Today in History

Today is Tuesday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2023. There are 12 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 19, 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice. (Clinton was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.)

On this date:

In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

In 1946, war broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

In 1950, Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

In 1960, fire broke out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard; 50 civilian workers were killed.

In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

In 2001, the fires that had burned beneath the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City for the previous three months were declared extinguished except for a few scattered hot spots.

In 2003, design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper — a 1,776-foot glass tower — at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.

In 2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered an emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.

In 2011, North Korea announced the death two days earlier of leader Kim Jong Il; North Koreans marched by the thousands to mourn their “Dear Leader” while state media proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, a “Great Successor.”

In 2016, a truck rammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by Islamic State. (The suspected attacker was killed in a police shootout four days later.)

In 2022, the House Jan. 6 committee urged the Justice Department to bring criminal charges against former President Donald Trump for the violent 2021 Capitol insurrection, calling for accountability for the former president and “a time of reflection and reckoning.”

Today’s Birthdays: Actor Elaine Joyce is 80. Actor Tim Reid is 79. Musician John McEuen is 78. Singer Janie Fricke is 76. Jazz musician Lenny White is 74. Actor Mike Lookinland is 63. Actor Scott Cohen is 62. Actor Jennifer Beals is 60. Actor Robert MacNaughton is 57. Magician Criss Angel is 56. Rock musician Klaus Eichstadt (Ugly Kid Joe) is 56. Actor Ken Marino is 55. Actor Elvis Nolasco is 55. Actor Kristy Swanson is 54. Model Tyson Beckford is 53. Actor Amy Locane is 52. Pro Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is 51. Actor Rosa Blasi is 51. Actor Alyssa Milano is 51. Actor Tara Summers is 44. Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (JIH’-lihn-hahl) is 43. Actor Marla Sokoloff is 43. Rapper Lady Sovereign is 38. Journalist Ronan Farrow is 36. Actor Nik Dodani is 30.