1492 - Christopher Columbus discovered Haiti at the end of his first voyage (he never discovered the mainland, which was discovered earlier by several others including the Vikings, Chinese, and Africans (who also were the first to discover South America from a foreign land). Here Columbus made slaves of all the natives, shipping as many as he could to Europe in his following four voyages. Fifty years later the natives were wiped out by the thousands when Spanish armies came to Haiti in search of gold.  The Spanish were succeeded by the French, who brought slaves from Africa to work the plantations. In one of history most glorious struggles for independence, Haiti became the first black Republic in the world when it became a free country in 1804. American slaves would escape here, and to “free” states, which eventually brought on the Civil War as more “free” states were joining the union, such as Oregon, and territories were being formed in the North West.
www.haitiimpact.com/haitimarvelous.htm
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/1565840089/ref=pd_thx_recs_2/
102-1682336-8966565?v=glance
    1496 - Jews are expelled from Portugal by order of King Manuel I. The new world would be a land of free religion for all, but how to get there, via South America.
    1775 - At Fort Ticonderoga, Henry Knox, begins his historic transport of artillery to Cambridge, MA.
    1776 - Phi Beta Kappa fraternity was founded at The College of William and Mary, Virginia.
http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec05.html
    1782 - Martin Van Buren's birthday, eighth president of the United States (1837-1841), at Kinderhook, NY.   He was the first president to have been born a citizen. His term saw many troubles from bank and business failures, depression and unemployment.   In 1837, Van Buren succeeded Andrew Jackson in the White House. Three months later, the Panic of 1837 sent the national economy into a tailspin. Van Buren's inability to alleviate the depression, along with his opposition to the annexation of Texas on grounds it would lead to expansion of slavery, led to his drubbing by Whig candidate William Henry Harrison in 1840. He retired to Lindenwald, his Kinderhook estate, where he died in 1862.
(Lower half of: http://memory.loc.gov/ammem/today/dec05.html )
    1784 - Birthday of Phillis Wheatley in West Africa, who was both the second published African-American poet and the first published African-American woman.   Her first collection of poetry was published in 1773. Two other books were published posthumously. Brought to Boston as a slave in 1761, she was raised almost like a daughter by Mrs. John Wheatley and quickly learned English, Greek and Latin. She was an object of great wonder in Boston and England because of her intelligence at a time when Blacks were considered “unteachable.” After the Wheatleys died, she was freed and married a black man who deserted her.
    1787 - Shay's Rebellion: Daniel Shays of Pelham, MA, organized a group of farmers whose land had been seized and their neighbor and friends into an armed force that overthrew courts and committed other acts of violence. They were protesting the depreciation of paper money, the insistence of creditors on being paid in silver money, the imprisonment of debtors, and the seizure of farmland to pay off debts. Following the Revolutionary War, the United States faced severe economic hardships. One reason, in addition to war debt, was that the new nation was cut off from the commercial ties of the British Empire. Especially hard hit was Massachusetts because England cut off trade between the United States and the British West Indies. This severely harmed several businesses of that state such as shipbuilding, distilling, and lumber, which depended on the West Indies trade. Because of the economic hard times in Massachusetts, many farms heavily in debt were seized by their creditors and often sold for a fraction of their value. The farmers and working men of Massachusetts who were unable to pay their debts were sent to debtor prisons and would not be released until their debts were paid. The state legislature of Massachusetts responded to this economic crisis in a very inadequate manner such as increasing court costs and raising taxes. On this day, the “rebels” seized Worcester, Massachusetts, and were attempting to have others join them in the overthrowing of the government. They were also raiding homes, stealing food, clothing, and whatever valuables they could lay their hands upon. By February 1787, however, they were completely routed. The rebels were captured and sentenced to death for treason, but they were later pardoned.
http://www.politicalresource.net/shay's_rebellion.html
http://mumbet.com/html/shay.html
    1792 - George Washington was reelected president of the United States. John Adams was elected vice president. The electoral vote was Washington, 132, Adams, Federalist of Massachusetts, 77; George Clinton, anti-Federalist of New York, 50. In those days, the person who came in second was vice-president. The third Congress consisted of 30 senators of whom 17 were Federalist and 13 Democratic-Republicans. In the House, the count was 57 Democratic-Republicans and 48 Federalists.
