1763 – Fifty-Seven whites enter Conestoga Indian settlement, and in violation of a treaty made between the tribe and William Penn — to last "as long as the sun should shine, or the waters run in the rivers" — shot, stabbed, and hatcheted the three men, two women and one young boy they found there (more on 27 December).
    1774 - After Paul Revere warned Portsmouth, NH of possible attack, Massachusetts militiamen successfully attacked the arsenal of Fort William and Mary and confiscated all arms and gun powder. Actually, here was the first shot of the Revolutionary War, and not in Boston Common as history books report.  Revere did not finish his ride, nor did he communicate about the lantern signals, but he did warns several towns and woke up many farmers to warn other farmers about the possible attack, and made it to the town of Portsmouth.
http://www.nhssar.org/essays/FortConstitution.htm
http://www.seacoastnh.com/history/rev/willmary.html
http://www.seacoastnh.com/arts/please052299.html
    1782 – Charleston, SC was evacuated by British. There were more battles in South Carolina as the British fought to conquer this land more than others in the colonies at the time, and this was a major event in the American Revolutionary War.  The British had captured Charleston on May 12, 1780.
http://web.ftc-i.net/~gcsummers/revolution.htm
http://www.patriotsofcharleston.com/
    1793 - Kentucky was the first state to authorized a road. They authorized Daniel Weisiger, Bennett Pemberton, and Nathaniel Sanders as “commissioners to receive subscriptions in money, labor or property”, to raise a fund for clearing a wagon road from Frankfort, Kentucky, to Cincinnati, Ohio.
    1798 - David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patented both the nut and bolt machine, and the screw.
    1819 - Alabama became the 22nd state. Deep in the “Heart of Dixie”, (one of the state's nicknames), Alabama was first inhabited by the Creek Indians (Alabama means ‘tribal town'), then explored by the Spanish, settled by the French, and then controlled by the British. The region was ceded to the U.S. following the American Revolution. The Confederacy was founded in Alabama; the state flag still bears a resemblance to the Confederate Battle Flag. Alabama's motto, "Audemus jura nostra defendere – We Dare Defend Our Rights" - has been taken very seriously throughout the state's history, especially in the 1950s and 1960s, as it was the site of landmark civil rights actions. The state tree, pinus palustris or Southern longleaf pine; and the camellia, the state flower, are plentiful throughout the state, as is the state bird, the yellowhammer, which is also the state's other nickname.
    1863 - President Lincoln announces a grant of amnesty for Mrs. Emilie Todd Helm, Mary Lincoln's half-sister and the widow of a Confederate general. The pardon was one of the first under Lincoln's Proclamation of Amnesty and Reconstruction, which he had announced less than a week before. The plan was the President's blueprint for the reintegration of the South into the Union. Part of the plan allowed for former Confederates to be granted amnesty if they took an oath to the United States
    1885 - Birthday of Ethel Browne Harvey (d. 1965), Baltimore, MD.  U.S. cell biologist, embryologist, most noted for her findings about cell division, bringing her international fame. Using sea urchins, she was able to excite cell division without maternal or paternal nucleus. Harvey speculated that her parthenogenetic meogones might mean that fundamental characteristics of living matter (such as cell division) were cytoplasmic, while genes controlled later, more specialized characteristics (like eye color). Today, sea urchins are very much in demand by connoisseurs, not only for their taste but supposed aphrodisiac ability, attributed to Dr. Harvey's work.
    1896 - Birthday of James Doolittle (d. 1993) at Alameda, CA.  American aviator and World War II hero, Lieutenant General in the US Army Air Force, he was the first person to fly across North America in less than a day. He was a pioneer in instrument landing techniques during the 1920s when flying was still in its infancy.  On Apr 18, 1942, Doolittle led a squadron of 16 B-25 bombers, launched from aircraft carriers, on the first US aerial raid on Japan of World War II.   Until that time, after the attacks on Pearl Harbor, the US was not faring well against the Japanese.  The daring raid was considered dangerous because the thought was that B-25s could not take off from a carrier.  While the damage to Tokyo was slight, it pierced the Japanese feeling of invincibility and turned US morale around that continued through the remainder of the war.  He was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor for this accomplishment. Doolittle also headed the Eighth Air Force during the Normandy invasion.
