December 19
1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac".
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."
1777 - Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to camp for the winter.
1843 - Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol".
1907 - A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania killed 239 workers.
1946 - War broke out in Indochina when Ho Chi Minh attacked the French.
1961 - Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, age 73, suffered a debilitating stroke while in Palm Beach, Florida.
1972 - Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
1974 - Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as vice president, replacing Gerald R. Ford, who became president when Richard Nixon resigned.
1975 - John Paul Stevens was sworn in as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
1984 - Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
1997 - "Titanic", the second-highest grossing movie of all time, opened in American theaters.
1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives. (He was later acquitted by the Senate.)
2000 - The U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed terrorist training camps and surrendered U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden.
2003 - Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya announced that his country would discontinue development of weapons of mass destruction.
2005 - Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.
Birthdays
26 - Jorge Blanco (actor)
26 - Jenelle Evans (reality star)
26 - Keynan Lonsdale (actor)
28 - Brittany Baldi (reality star)
31 - Jade Roper (reality star)
35 - Mo Williams (basketball player)
37 - Jake Gyllenhaal (actor)
37 - Marla Sokoloff (actress)
45 - Alyssa Milano (actress)
45 - Rosa Blasi (actress)
47 - Tyson Beckford (model)
64 - Jennifer Beals (actress)
========================================
Today in Sports History - December 19
1887 - Jake Kilrain and Jim Smith fought in a bare knuckles fight which lasted 106 rounds and 2 hours and 30 minutes. The fight was ruled a draw and was halted due to darkness.
1917 - The first regular season games of the new National Hockey League (NHL) were played. Five teams made up the league Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers. Quebec did not actually begin operations until two years later. Dave Ritchie (Montreal Wanderers) scored the first goal in NHL history.
1948 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the Buffalo Bills 49-7 in the AAFC championship game.
1948- The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 in the NFL championship game.
1959 - The first Liberty Bowl is played. Penn State defeats Alabama 7-0.
1964 - ABC used an overhead camera for the first time. The event was the Liberty Bowl.
1976 - Piper Cherokee plane crashes into Baltimore Memorial Stadium upper stands, injuring the pilot and three others, 10 minutes after Baltimore Colts lose 40-14 to Pittsburgh Steelers; no one seriously hurt.
1977 - #12 Nebraska defeated #14 North Carolina 21-17 to win the Liberty Bowl. Nebraska finished the season with a 9-3 record and a final ranking of #10 (UPI) / #12 (AP).
1979 - ESPN televised its first NHL game. The teams were the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whales.
1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
1984 - Scotty Bowman became the NHL's all time winningest coach with his 691st victory.
1984 - Wayne Gretzky, 23, of the Edmonton Oilers, became only the 18th player in the National Hockey League (NHL) to score more than 1,000 points. He did it in his 424th career game. The previous record was held by Guy Lafleur who did it in 720 games.
1985 - Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the NFL. The football kicker held the record for the most career field goals with 373.
1988 - The University of Oklahoma football team is placed on three years' probation.
1990 - Bo Jackson (Los Angeles Raiders) became the first athlete to be chosen for All Star Games in two sports.
1999 - Orlando Brown (Cleveland Browns) was ejected from a game for pushing referee Jeff Triplette to the ground. Triplette had accidentally hit Brown in the eye with a weighted penalty flag.
2003 - The baseball that was deflected by a fan in the stands during a Chicago Cubs game was sold for $106,600 at auction. The foul ball appeared to be headed for the glove of left fielder Moises Alou in Game 6 of the National League Championship series. The Florida Marlins ended up winning the game 8-3. The Cubs then lost Game 7.
1732 - Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac".
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first American Crisis essay, in which he wrote, "These are the times that try men's souls."
1777 - Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania to camp for the winter.
1843 - Charles Dickens published "A Christmas Carol".
1907 - A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania killed 239 workers.
1946 - War broke out in Indochina when Ho Chi Minh attacked the French.
1961 - Former U.S. Ambassador Joseph P. Kennedy, age 73, suffered a debilitating stroke while in Palm Beach, Florida.