    1804 - Thomas Jefferson was reelected president of the United Sates. George Clinton, first governor of New York and like Jefferson, a Democratic-Republican, was elected vice president. The electoral vote was Jefferson, 162; Charles C. Pinckney, Federalist of South Carolina, 14. This was the first election with separate ballots for president and vice president.
    1822 – The founder of Radcliffe College, Elizabeth Cabot Agassiz, was born in Boston.  Agassiz was essential in ensuring that the "Harvard Annex" for women's education was transformed in 1894 from Harvard University into Radcliffe. She died in 1907 in Arlington, MA.
    1831 – Former President John Quincy Adams takes his seat in the House of Representatives.
    1832 - Andrew Jackson was re-elected President by 687,502 popular votes and 219 electoral votes against 530,189 popular votes and 49 electoral votes for Henry Clay. Martin Van Buren was elected Vice-President
    1839 – Birthday of General George Armstrong Custer at New Rumley, Ohio. Although he was considered a Civil War hero, in 1867, he was court-martialed for not following orders or taking care of his men or following orders to protect farms. He had left his fort to visit his wife 275 miles away, who he had not seen for quite some time. Being the general in charge, he had the authority to do this, and did not pursue a group of Indians along the way, due to lack of information, including size and direction. He claimed he was being made a scapegoat for a failed campaign and General Sheridan later re-appointed him. He quickly redeemed himself.  Ulysses S. Grant was so infuriated with Custer's activity that he demoted him. Custer was popular among battle officers and was later re-instated to lead further activities against “hostile Indians.” While reportedly not popular with his men or other military, he was a fighter who was known to charge into battle with simple plans, which was his modus operandi. It is said that in his final battle, at Little Bighorn, June 25, 1876, one of his captains hesitated in the attack, delaying another, leaving Custer to attack with only half of his troops and leaving a hole for the Indians to escape.  They eventually surrounded the small force in sheer numbers, even though many did not have fire arms. The death of he and his 210 men became a war cry to “kill all the Indians” as the country moved further west.
http://www.civilwarhome.com/custerbi.htm
http://www.pbs.org/weta/thewest/people/a_c/custer.htm
http://www.garryowen.com/
    1843 - The Navy launched is first iron side wheel steamer, the “Michigan”, Erie, PA.
http://www.cogulus.com/archimedes/illustrations/1844_michigan.jpg
http://www.greatwhitefleet.org/michigan/01/history.htm
    1847 - Jefferson Davis first takes his seat in the Senate.
    1848 - President Polk triggers Gold Rush of '49, confirming California gold discovery. News of the discovery of gold in California in January was slow in reaching the East. Word of it first appeared in the New York Herald on August 19, but no great excitement was created until President James. K. Polk expressed enthusiasm about it in his message to Congress. The rush began by land across the continent and by sea and land via the Isthmus of Panama. The first shipload of prospectors arrived in San Francisco via Cape Horn on February 28, 1849. About 80,000 people made their way to California in 1849, 55,000 over land and 25,000 by sea. About 5000 that started out overland never made it because Asiatic cholera swept their ranks. By the end of 1848, gold worth $10,000,000,000 had been mined.
    1861 - The Gatling gun was invented.
    1862 - Battle of Coffeeville MS
http://www.angelfire.com/ms2/grantshilohvicksburg/TheBattleofCoffeeville.html
http://www4.pair.com/justfolk/Diary103.htm
    1865 - In the wake of the Civil War, fiscal conservatives attempted to curtail the use of greenbacks, paper money minted to support the Union. The drive to end greenbacks got a boost on December 5, 1865 when Treasury Secretary Hugh McCulloch made a plea for the currency to be discontinued. However, proponents of greenbacks kept the currency flowing into the 1870s.
