
1916 – Battle of Verdun, longest of World War I, officially ends in German defeat after nine months of fighting and almost 1 million total casualties.
1917 – The 18th Amendment to the US Constitution, authorizing prohibition of alcohol, is approved by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.
1920 – First postage stamps printed without the words United States or US.
1944 – US Destroyers Hull, Spence & Monaghan sink in a typhoon off the Philippines.
1946 – TV’s first network dramatic serial “Faraway Hill” ends a 2-month run.
1956 – “To Tell the Truth” debuts on CBS-TV.
1956 – Phil Rizzuto signs as a New York Yankees radio-TV announcer.
1957 – World’s first full scale nuclear power plant, for peacetime use only, begins to generate electricity at the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania.
1961 – For the second consecutive year, The Association Press names Wilma Rudolph its female athlete of year.
1963 – “The Pink Panther” film premieres, directed by Blake Edwards, and starring Peter Sellers and David Niven, with theme music composed by Henry Mancini.
1965 – Frank Borman and Jim Lovell splash down in the Atlantic after a two-week Gemini 7 mission.
1971 – First Candlelight Processional at EPCOT Center at Disney World in Orlando, Florida.
1972 – The United States launches Operation Linebacker II, its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam, as negotiations to end the Vietnam War collapse.
1989 – “I Love Lucy” Christmas episode is shown for the first time in over 30 years.
1996 – TV industry executives agree to adopt a rating system.
2002 – Fashion designer Calvin Klein announces he is selling his company to shirt-maker Phillips-Van Heusen for $430 million.
2011 – The last US troops withdraw from Iraq, formally ending the Iraq War.
2019 – House of Representatives vote to impeach President Donald Trump for abuse of power (230-197) and obstruction of Congress (229-198)
2023 – British Petroleum joins other companies in pausing transit of ships through the Red Sea, amid attacks by Yemen’s Houthi rebels on commercial vessels, with serious implications for global shipping.