User:DonWilson

December 21: December solstice (09:20 UTC, 2024)

Crew of Apollo 8

1620 – The Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower landed at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts, to establish the Plymouth Colony.
1963 – An attempt by Greek Cypriot police to search certain Turkish Cypriot women in Nicosia escalated into island-wide violence, leading to 538 deaths and the displacement of nearly 27,000 people.
1968 – Apollo 8 launched from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a trajectory to the Moon; its crew (pictured) became the first humans to visit another celestial body.
1988 – A bomb on board Pan Am Flight 103 detonated over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people.
2018 – Operatives of the British Special Boat Service boarded the container ship Grande Tema in the Thames Estuary to detain four stowaways who had threatened the crew.

More anniversaries:

Gisèle Pelicot

In France, Dominique Pelicot and 49 other men are convicted of the mass rape of his ex-wife Gisèle Pelicot (portrait shown).
A 7.3-magnitude earthquake hits Vanuatu's capital, Port Vila, leaving at least 16 people dead.
Cyclone Chido leaves at least 123 people dead in southern Africa.
President of South Korea Yoon Suk Yeol is impeached following his declaration of martial law.

Bush speaking at the Islamic Center of Washington

... that George W. Bush quoted from the Quran in a speech he delivered (pictured) six days after the September 11 attacks?
... that Luo Shiwen led a secret cell of the Chinese Communist Party that negotiated better conditions for inmates at their concentration camp?
... that the Museiliha inscription hints at a border dispute between ancient Caesarea ad Libanum and Gigarta?
... that the fortune left by Zhu Baosan was believed to have been greatly diminished by his philanthropic activities?
... that less than a day after his dad died, Brett Favre played in "one of the greatest games of his fabulous career"?
... that a museum of tomato processing in Greece uses holographic mechanical fans to display images of workers?
... that Shelley Luther was elected to the Texas House of Representatives four years after being imprisoned?
... that the main cemetery of Mainz was established in 1803 and became the model for the Cimetière du Père-Lachaise in Paris?
... that David Green published more than 200 research papers before his 18th birthday?