    1870 - Birthday of Bill Pickett, rodeo cowboy, at Williamson County, Texas. Inventor of bulldogging, the modern rodeo event that involves wrestling a running steer to the ground. Died at Tulsa, OK, April 21, 1932.
    1876 - President Ulysses S. Grant delivered his speech today, apologizing to Congress, claiming mistakes he made while he was president were due to his inexperience. His errors, he said, were "errors of judgment, not intent." While Grant's personal integrity was never formally questioned, he was closely associated with many government scandals which became public during his presidency. The scandals included at attempt to corner the gold market, significant fraud in the Treasury Department and Indian Service. His term in office had many other “scandals” and was full of wide-spread corruption, particularly from cabinet members and other “financial” supporters.
    1876 – A fire at the Brooklyn Theatre kills at least 278 people.
    1879 – The first automatic telephone switching system was patented.
    1894 - Birthday of Phillip Knight Wrigley, baseball executive, born at Chicago, IL. Wrigley inherited the Chicago Cubs upon his father's death in 1932. He and his family owned the team for 60 years until selling it to the Tribune Company in 1981. Died at Elkhart, WI, April 27, 1977.
    1901 - Birthday of Walt Disney at Chicago, IL. Disney died at Los Angeles, CA, Dec. 15, 1966. A prominent figure within the animation industry, he is regarded as a cultural icon, known for his influence and contributions to entertainment during the 20th century.   Disney was particularly noted as a filmmaker and a popular showman, as well as an innovator in animation and theme park design. He and his staff created iconic and enduring fictional characters including Mickey Mouse, Donald Duck, and Goofy. Disney himself was the original voice for Mickey. During his lifetime, he received four honorary Academy awards and won 22 Academy Awards from a total of 59 nominations, including a record of four in one year, giving him more awards and nominations than any other individual in history. Disney also won seven Emmy Awards.  He personally supervised the building of Disneyland, living on the premise, visiting the only night event, sometimes with Ward Kimball, as Dixieland was played there (one of my high school jobs was playing clarinet and bass sax during the off nights, the week, and he was a frequent visitor with his own glass---as the bar only served beer.)
    1902 – Strom Thurmond was born James Strom Thurmond at Edgefield, SC.  In 1954, Thurmond won overwhelmingly, becoming the first person to be elected to the US Senate as a write-in candidate against ballot-listed opponents. In 1956, Thurmond resigned to run in the party primary, which he won. Afterward, he was repeatedly elected to the US Senate by state voters until his retirement 46 years later.  Thurmond supported racial segregation throughout much of his career. He wrote the first version of the Southern Manifesto, announcing southern disagreement with the 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which ruled that public school segregation was unconstitutional.  In an unsuccessful attempt to derail passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1957, Thurmond made the longest filibuster ever conducted by a single senator, speaking for a total of 24 hours and 18 minutes.  He died in 2003 in Edgefield.
    1906 – Otto Preminger was born in Austria-Hungary, now Ukraine.  Preminger was a renowned theatre and film director.  After moving to Hollywood, he directed over 35 films. He first gained attention for “Laura” (1944) and “Fallen Angel” (1945) while in the 1950s and '60s, he directed a number of high-profile adaptations of popular novels and stage works. Several of these later films pushed the boundaries of censorship by dealing with topics which were then taboo in Hollywood, such as drugs (“The Man with the Golden Arm”, 1955), rape (“Anatomy of a Murder”, 1959) and homosexuality (“Advise and Consent”, 1962). He was twice nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director. He also had a few acting roles.  Preminger died in NYC in 1986.
    1908 – For the first time, numerals are used on football jerseys by the University of Pittsburgh.