    1897- Birthday of Margaret Chase Smith (d. 1995) at Skowhegan, ME.   Smith was the first woman to be elected to both houses of Congress (1941 to the House and 1949 to the Senate). She was also one of seven Republican senators to issue a “declaration of conscience” to denounce Senator Joseph R. McCarthy's communist witch-hunt.
    1902 - The ship, "Silverton", set sail from the Bay Area to lay the first telephone cable between San Francisco, California and Honolulu, Hawaii. The project was finished by January 1, 1903.
    1903 – The Wright Brothers make the first powered flight at Kitty Hawk, NC.  Coincidentally this was the same date in 1782 that the Montgolfier brothers succeeded in launching the first piloted ascent into the sky in a balloon, in France.  The three-second flight attempt stalled after takeoff and caused minor damage to the Flyer.  Following repairs, the Wrights took off again on December 17, 1903, making two flights each from level ground into a freezing headwind gusting to 27 miles per hour. The first flight, by Orville at 10:35 am, of 120 feet in 12 seconds, at a speed of only 6.8 miles per hour over the ground, was recorded in the famous photograph.  The next two flights covered approximately 175 and 200 feet, by Wilbur and Orville respectively. Their altitude was about 10 feet above the ground. 
http://www.wam.umd.edu/~stwright/WrBr/wrights/1903.html
    1910 - Tenor sax player Bud Johnson born Dallas, Texas.
    1911 - The elusive object of many expeditions dating from the 7th century, the South Pole was located and visited by Roald Amundsen with four companions and 52 sled dogs. All five men and 12 of the dogs returned to base camp safely. The next to visit the South Pole, January 17, 1912, was a party of five led by Captain Robert Scott, all of whom perished during the return trip. A search party found their frozen bodies 11 months later.
    1917 – June Taylor (d. 2004) was born in Chicago.  Best known as the founder of the June Taylor Dancers, who were featured on Jackie Gleason’s various television variety programs.  In 1946, Taylor met Gleason at a Baltimore nightclub. The two became friends when Taylor helped Gleason overcome a case of stage fright.  In 1948, Taylor made her television debut on “The Toast of the Town” starring Ed Sullivan, where six of her original dancers appeared as The Toastettes.  Two years later, Taylor joined Gleason's Cavalcade of Stars, and followed him, along with 16 dancers, to “The Jackie Gleason Show”, where her signature was the overhead camera shot of the dancers making kaleidoscopic geometric patterns, reminiscent of the work of Busby Berkeley.  She won an Emmy for choreography in 1955.
    1920 - Trumpet Player Clark Terry (d. 2015) was born in St. Louis.
http://hardbop.tripod.com/terry.html
    1922 – Don Hewitt (d. 2009), the creator of CBS’ “60 Minutes” was born in NYC.  At the time of his death, “60 Minutes” was the longest-running prime-time broadcast on American television.  Under Hewitt's leadership, “60 Minutes” was the only news program ever rated the nation’s top-ranked television program, an achievement it accomplished five times.  Hewitt produced the first televised presidential debate in 1960, between candidates Richard Nixon and John F. Kennedy.
    1924 - The temperature at Helena, MT, plunged 79 degrees in 24 hours, and 88 degrees in 34 hours. The mercury plummeted from 63 above to 25 below zero. At Fairfield, MT the temperature plunged 84 degrees in just 12 hours, from 63 at Noon to 21 below zero at midnight
    1934 - The first streamlined steam locomotive was introduced by the New York Central Lines between Albany and Kamer, NY. Built in West Albany, NY, it was named the “Commodore Vanderbilt” after the founder of the New York Central Lines. It developed 4,075 horsepower.
    1939 - Jimmy Lunceford Band records “Uptown Blues”, New York City.
    1939 - League of Nations, the international peacekeeping organization formed at the end of World War I, expels the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics in response to the Soviets' invasion of Finland on October 30. President Roosevelt, although an "ally" of the USSR, condemned the invasion, causing the Soviets to withdraw from the New York World's Fair. And finally, the League of Nations, drawing almost its last breath, expelled it.
