Maggie Rodriguez (news anchor)
59 - Tracy Austin (tennis player)
63 - Shree J. Wilson (actress)
72 - Bill Nighy (actor)
81 - Dionne Warwick (singer)
84 - Connie Francis (singer)
89 - Bob Pettit (basketball player)
98 - Bob Barker (game show host)
======================================
Today in Sports History - December 12
1936 - Sam Francis of Nebraska was taken with the first pick in the NFL Draft by the Philadelphia Eagles.
1937 - The Washington Redskins defeat the Chicago Bears 28-21 in the NFL Championship Game.
1950 - Ohio State running back Vic Janowicz wins the Heisman Trophy.
1965 - Chicago Bears running back Gale Sayers ties an NFL record with six touchdowns in a 61-20 win over the San Francisco 49ers.
1968 - Arthur Ashe became the first black man to be ranked #1 in tennis.
1976 - Joe Namath played his last game with the New York Jets.
1981 - Wayne Gretzky became the quickest to reach 50 goals in a season. It was in the 39th game.
1987 - Mookie Blaylock sets an NBA record with 13 steals in a game.
1992 - Miami (FL) quarterback Gino Torretta wins the Heisman Trophy.
2000 - The Texas Rangers signed Alex Rodriguez to a record breaking 10-year, $252 million contract. The contract amount broke all Major League Baseball records and all professional sports records.
2001 - Denver Nuggets coach Dan Issel was suspended for four games by his team for shouting a profanity and an ethnic remark at a fan.
2010 - The inflatable roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed following a snowstorm that had dumped 17 inches on the city. (The NFL was forced to shift an already rescheduled game between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants to Detroit’s Ford Field.)
2011 - Baylor quarterback Robert Griffin III wins the Heisman Trophy.
2020 - Minnesota defeats Nebraska 24-17.