    1912 - Marshall Royal’s birthday into a musical family in Oklahoma.  He was lead altoist and band manager for Count Basie with whom he worked for 20 years.  Royal died in 1995.
http://www.netstoreusa.com/mubooks/030/0304338362.shtml
    1916 - Sneakers with rubber soles and plain cloth uppers were sold from the early 1870s by Charles Goodyear of New York City, who de­veloped the vulcanized rubber shoe sole, and by many other footwear companies. The first brand of sneakers was Keds, introduced this day in 1916 by the United States Rubber Company, the successor to Goodyear's shoe company. The first Keds had black soles and high-top brown canvas uppers, mimicking leather shoes. The name was a combination of “kids” and ”ped”, the Latin word for “foot.”
    1920 -  Kay Davis was born Katherine McDonald Wimp in Evanston, IL.   She was with Duke Ellington in the 1940's and she is best known for her wordless vocals in pieces such as "Transblucency" and "On a Turquoise Cloud". She also sang many pieces with lyrics. She is the only person Ellington allowed to reprise Adelaide Hall’s famous wordless vocal on "Creole Love Call". Her tenure in Ellington's band coincided with their increasing exposure on film. Davis died in Fla in 2012.  http://www.parabrisas.com/d_davisk.html
    1920 – Prior to the formation of the NFL, a championship game between Akron and Buffalo ended in a scoreless tie and no winner was declared.
    1929 - Three men organized the American League for Physical Culture in New York City, the first nudist organization.
http://www.bareworks.com/history.htm
    1932 – Scientist Albert Einstein is granted a visa to visit the US.
    1933 - Prohibition ended with the repeal of the Eighteenth Amendment, as the Twenty-First Amendment was ratified. When Utah voted for the 21st Amendment the vote reached the 75% of the states required to amend the constitution.  Actually during this period, hospital and other records of alcoholism went down. There were considerably less accidents and deaths caused by drunk driving, and crime was more related to “lack of money” and the Depression than drinking. The law did not allow the transportation or making of alcoholic drinks, but private clubs and many restaurants had a long supply (and were able to purchase without the federal or sales tax, actually at a lower cost when the government was regulating it.) The grape industry suffered; however, individuals were allowed to make up to 300 gallons a year, plus beer, which created many home wine and beer makers which you legally can do today.
    1934 - American educator Mary McLeod Bethune founds National Council of Negro Women.
http://www.nps.gov/mamc/
http://www.whitehouse.gov/kids/dreamteam/marybethune.html
http://www.nahc.org/NAHC/Val/Columns/SC10-6.html
    1934 - Birthday of bass player Art Davis, Harrisburg, PA
http://www.artdavis.com/
    1934 - Birthday of Joan Didion in Sacramento, CA.   Her novels and essays explore the disintegration of American morals and cultural chaos, where the overriding theme is individual and social fragmentation. A sense of anxiety or dread permeates much of her work.   Best known for “The White Album” (1979), “A Book of Common Prayer” (1977) and “Play It As It Lays”.
    1935 - Birthday of early rock ’n’ roller “Little Richard” Penniman, singer, songwriter, at Macon, GA.  Penniman has been honored by many institutions, including inductions into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the Songwriters Hall of Fame. He is the recipient of Lifetime Achievement Awards from The Recording Academy and the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. Penniman's "Tutti Frutti" (1955) was included in the Library of Congress' National Recording Registry in 2010, claiming the "unique vocalizing over the irresistible beat announced a new era in music."
http://www.history-of-rock.com/richard.htm
http://www.little-richard.com/
http://www.littlerichard.com/
    1936 - Bing Crosby took over as host of "The Kraft Music Hall". Jimmy Dorsey (who would later be host himself) led the Kraft Orchestra.
