# Today in History **URL:** \ **Category:** Thread Games\ **Created:** [July 10, 2016, 4:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530 "2016-07-10T04:53:58Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 76
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 24, 2018, 6:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1504 "2018-12-24T06:58:00Z")
**December 24, 1968:** The crew of _Apollo 8_ enters into orbit around the Moon, becoming the first humans to do so. They performed ten lunar orbits and broadcast live TV pictures. The three-astronaut crew were the first humans to witness and photograph an Earthrise. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 5:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1505 "2018-12-25T05:00:25Z")
\*\*December 25, 1890 \*\*: LeRoy Robert Ripley is born. Believe it or not. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 25, 2018, 9:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1506 "2018-12-25T09:03:45Z")
**December 25, 1758:** Halley’s Comet is sighted by Johann Georg Palitzsch, confirming Edmund Halley’s prediction of its passage. This was the first passage of a comet predicted ahead of time. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 26, 2018, 10:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1507 "2018-12-26T10:29:55Z")
**December 26, 1991:** The Soviet Union is formally dissolved, ending the Cold War. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 28, 2018, 9:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1508 "2018-12-28T09:38:22Z")
**December 28, 169 B.C.:** The menorah is lit to rededicate the Holy Temple of Jerusalem after two centuries of foreign rule and religious oppression and a seven-year revolt. Though the Maccabees have enough oil for merely one day, The menorah burns for eight days, birthing the holiday Hanukkah. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1509 "2018-12-29T16:04:02Z")
**December 29, 1997:** Hong Kong begins to kill all the city’s 1.25 million chickens, in order to stop the spread of a potentially deadly influenza strain. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 29, 2018, 4:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1510 "2018-12-29T16:51:06Z")
**December 29, 1972** : [Eastern Airlines Flight 401](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eastern_Air_Lines_Flight_401&ved=2ahUKEwijk9KZvsXfAhXM1FkKHSznBeQQFjAfegQIBRAB&usg=AOvVaw2a55g_1omKKLcs_TdlVOAQ) crashes in the Everglades killing 101. Amazingly, 75 on board survive. This crash is also remembered for the [supposed ghost sightings that followed](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.news.com.au/travel/travel-updates/the-eerie-mystery-of-eastern-airlines-flight-401/news-story/61af8f7bf86a3ae8260c19ab8f902f17&ved=2ahUKEwiHguy_vcXfAhWkt1kKHWHvBIsQFjAjegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw10DochOE-wO8KyQgZmNCO_). ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2018, 4:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1511 "2018-12-30T04:45:44Z")
**Dec 29, 1800:** Charles Goodyear rolls into the world. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 30, 2018, 5:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1512 "2018-12-30T05:38:50Z")
**December 30, 1916** : [Rasputin is murdered.](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/murder-rasputin-100-years-later-180961572/&ved=2ahUKEwiHydz_6cbfAhWCY1AKHafwAU4Q5OUBMBV6BAgFEAE&sqi=2&usg=AOvVaw1NXXJql3Bm9P1Ur48TqJsJ) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 7:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1513 "2018-12-31T07:06:20Z")
**December 31, 1853:** A dinner party is held inside a life-size model of an [iguanodon](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iguanodon) created by Benjamin Waterhouse Hawkins and Sir Richard Owen in south London, England. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [December 31, 2018, 2:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1514 "2018-12-31T14:50:04Z")
**December 31, 1986** : [The Dupont Hotel Fire](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dupont_Plaza_Hotel_arson&ved=2ahUKEwjA1OnCpsrfAhVvoFkKHcOXAUwQFjAZegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw2Ag7UzCtOOLnZ5-9PJBL7W&cshid=1546267446629) in Puerto Rico kills 96 and injures another 140. This is the second deadliest hotel fire in U.S. history. The cause is determined to be arson. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 1, 2019, 6:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1515 "2019-01-01T06:30:10Z")
**January 1, 1978** : [Air India Flight 855](https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&rct=j&url=https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_India_Flight_855&ved=2ahUKEwiN6bDP-cvfAhXSxFkKHZGiAo4QFjAeegQIBhAB&usg=AOvVaw38m8NRQ0mckcrmLYYF-PvJ) crashes into the Arabian Sea killing all 213 on board. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 2, 2019, 7:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1516 "2019-01-02T07:48:06Z")
**January 2, 1898:** New York, New York annexes land from surrounding counties, creating the City of Greater New York. The four initial boroughs, Manhattan, Brooklyn, Queens, and The Bronx, are joined on January 25 by Staten Island to create the modern city of five boroughs. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 3, 2019, 9:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1517 "2019-01-03T09:29:05Z")
**January 3, 1977:** Apple Computer is incorporated. ---
**Author:** ![Biotop](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/biotop/32/321_2.png) [@Biotop](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Biotop)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1518 "2019-01-04T05:24:30Z")
**January 4, 1965** : T.S. Eliot dies. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 4, 2019, 11:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1519 "2019-01-04T23:33:51Z")
**January 4, 1903:** Topsy, an elephant, is electrocuted by the owners of Luna Park, Coney Island. The Edison film company records the film _Electrocuting an Elephant_ of Topsy’s death. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 5, 2019, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1520 "2019-01-05T08:58:49Z")
**January 5, 1875:** The Palais Garnier, one of the most famous opera houses in the world, is inaugurated in Paris. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 8, 2019, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1521 "2019-01-08T23:58:22Z")
**January 8, 1297:** François Grimaldi, disguised as a monk, leads his men to capture the fortress protecting the Rock of Monaco, establishing his family as the rulers of Monaco. Today, 722 years later, the House of Grimaldi still reigns in Monaco. ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 9, 2019, 7:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1522 "2019-01-09T19:07:59Z")
**January 9, 1349:** The entire Jewish population of Basel, believed by the residents to be the cause of the ongoing Black Death, is rounded up and incinerated. ---
**Author:** ![Spiderman](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spiderman/32/230_2.png) [@Spiderman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spiderman)\ **Post date:** [January 11, 2019, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530/1523 "2019-01-11T04:11:09Z")
**January 10, 1949:** Throats get a little deeper because Linda Lovelace is born. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=75) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/today-in-history/759530.md?page=77)