Today in History Dec 21

Today in History - Dec. 21

By The Associated Press – 1 hour ago

Today is Sunday, Dec. 21, the 356th day of 2008. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter will arrive at 7:04 a.m. Eastern time. The Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, begins at sunset.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 21, 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.

On this date:

In 1804, British statesman Benjamin Disraeli was born in London.

In 1937, the first feature-length animated cartoon in Technicolor, Walt Disney's "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," had its world premiere in Los Angeles.

In 1940, author F. Scott Fitzgerald died in Hollywood, Calif., at age 44.

In 1945, Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident.

In 1948, the state of Eire, or Ireland, passed an act declaring itself a republic.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France.

In 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

In 1971, the U.N. Security Council chose Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General.

In 1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island, off Massachusetts, almost a week after running aground, spilling 7 1/2 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.

In 1988, 270 people were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pam Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, sending wreckage crashing to the ground.

Ten years ago: Israel's parliament voted overwhelmingly for early elections, signaling the demise of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ailing hard-line government. A Chinese court sentenced two dissidents (Xu Wenli, Wang Youcai) to long prison terms for trying to organize an opposition party. (Xu was released in December 2002; Wang, in March 2004.)

Five years ago: The government raised the national threat level to orange, indicating a high risk of terrorist attack. (It was lowered back to yellow on Jan. 9, 2004.) More than 150 people were killed in mudslides in the Philippines. Soviet diplomat Oleg Troyanovsky died at age 84.

One year ago: A suicide attacker detonated a bomb at a mosque outside the home of Pakistan's former interior minister, killing at least 50 people.

Today's Birthdays: Country singer Freddie Hart is 82. Actor Ed Nelson is 80. Talk show host Phil Donahue is 73. Movie director John Avildsen is 73. Actress Jane Fonda is 71. Actor Larry Bryggman is 70. Singer Carla Thomas is 66. Musician Albert Lee is 65. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is 64. Actor Samuel L. Jackson is 60. Movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg is 58. Singer Betty Wright is 55. Tennis Hall-of-Famer Chris Evert is 54. Actress Jane Kaczmarek is 53. Country singer Lee Roy Parnell is 52. Entertainer Jim Rose is 52. Actor-comedian Ray Romano is 51. Country singer Christy Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 46. Rock musician Murph (The Lemonheads; Dinosaur Jr.) is 44. Actor-comedian Andy Dick is 43. Rock musician Gabrielle Glaser is 43. Actor Kiefer Sutherland is 42. Actress Karri Turner is 42. Actress Khrystyne Haje is 40. Country singer Brad Warren (The Warren Brothers) is 40. Actress Julie Delpy is 39. Country singer-musician Rhean Boyer (Carolina Rain) is 38. Contemporary Christian singer Natalie Grant is 37. Actor Glenn Fitzgerald is 37. Singer-musician Brett Scallions is 37. Rock singer Lukas Rossi (Rock Star Supernova) is 32. Country singer Luke Stricklin is 26.

Thought for Today: "Many human beings say that they enjoy the winter, but what they really enjoy is feeling proof against it." — Richard Adams, English author.