Unforgettable Events: December 19 in History

1 year ago
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December 19 is a day worth celebrating, and here are a few noteworthy events that took place on this day in history. Be sure to check them out!
1686 Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years (as per Daniel Defoe's famous novel)
1776 Thomas Paine publishes his first "American Crisis" essay beginning "These are the times that try men's souls" (date disputed)
1777 Washington settles his troops at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania for the winter
1783 William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24
1795 1st state appropriation of money for road building, Kentucky
1823 Georgia passes 1st US state birth registration law in US
1828 Report by US Vice President John C. Calhoun defending the rights of states to nullify federal laws is presented to the South Carolina legislature but it takes no action
1843 "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens is published, 6,000 copies sold
1891 1st Black Catholic priest ordained in US, Charles Uncles, Baltimore
1910 1st US city ordinance requiring white & black residential areas in Baltimore
1918 Robert Ripley begins his "Believe It or Not" column (NY Globe)
1919 American Meteorological Society found
1928 1st autogyro flight in US
1933 US President Roosevelt creates Electric Home & Farm Authority (EHFA) to assist low income household with purchase of major appliances
1946 War breaks out in Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacks French in Hanoi
1950 General Eisenhower named NATO commander
1958 First radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower sends a Christmas message "to all mankind, America's wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere”
1962 Transit 5A1, 1st operational navigational satellite, launched
1971 CBS airs "Homecoming A Christmas Story," (introducing the Waltons)
1972 Apollo 17 (last of Apollo Moon landing series) returns to Earth, splashing down in the Pacific Ocean, southeast of Samoa
1974 Nelson Rockefeller is sworn in as Vice President of the United States
1988 NASA unveils plans for lunar colony & manned missions to Mars
1998 US House of Representatives votes to impeach President Bill Clinton over the Lewinsky scandal, forwarding the articles of impeachment to the Senate for a trial
2012 Park Geun-hye wins the South Korean presidential election to become the nation’s first female president
2016 US electoral college votes 304 to 227 to nominate Donald Trump for President over the objections of seven faithless electors
2022 Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte formally apologies for the slave trade on behalf of the Dutch state in a speech at the national archives in The Hague
2022 US House Jan. 6 committee votes to refer criminal charges to the Justice Department for Donald Trump for his attempts to overturn the 2020 election and encourage a mob to attack the Capitol

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