Today is Wednesday, Dec. 16, the 351st day of 2020. There are 15 days left in the year.
Today’s Highlight in History:
On Dec. 16, 2000, President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to become the first African-American secretary of state.
On this date:
In 1773, the Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest tea taxes.
In 1905, the entertainment trade publication Variety came out with its first weekly issue.
In 1944, the World War II Battle of the Bulge began as German forces launched a surprise attack against Allied forces through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium and Luxembourg (the Allies were eventually able to turn the Germans back).
In 1950, President Harry S. Truman proclaimed a national state of emergency in order to fight “world conquest by Communist imperialism.”
In 1960, 134 people were killed when a United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City.