Today in History

After being underground for a record 69 days, all 33 miners trapped in a Copiapo, Chile, mine are rescued.

The Lebanese Civil War ends when a Syrian attack removes Gen. Michel Aoun from power.

The Space Shuttle Challenger, carrying seven, the largest crew to date, lands safely at Kennedy Space Center in Florida.

Dr. F.A. Murphy at Center for Disease Control obtains the first electron micrograph of an Ebola viral particle.

Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571 crashes in the Andes Mountains, near the Argentina-Chile border; only 16 survivors (out of 45 people aboard) are rescued on Dec. 23.

Nancy Kerrigan, figure skater; won Olympic bronze (1992) and silver (1994) medals; US National Champion 1993; on Jan. 6, 1994, she was clubbed on the knee in an attack intended to aid one of her skating rivals.

Kate Walsh, actress (Grey’s Anatomy, Private Practice TV series).

Ari Fleischer, White House Press Secretary for Pres. George W. Bush (2001-03).

Marie Osmond, singer (“Paper Roses”), songwriter, actress; co-hosted TV variety show Donny & Marie with her brother Donny (1976-79).

First appearance of Paddington Bear, now a beloved icon of children’s literature.

Sammy Hagar, “The Red Rocker,” singer, songwriter, musician; replaced David Lee Roth as lead singer of the band Van Halen.

The Fourth Republic begins in France; will continue to 1958.

Troops of the advancing Soviet Army occupy Riga, capital of Latvia.

Italy declares war on Germany.

In the first of four attacks, two Japanese battleships sail down the slot and shell Henderson field on Guadalcanal, in an unsuccessful effort to destroy the American Cactus Air Force.

Paul Simon, singer, songwriter, musician, producer; rose to fame as half of the Simon & Garfunkel duo; to date (2013) he has received 12 Grammys including a Lifetime Achievement Award (2001); Time magazine included him in its 2006 special “100 People Who Shaped the World.”

Melinda Dillon, actress, best known for her role as Ralphie’s mother in the TV classic A Christmas Story (1983).

Bruce Geller, screenwriter, producer, actor; won two Emmys as the writer, producer and director of the Mission Impossible TV series.

Ray Brown, jazz bass player.

Margaret Thatcher, the first female UK prime minister (1979-1990).

Art Tatum, American jazz pianist.

Herblock (Herbert Lawrence Block), multiple Pulitzer Prize-winning political cartoonist.

Yves Allégret, French film director (Dédée d’Anvers, Une si jolie petite plage).

Sigmund Freud’s The Interpretation of Dreams is published.

Boston defeats Pittsburgh in baseball’s first World Series.

Conrad Richter, novelist and short story writer.

Lillie Langtry, British actress.

The California state constitution, which prohibits slavery, is signed in Monterey.

William Kirby, Canadian writer.

At the Battle of Queenston Heights, a Canadian and British army defeats the American who have tried to invade Canada.

President George Washington lays the cornerstone for the White House.

Ferdinand VII, king of Spain.

Benedict Arnold is defeated at Lake Champlain.

The Continental Congress authorizes construction of two warships, thus instituting an American naval force.

Virginia passes a law that blacks arriving in the colonies as Christians cannot be used as slaves.

Henry IV of England is crowned.

Members of the Knights of Templar are arrested throughout France, imprisoned and tortured by the order of King Philip the Fair of France.

Nero succeeds his great uncle Claudius, who was murdered by his wife, as the new emperor of Rome.