1972 - Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.
1974 - Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as vice president, replacing Gerald R. Ford, who became president when Richard Nixon resigned.
1975 - John Paul Stevens was sworn in as an Associate Justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
1984 - Britain and China signed an accord returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty on July 1, 1997.
1997 - "Titanic", the second-highest grossing movie of all time, opened in American theaters.
1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached on charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives. (He was later acquitted by the Senate.)
2000 - The U.N. Security Council voted to impose broad sanctions on Afghanistan's Taliban rulers unless they closed terrorist training camps and surrendered U.S. embassy bombing suspect Osama bin Laden.
2003 - Muammar al-Qaddafi of Libya announced that his country would discontinue development of weapons of mass destruction.
2005 - Afghanistan's first democratically elected parliament in more than three decades convened.
Birthdays
26 - Jorge Blanco (actor)
26 - Jenelle Evans (reality star)
26 - Keynan Lonsdale (actor)
28 - Brittany Baldi (reality star)
31 - Jade Roper (reality star)
35 - Mo Williams (basketball player)
37 - Jake Gyllenhaal (actor)
37 - Marla Sokoloff (actress)
45 - Alyssa Milano (actress)
45 - Rosa Blasi (actress)
47 - Tyson Beckford (model)
64 - Jennifer Beals (actress)
========================================
Today in Sports History - December 19
1887 - Jake Kilrain and Jim Smith fought in a bare knuckles fight which lasted 106 rounds and 2 hours and 30 minutes. The fight was ruled a draw and was halted due to darkness.
1917 - The first regular season games of the new National Hockey League (NHL) were played. Five teams made up the league Toronto Arenas, Ottawa Senators, Quebec Bulldogs, the Montreal Canadiens and the Montreal Wanderers. Quebec did not actually begin operations until two years later. Dave Ritchie (Montreal Wanderers) scored the first goal in NHL history.
1948 - The Cleveland Browns defeat the Buffalo Bills 49-7 in the AAFC championship game.
1948- The Philadelphia Eagles defeat the Chicago Cardinals 7-0 in the NFL championship game.
1959 - The first Liberty Bowl is played. Penn State defeats Alabama 7-0.
1964 - ABC used an overhead camera for the first time. The event was the Liberty Bowl.
1976 - Piper Cherokee plane crashes into Baltimore Memorial Stadium upper stands, injuring the pilot and three others, 10 minutes after Baltimore Colts lose 40-14 to Pittsburgh Steelers; no one seriously hurt.
1977 - #12 Nebraska defeated #14 North Carolina 21-17 to win the Liberty Bowl. Nebraska finished the season with a 9-3 record and a final ranking of #10 (UPI) / #12 (AP).
1979 - ESPN televised its first NHL game. The teams were the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whales.
1983 - The original FIFA World Cup trophy, the Jules Rimet Trophy, is stolen from the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro.
1984 - Scotty Bowman became the NHL's all time winningest coach with his 691st victory.
1984 - Wayne Gretzky, 23, of the Edmonton Oilers, became only the 18th player in the National Hockey League (NHL) to score more than 1,000 points. He did it in his 424th career game. The previous record was held by Guy Lafleur who did it in 720 games.
1985 - Jan Stenerud announced his retirement from the NFL. The football kicker held the record for the most career field goals with 373.
1988 - The University of Oklahoma football team is placed on three years' probation.
1990 - Bo Jackson (Los Angeles Raiders) became the first athlete to be chosen for All Star Games in two sports.
1999 - Orlando Brown (Cleveland Browns) was ejected from a game for pushing referee Jeff Triplette to the ground. Triplette had accidentally hit Brown in the eye with a weighted penalty flag.
2003 - The baseball that was deflected by a fan in the stands during a Chicago Cubs game was sold for $106,600 at auction. The foul ball appeared to be headed for the glove of left fielder Moises Alou in Game 6 of the National League Championship series. The Florida Marlins ended up winning the game 8-3. The Cubs then lost Game 7.