    1941 - The Lexington, one of the two largest aircraft carriers employed by the United States during World War II, started its way across the Pacific in order to carry a squadron of dive bombers to defend Midway Island from an anticipated Japanese attack. Negotiations between the United States and Japan had been ongoing for months. Japan wanted an end to U.S. economic sanctions. The Americans wanted Japan out of China and Southeast Asia and Japan to repudiate the Tripartite "Axis" Pact with Germany and Italy before those sanctions could be lifted. Neither side was budging. President Roosevelt and Secretary of State Cordell Hull were anticipating a Japanese strike as retaliation-they just didn't know where. The Philippines, Wake Island, Midway Island-all were possibilities. American intelligence reports had sighted the Japanese fleet movement out from Formosa (Taiwan), apparently headed for Indochina. The U.S. State Department demanded from Japanese envoys explanations for the fleet movement across the South China Sea. The envoys claimed ignorance. Army intelligence reassured the president that, despite fears, Japan was most likely headed for Thailand not the United States. The Lexingtonnever made it to Midway Island.  When it learned that the Japanese fleet had, in fact, attacked Pearl Harbor, it turned back without encountering a Japanese warship en route or deploying a single aircraft. By the time it reached Hawaii, it was December 13.
      1944--McWHORTER, WILLIAM A.  Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Private First Class, U.S. Army, Company M, 126th Infantry, 32d Infantry Division. Place and date: Leyte, Philippine Islands, 5 December 1944. Entered service at: Liberty, S.C. Birth: Liberty, S.C. G.O. No.: 82, 27 September 1945. Citation: He displayed gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while engaged in operations against the enemy. Pfc. McWhorter, a machine gunner, was emplaced in a defensive position with 1 assistant when the enemy launched a heavy attack. Manning the gun and opening fire, he killed several members of an advancing demolition squad, when 1 of the enemy succeeded in throwing a fused demolition charge in the entrenchment. Without hesitation and with complete disregard for his own safety, Pfc. McWhorter picked up the improvised grenade and deliberately held it close to his body, bending over and turning away from his companion. The charge exploded, killing him instantly, but leaving his assistant unharmed. Pfc. McWhorter’s outstanding heroism and supreme sacrifice in shielding a comrade reflect the highest traditions of the military service.
    1946 - President Truman creates Committee on Civil Rights by Executive Order #9808
http://www.trumanlibrary.org/hstpaper/pccr.htm
http://www.civilrights.org/
    1947 - Joe Louis beats Jersey Joe Walcott in 15 for heavyweight boxing title
http://www.cyberboxingzone.com/boxing/jlouis.htm
http://www.ibhof.com/walcott.htm
    1947 – Two-time Super Bowl champ with the Oakland Raiders and Heisman Trophy winner Jim Plunkett was born in San Jose.  After a stellar collegiate career at Stanford where he won the Heisman Trophy, he was the #1 draft pick of the woeful and then Boston Patriots.  The combination of injuries and a leaky offensive line diminished his role and in 1978, he was picked up by the Oakland raiders after two miserable seasons with the 49ers.  At age 33, after QB Dan Pastorini broke his leg, Plunkett led the team to a Super Bowl victory over the Philadelphia Eagles, then repeated it in 1983 over the Washington Redskins.  Plunkett is the only two-time Super Bowl winning QB who is not in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
    1948 - The first church service in sign language for the hearing impaired was broadcast from St. Matthew's Lutheran Church for the Deaf in Jamaica, Long Island. WPIX-TV, Channel 11 in New York aired the telecast.
    1948 – The New York Giants’ QB, Chuckin’ Charley Conerley established an NFL record with 36 pass completions.
    1949 – Ezzard Charles defeated Jersey Joe Wolcott for the heavyweight boxing championship.
    1950 - Top Hits
“All My Love” - Patti Page
“A Bushel and a Peck” - Perry Como & Betty Hutton
“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” - Gene Autry
“I'm Moving On” - Hank Snow
    1951 - The first push button-controlled garage opened in Washington, DC. A single attendant, without entering a car, could automatically park or return an auto in less than a minute.