    1939 – Ernie Davis (d. 1963), the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy, was born in New Salem, PA.  After his All-American career at Syracuse University, Davis was drafted #1 by the Washington Redskins who traded him immediately to the Cleveland Browns.  He never played a professional game, as he was diagnosed with leukemia in 1962 and died at the age of 23. Davis was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1979.
    1944 - NEPPEL, RALPH G., Medal of Honor
Rank and organization: Sergeant, U.S. Army, Company M, 329th Infantry, 83d Infantry Division. Place and date: Birgel, Germany, 14 December 1944. Entered service at: Glidden, lowa. Birth: Willey, lowa. G.O. No.: 77, 10 September 1945. Citation: He was leader of a machinegun squad defending an approach to the village of Birgel, Germany, on 14 December 1944, when an enemy tank, supported by 20 infantrymen, counterattacked. He held his fire until the Germans were within 100 yards and then raked the foot soldiers beside the tank killing several of them. The enemy armor continued to press forward and, at the pointblank range of 30 yards, fired a high-velocity shell into the American emplacement, wounding the entire squad. Sgt. Neppel, blown 10 yards from his gun, had 1 leg severed below the knee and suffered other wounds. Despite his injuries and the danger from the onrushing tank and infantry, he dragged himself back to his position on his elbows, remounted his gun and killed the remaining enemy riflemen. Stripped of its infantry protection, the tank was forced to withdraw. By his superb courage and indomitable fighting spirit, Sgt. Neppel inflicted heavy casualties on the enemy and broke a determined counterattack.
    1944 - THOMAS, CHARLES L., Medal of Honor
Citation: For extraordinary heroism in action on 14 December 1944, near Climbach, France. While riding in the lead vehicles of a task force organized to storm and capture the village of Climbach, France, then First Lieutenant Thomas's armored scout car was subjected to intense enemy artillery, self-propelled gun, and small arms fire. Although wounded by the initial burst of hostile fire, Lieutenant Thomas signaled the remainder of the column to halt and, despite the severity of his wounds, assisted the crew of the wrecked car in dismounting. Upon leaving the scant protection which the vehicle afforded, Lieutenant Thomas was again subjected to a hail of enemy fire which inflicted multiple gunshot wounds in his chest, legs, and left arm. Despite the intense pain caused by these wounds, Lieutenant Thomas ordered and directed the dispersion and emplacement of two antitank guns which in a few moments were promptly and effectively returning the enemy fire. Realizing that he could no longer remain in command of the platoon, he signaled to the platoon commander to join him. Lieutenant Thomas then thoroughly oriented him on enemy gun dispositions and the general situation. Only after he was certain that his junior officer was in full control of the situation did he permit himself to be evacuated. First Lieutenant Thomas' outstanding heroism was an inspiration to his men and exemplifies the highest traditions of the Armed Forces.
    1946 – The United Nations voted to establish headquarters in NYC.
    1947 - Part-time auto racer and full-time promoter Bill France, Sr., tried to bring some order to the chaotic world of stock car racing by opening a 3-day meeting at the Streamline Hotel in Daytona Beach, Florida, among several warring factions. The result of the meeting was the creation of NASCAR, the National Association of Stock Car Automobile Racing, the body that has governed the sport ever since.
    1951 - Top Hits
“Sin (It's No)” - Eddy Howard
“Slowpoke” - Pee Wee King
“Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer” - Gene Autry
“Let Old Mother Nature Have Her Way” - Carl Smith
    1953 - 19-year old Sandy Koufax signed with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Until that date, Koufax reportedly had played no more than 20 games of baseball and was primarily a basketball player who walked on to the University of Cincinnati team as a freshman. During the next 12 seasons, he posted a 167-87 record, 2.76 ERA and 2,396 strikeouts, threw four no-hitters including a perfect game, 7-time All-Star, 4-time World Series champ, 2-time World Series MVP, one-time NL MVP, 3-time Cy Young Award winner and became the youngest inductee into the Baseball hall of Fame at age 30.
