Today is Sunday, Dec. 5, the 339th day of 2010. There are 26 days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Dec. 5, 1933, national Prohibition came to an end as Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the Constitution, repealing the 18th Amendment.
On this date:
In 1776, the first scholastic fraternity in America, Phi Beta Kappa, was organized at the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Va.
In 1782, the eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, was born in Kinderhook, N.Y.; he was the first chief executive to be born after American independence.
In 1791, composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna, Austria, at age 35.
In 1792, George Washington was re-elected president; John Adams was re-elected vice president.
In 1831, former President John Quincy Adams took his seat as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives.
In 1848, President James K. Polk triggered the Gold Rush of '49 by confirming that gold had been discovered in California.
In 1932, German physicist Albert Einstein was granted a visa, making it possible for him to travel to the United States.
In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO under its first president, George Meany.
In 1979, feminist Sonia Johnson was formally excommunicated by the Mormon Church because of her outspoken support for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.
In 1994, Republicans chose Newt Gingrich to be the first GOP speaker of the House in four decades.
Ten years ago: Florida's highest court kept the presidential race on the legal fast track, agreeing to a speedy hearing of Democrat Al Gore's appeal of a ruling that in effect awarded Republican George W. Bush the state's 25 electoral votes.
Five years ago: The trial of Saddam Hussein resumed in Baghdad. French engineer Bernard Planche was kidnapped in Baghdad (he was later freed). Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice denied the United States engaged in torture or lesser forms of cruel treatment against terror suspects. ABC News named Elizabeth Vargas and Bob Woodruff co-anchors of "World News Tonight," replacing the late Peter Jennings. Edward L. Masry, the personal-injury lawyer portrayed by Albert Finney in the Oscar-winning movie "Erin Brockovich," died in Thousand Oaks, Calif. at age 73.
One year ago: A jury in Perugia, Italy convicted American student Amanda Knox and her former Italian boyfriend, Raffaele Sollecito, of murdering Knox's British roommate, Meredith Kercher, and sentenced them to long prison terms. (Knox, Sollecito and a third person convicted in a separate proceeding maintain their innocence.) A nightclub blaze in Perm, Russia, killed more than 150 people. Spain won the Davis Cup for the second straight year. William A. Wilson, 95, the first American ambassador to the Vatican, died in Carmel, Calif.
Today's Birthdays: Singer Little Richard is 78. Author Joan Didion is 76. Author Calvin Trillin is 75. Musician J.J. Cale is 72. Actor Jeroen Krabbe (yeh-ROHN' krah-BAY') is 66. Opera singer Jose Carreras is 64. Pop singer Jim Messina is 63. College Football Hall of Famer Jim Plunkett is 63. World Golf Hall of Famer Lanny Wadkins is 61. Actress Morgan Brittany is 59. Actor Brian Backer is 54. Pro Football Hall of Famer Art Monk is 53. Country singer Ty England is 47. Rock singer-musician John Rzeznik (REZ'-nihk) (The Goo Goo Dolls) is 45. Country singer Gary Allan is 43. Comedian-actress Margaret Cho is 42. Writer-director Morgan J. Freeman is 41. Actress Alex Kapp Horner is 41. Rock musician Regina Zernay (Cowboy Mouth) is 38. Actress Paula Patton is 35. Actress Amy Acker is 34. Actor Nick Stahl is 31. Rhythm-and-blues singer Keri Hilson is 28. Actor Frankie Muniz is 25. Actor Ross Bagley is 22.
Thought for Today: "I've never been poor, only broke. Being poor is a frame of mind. Being broke is only a temporary situation." — Mike Todd, American movie producer (1907-1958).
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