    1951 – “Dragnet” debuted on TV.
    1951 – Shoeless Joe died in Greenville, SC.  Jackson’s .358 batting average is the third highest in Major League history.  Jackson played for three Major League teams during his 12-year career:  the Philadelphia A’s, Cleveland Naps, and the Chicago White Sox.  He is remembered for his performance on the field and for his alleged association with the 1919 White Sox who participated in a conspiracy to fix the World Series. As a result of Jackson's association with the scandal, MLB Commissioner, Kenesaw Mountain Landis, banned Jackson from playing after the 1920 season. Since then, Jackson's guilt has been disputed, and his expulsion from baseball during the prime of his career made him one of the game's legendary figures.
    1952 - “The Abbott and Costello Show” premiered on television. Bud Abbott and Lou Costello made 52 half-hour films for television incorporat­ing many of their best burlesque routines. The show ran for two seasons, until 1954. Costello was born at Paterson, NJ, Mar 6, 1906, and died at East Los Angeles, CA, Mar 3, 1959. In 1966, Hanna-Barbera Productions produced an animated cartoon based on the characters of Abbott and Costello. Abbott supplied his own voice while Stan Irwin imitated Costello. Bud Abbott was born at Asbury Park, NJ, Oct 2, 1895 and died at Woodland Hills, CA, Apr 24, 1974. Their celebrated routine, “Who's on First?” is a staple at the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, NY.
    1953 - A killer F4 tornado struck Vicksburg, MS, killing 38 and injuring 270. This was the last killer tornado of 1953, concluding one of the worst tornado years on record. Every corner of the nation east of the Rockies was hit by violent tornadoes. In no other years have violent tornadoes been so widespread
    1955 - Rosa Parks was arrested at Montgomery, Alabama on December 1 for refusing to give up her seat to a white man. This was following the Interstate Commerce Commission ban on integrated buses and bus stops, which Alabama and other states were ignoring. In support of Parks, and to protest the arrest, the black community of Montgomery organized a boycott of the bus system. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., at first reluctant to have his church involved, listened to the calls of his parishioners and joined the boycott where the assemblage pushed him into the fore front. When I interviewed him as a newsman, he was “shy” at the time, he explained, and did not consider himself a leader, but “caught up in the movement.” The boycott lasted from December 5, 1955, to December 20, 1956, when the US Supreme Court ruling was implemented at Montgomery, integrating the public transportation system.
http://www.grandtimes.com/rosa.html
http://www.time.com/time/time100/heroes/profile/parks01.html
http://www.lkwdpl.org/wihohio/beth-mar.htm
    1955 - The AFL-CIO was founded. The American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organization joined together, following 20 years of rivalry, to become the nation's largest leading advocate for trade unions
    1956 - The Alan Freed-produced movie,  “Rock Rock Rock“ is released with Tuesday Weld lip-synching to Connie Francis' voice.
    1957 - New York City passed a Fair Housing Practices Law, the first city to legislate against racial or religious discrimination in housing.
    1958 - Top Hits
“To Know Him, is to Love Him” - The Teddy Bears
“One Night” - Elvis Presley
“Problems” - The Everly Brothers
“City Lights” - Ray Price
    1964 - RCA announces that "Elvis' Christmas Album" has sold over 800,000 copies since being released in 1957.