    1953 - "I Want a Hippopotamus for Christmas", recorded earlier in the year by 10 year old Gayla Peevey, inspired an Oklahoma City fund-raising effort to buy a hippopotamus for the Oklahoma City Zoo. Oklahomans raised $4,000 for the cause, with much of the money coming from children. The zoo bought a 3-year-old hippo named Matilda who had eight offspring and died in 1998.
    1954 - Birthday of Alan Kulwicki, auto racer, born at Greenfield, WI. Kulwicki was NASCAR's Rookie of the Year in 1987 and Winston Cup champion in 1992. He won 24 NASCAR races in 207 starts. He died in a plane crash, April 1, 1993. Maybe John Madden is right to travel by bus. Kulwicki was safer on the race track than in the air.
    1959 - Guy Mitchell achieves his second Billboard number one hit with "Heartaches by the Number".
    1959 - Top Hits
“Heartaches by the Number” - Guy Mitchell
“Mr. Blue” - The Fleetwoods
“In the Mood” - Ernie Field's Orch.
“The Same Old Me” - Ray Price
    1961 - In a public exchange of letters with South Vietnamese President Ngo Dinh Diem, President John F. Kennedy formally announces that the United States will increase aid to South Vietnam, which would include the expansion of the U.S. troop commitment. Shortly after President Kennedy was assassinated, there were more than 16,000 U.S. advisers in South Vietnam. Kennedy's successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, rapidly escalated the war, which resulted in the commitment of U.S. ground forces and eventually more than 500,000 American troops in Vietnam.
    1962 – NASA’s Mariner 2 became the first spacecraft to fly by Venus.
    1963 - The Beatles' "I Want to Hold Your Hand" begins a five week stretch at number one on the UK record charts, replacing their own "She Loves You".
    1963 - The dam containing the Baldwin Hills Reservoir burst, killing five people and damaging hundreds of homes in LA.
    1964 - The Supreme Court ruled that Congress can use the Constitution’s Commerce Clause to fight discrimination.  (Heart of Atlanta Motel v. United States).
    1967 - Top Hits
“Daydream Believer” - The Monkees
“The Rain, the Park and Other Things” - The Cowsills
“I Say a Little Prayer” - Dionne Warwick
“It's the Little Things” - Sonny James
    1968 - Tommy James and the Shondells' "Crimson and Clover" is released.
    1968 - Iron Butterfly's epic "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" goes gold.
    1969 - San Diego wide receiver Lance Alworth sets a professional record with a pass reception in his 96th straight game.
    1970 - While golfing great Lee Trevino won only two tournaments during the year; he still became the top golf money-winner with his yearly earnings averaging $157,037.
    1970 - The National Press Club finally voted to admit women members.
    1972 – Astronaut Gene Cernan became the last person to walk on the moon, after he and Harrison Schmitt completed the third and final extra-vehicular activity (EVA) of the Apollo 17 mission.
    1974 - David Crosby and Graham Nash perform together in San Francisco at a benefit concert for the United Farm Workers and Project Jonah, a whale protection media project.
    1975 - Top Hits
“Fly, Robin, Fly” - Silver Convention
“Let's Do It Again” - The Staple Singers
“Saturday Night” - Bay City Rollers
“Love Put a Song in My Heart” - Johnny Rodriguez
    1977 - "Saturday Night Fever" premieres in New York City. It not only makes a star out of John Travolta, but spreads the disco craze throughout the country. The soundtrack is full of recent and soon-to-be dance hits by the Bee Gees, the Trammps, Kool and the Gang, MFSB, K.C. and the Sunshine Band and Yvonne Elliman. It will be one of the biggest-selling albums of all time.
    1980 - At Yoko Ono's request, at 2 p.m. Eastern Standard Time, John Lennon fans around the world mourn him with ten minutes of silent prayer. In New York over 100,000 people converge in Central Park in tribute and in Liverpool, a crowd of 30,000 gatherers outside of St. George's Hall on Lime Street.
    1982 - Marcel Dionne of the Los Angeles Kings scored the 500th goal of his career in a 7-2 loss to the Washington Capitals. Dionne played from 1971-72 through 1988-89 and finished his career with 731 goals.