    1964 - Lorne Greene's "Ringo" hits #1
    1964 - The Beach Boys' “Beach Boys Concert” album hits #1
    1964 - The Zombies' "She's Not There" enters the pop charts
    1964 - The Kinks' "You Really Got Me" enters the pop charts
    1964 - The first Medal of Honor awarded in the Vietnam War was presented to Army Captain Roger Hugh Donlon of Saugerties, NY. He was wounded four times (stomach, leg, shoulder, and face) at Nam Dong, about 20 miles from the Laotian frontier. The award was the first since the Korean War, the first in a counterinsurgency effort, and the first to a solider with a friendly foreign force engaged in an armed conflict in which the United States was not at war, a “belligerent.” Now retired, Col. Roger resides in Leavenworth, Kansas with his lovely wife of more than 30 years, Norma. They have 4 sons and Roger has a daughter from a previous marriage. The Donlons have a number of grandchildren and spend their time traveling, giving motivational speeches, promoting Roger's book, "Beyond Nam Dong", and working with The Westmoreland Scholar Foundation, an educational foundation dedicated to fostering reconciliation between the American and Vietnamese people.  http://www.mishalov.com/Donlon.html; http://www.homeofheroes.com/moh/citations_living/vn_a_donlon.html
    1966 - Top Hits
“Winchester Cathedral” - The New Vaudeville Band
“Good Vibrations” - The Beach Boys
“Devil with a Blue Dress On” & “Good Golly Miss Molly” - Mitch Ryder & The Detroit Wheels
“Somebody Like Me” - Eddy Arnold
    1967 - Baby doctor and writer Benjamin Spock along with Poet Allen Ginsberg and others arrested protesting Vietnam war.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/politics/campaigns/junkie/links/spock.htm
http://www.virtualology.com/virtualpubliclibrary/hallofeducation/Pedagogy/Benjamin-Spock.org/
    1969 - The four node ARPANET network is established.
    1972 - The Mormon Church officially excommunicates Sonia Johnson, founder of "Mormons for the ERA," for her efforts on behalf of the Equality Rights Amendment. She was fifth generation Mormon.
    1973 - Paul McCartney releases "Band on the Run" album.
    1973 – The Cubs’ 3B Ron Santo became the first player to veto a trade involving him.
    1974 - The National Football League announces that it has voted membership to Seattle Professional Football, Inc., headed by Lloyd W. Nordstrom with partners Herman Sarkowsky, D.E. “Ned” Skinner, Howard S. Wright, M. Lamont Bean, and Lynn P. Himmelman.
http://www.seahawks.com/
    1974 - Top Hits
“I Can Help” - Billy Swan
“Kung Fu Fighting” - Carl Douglas
“When Will I See You Again” - The Three Degrees
“Back Home Again” - John Denver
    1975 - Fleetwood Mac's tenth album goes gold and will eventually reach platinum status. This is the first album by the regrouped band, including founders Mick Fleetwood and John McVie, veteran Christine McVie and newcomers Stevie Nicks and Lindsey Buckingham. The album contains the tunes "Rhiannon", "Say You Love Me" and "Over My Head".
    1975 - "Gratitude", a double album by Earth, Wind and Fire becomes their fifth album to go gold.
    1978 – The Phillies won the free agent sweepstakes for Pete Rose, awarding Charlie Hustle a four-year, $32 million contract.  It paid off when they won the 1980 World Series.
    1981 - An explosively deepening ocean storm southeast of New England caught forecasters off guard and unloaded heavy snows over New England. Boston, MA was buried with 13.5 inches and parts of southeast Massachusetts and Rhode Island reported over 2 fee
    1982 - The Cowboys beat Washington 24-10 at RFK Stadium for the club's -- and Tom Landry's -- 200th regular-season victory.
    1982 - Top Hits
“Truly” - Lionel Richie
“Gloria” - Laura Branigan
“Mickey” - Toni Basil
“You and I” - Eddie Rabbitt with Crystal Gayle
    1984 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, at age 37, was the oldest player in the National Basketball Association. He decided to push those weary bones just one more year by signing with the Los Angeles Lakers for $2 million. Other NBA greats who played for 16 seasons include John Havlicek of Boston, Dolph Shayes of Philadelphia, Paul Silas of Seattle and Elvin Hayes of Houston.
    1984 - A heavy snow came to an end in Oklahoma. 10 inches fell at Skiatook, OK and 6.1 inches at Oklahoma City, OK
    1988 - "Kokomo" by the Beach Boys topped the charts and stayed there for a week.
    1988 - Televangelist Jim Bakker was charged by a federal grand jury with mail fraud and conspiracy to defraud the public through the sale of thousands of lifetime memberships to PTL theme park, Heritage U.S.A. (Bakker was convicted the following year and sentenced to prison.)
http://www.80s.com/Icons/Bios/james_orsen_jim_bakker.html
http://www.physics.unlv.edu/~farley/humor/K/bakker.htm
     1989 - A warm Pacific storm system brought high winds and heavy rain to western Washington and western Oregon. Up to ten inches of rain deluged the western slopes of the Cascade Mountain Range in Washington State over a three day period, and 500 persons had to be evacuated due to flooding along the Skagit River. Up to five inches of rain drenched northwest Oregon, and winds gusted to 71 mph at Netarts.
    1990 - Top Hits
“I'm Your Baby Tonight” - Whitney Houston
“Because I Love You (The Postman Song)” - Stevie B
“From a Distance” - Bette Midler
“Come Next Monday” - K.T. Oslin
    1991 - Charles Keating Jr (Lincoln Savings & Loan fraud), found guilty.  When Lincoln failed in 1989, it cost the federal government over $3 billion and about 23,000 customers were left with worthless bonds. His enterprises began to suffer financial problems and were investigated by federal regulators. His financial contributions to, and requests for regulatory intervention from five sitting U.S. senators led to those legislators being dubbed "the Keating Five". On this day, Keating was convicted in both federal and state courts of many counts of fraud, racketeering, and conspiracy. He served four and a half years in prison before those convictions were overturned in 1996. In 1999, he pleaded guilty to a more limited set of wire fraud and bankruptcy fraud counts, and was sentenced to the time he had already served.  He died in March, 2014.
    1991 – The New York Daily News filed for Chapter XI protection.
    1992 - The rappers known as Ice Cube hit it big as their "The Predator" became the #1 album in the U.S. The tracks: "The First Day of School (Intro)", "When Will They Shoot?", "I'm Scared (Insert)", "Wicked", "Now I Gotta Wet' Cha", "The Predator", "It Was a Good Day", "We Had to Tear This ________ Up", "________ 'Em (Instert)", "Dirty Mack", "Don't Trust 'Em", "Gangsta's Fairytale 2", "Check Yo Self (Featuring DAS EFX)", "Who Got the Camera?", "Intergration (Insert)", "Say Hi to the Bad Guy".
    1996 - The baseball players’ union executive board unanimously approved a new collective bargaining agreement, marking the end of the longest labor dispute in baseball history. The new agreement introduced a Luxury Tax, revenue sharing, inter league play, and several provisions designed to compel the future cooperation of owners and players.   
     1997 - The sleeper hit "Good Will Hunting" was released in United States theaters. The film made stars of Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, who co-wrote and starred in the film. The duo, close boyhood friends, received a writing Oscar for their screenplay.
    1998 - James P. Hoffa, Jr. won the Teamsters presidency after challenger Tom Leedham conceded defeat in the union's presidential election. Leedham said it was difficult to compete against Hoffa's name recognition, financing and more than four years of campaigning for the top post of the largest private sector union in the U.S. There are some that say “Junior” was one of those involved in the disappearance of his father, probably part of the cement structure holding up a bridge or building.
    1998 - R. Kelly & Celine Dion were number one in the U.S with their single, "I'm Your Angel".
    2002--Elton John guest stars on NBC's Will and Grace.
2003 - A major winter storm impacted parts of the Mid-Atlantic and northeastern United States during the 5th-7th. Snowfall accumulations of one to two feet were common across areas of Pennsylvania northward into New England. Boston, MA received 16.2 inches while Providence, RI had the greatest single snowstorm on record with 17 inches, beating the previous record of 12 inches set December 5-6, 1981. Boston's Logan International Airport was closed briefly on the 7th as heavy snowfall made regular airport operations impossible.