    1983 - Top Hits
“Say Say Say” - Paul McCartney and Michael Jackson
“Say It Isn't So” - Daryl Hall-John Oates
“Union of the Snake” - Duran Duran
“Tell Me a Lie” - Janie Fricke
    1985 - UCLA defeated American University, 1-0, with a goal in the eight overtime period to win the NCAAA soccer championship in the longest game in US college soccer history.
    1985 - The United States' high school football coach with the most wins called it quits. After 43 years, Gordon Wood, 71, of Brownwood High School in Central Texas, retired. Wood had a career record of 405 wins, 88 losses and 12 ties. The football stadium at Brownwood High was rebuilt and named after him.
    1985 - Wilma Mankiller takes the oath of office as the principal chief of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma, the first time a woman has headed a major Native American tribe. ERRATA: Several people have written regarding Wilma Mankiller to say that her title was the first time since the European annexation of Amerindian lands and rights that a woman was recognized by the white people as a tribal chief. Evidently women “were” tribal leaders before the coming of the Europe
    1986 - Elton John records a live version of "Candle in the Wind" in Australia with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. The song is released as a single and hits #6 on the chart.
    1986 - The experimental aircraft Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, took off from Edwards Air Force Base in California on the first non-stop, non-refueled flight around the world. On December 14, 1986, Yeager and Rutan began their history-making flight in the Voyager, flying the maximum circumference of the globe in nine days, three minutes and forty-four seconds.
    1987 - A powerful storm spread heavy snow from the Southern High Plains to the Middle Mississippi Valley, and produced severe thunderstorms in the Lower Mississippi Valley. During the evening a tornado hit West Memphis, TN killing six persons and injuring two hundred others. The tornado left 1500 persons homeless, and left all of the residents of Crittendon County without electricity. Kansas City, MO was blanketed with 10.8 inches of snow, a 24 hour record for December, and snowfall totals in the Oklahoma panhandle ranged up to 14 inches. Strong winds, gusting to 63 mph at Austin, TX, ushered arctic cold into the Great Plains, and caused considerable blowing and drifting of snow.
    1988 - The Miami Heat defeated the Los Angeles Clippers in Los Angeles to earn the first victory in the franchise's history. The Heat, in their first season, had gone 17 games without a win, an NBA record for most consecutive defeats at the start of a season.
    1989 - High winds and heavy snow prevailed from Montana to Colorado. Snowfall totals in Wyoming ranged up to 20 inches at Burgess Junction, leaving up to 48 inches on the ground in the northeast sections of the state. Wind gusts in Colorado reached 87 mph south of the town of Rollinsville. Strong northwesterly winds continued to produce heavy snow squalls in the Great Lakes Region. Totals in northeastern Lower Michigan ranged up to 29 inches at Hubbard Lake, with 28 inches reported at Posen. Two day totals in northeastern Wisconsin ranged up to thirty inches.
    1991 - Top Hits
“Black or White” - Michael Jackson
“It's So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” - Boyz II Men
“All 4 Love” - Color Me Badd
“For My Broken Heart” - Reba McEntire
    1997 - Phoenix Coyote Mike Gartner is 5th NHL player to score 700 goals
http://www.neutralzonehockey.com/gartner.htm
   1997 - Elton John's tribute to Princess Diana, "Candle in the Wind 1997", was at its ninth week at number 1 on the Billboard chart. The record would eventually pass Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" to become the largest selling single of all time.
    1999 - Top Hits
“Smooth” - Santana Featuring Rob Thomas
“Back At One” - Brian McKnight
“I Wanna Love You Forever” - Jessica Simpson
“I Knew I Loved You” - Savage Garden
    2002 - A powerful Pacific storm system plowed into the western United States during the 13th-16th, producing high winds, heavy rains, significant mountain snowfall and causing 9 deaths (Associated Press). Rainfall amounts exceeding 10 inches occurred in parts of California, and wind gusts over 45 mph produced up to 1.9 million power outages during the period.
    2012 - Twenty-eight people, including the gunman, are killed in Sandy Hook (CT) Elementary School.  20-year-old Adam Lanza fatally shot 20 children and 6 adult staff members.  Prior to driving to the school, Lanza shot and killed his mother at their Newtown home.  As first responders arrived at the scene, Lanza committed suicide by a shot to the head.