Today in History 12-11-17

Today in History

Today is Monday, Dec. 11, the 345th day of 2017. There are 20 days left in the year.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 11, 1917, British Gen. Edmund Allenby entered Jerusalem two days after his forces expelled the Ottoman Turks; in a show of respect, Allenby and his officers made their way into the Holy City on foot.

On this date:

In 1602, forces sent by the Duke of Savoy attempted to seize the walled city-state of Geneva by scaling the wall with ladders; however, the Genevans were able to repel the invaders.

In 1792, France's King Louis XVI went before the Convention to face charges of treason. (Louis was convicted, and executed the following month.)

In 1816, Indiana became the 19th state.

In 1936, Britain's King Edward VIII abdicated the throne so he could marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson; his brother, Prince Albert, became King George VI.

In 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States; the U.S. responded in kind.

In 1946, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

In 1957, the movie "Peyton Place," based on the novel by Grace Metalious, had its world premiere in Camden, Maine, where most of it was filmed.

In 1961, a U.S. aircraft carrier carrying Army helicopters arrived in Saigon -- the first direct American military support for South Vietnam's battle against Communist guerrillas.

In 1972, Apollo 17's lunar module landed on the moon with astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt aboard; during three extravehicular activities (EVAs), they became the last two men to date to step onto the lunar surface.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed legislation creating a $1.6 billion environmental "superfund" to pay for cleaning up chemical spills and toxic waste dumps. "Magnum P.I.," starring Tom Selleck, premiered on CBS.

In 1997, more than 150 countries agreed at a global warming conference in Kyoto, Japan, to control the Earth's greenhouse gases.

In 2008, financier Bernie Madoff was arrested, accused of running a multibillion-dollar Ponzi scheme. (Madoff is serving a 150-year federal prison sentence.)

Ten years ago: Two car bombs in Algeria, including one targeting the U.N. refugee agency's offices, killed 37 people, 17 of them U.N. employees; Al-Qaida's self-styled North African branch claimed responsibility. The Senate Intelligence Committee took closed-door testimony from CIA Director Michael Hayden on how videotapes of terror suspect interrogations were made, then destroyed.

Five years ago: The Michigan Legislature gave final approval to a pair of right-to-work bills that were quickly signed by Republican Gov. Rick Snyder amid angry protests by union members and their supporters. A gunman opened fire in the Clackamas Town Center, a shopping mall in suburban Portland, Oregon, killing two people and wounding another before killing himself. Former NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue overturned the suspensions of four New Orleans Saints players in the league's bounty investigation but said three of the players had engaged in conduct detrimental to the league.

One year ago: President-elect Donald Trump called a recent CIA assessment of Russian hacking in the U.S. election "ridiculous" and said he wasn't interested in getting daily intelligence briefings, telling "Fox News Sunday": "I get it when I need it."

Today's Birthdays: Actor Jean-Louis Trintignant is 87. Actress Rita Moreno is 86. Pop singer David Gates (Bread) is 77. Actress Donna Mills is 77. Former Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., is 76. Former U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry is 74. Singer Brenda Lee is 73. Actress Lynda Day George is 73. Music producer Tony Brown is 71. Actress Teri Garr is 70. Movie director Susan Seidelman is 65. Actress Bess Armstrong is 64. Singer Jermaine Jackson is 63. Rock musician Mike Mesaros (The Smithereens) is 60. Rock musician Nikki Sixx (Motley Crue) is 59. Rock musician Darryl Jones (The Rolling Stones) is 56. Actor Ben Browder is 55. Singer-musician Justin Currie (Del Amitri) is 53. Rock musician David Schools (Hard Working Americans, Gov't Mule, Widespread Panic) is 53. Actor Gary Dourdan is 51. Actress-comedian Mo'Nique is 50. Actor Max Martini is 48. Rapper-actor Mos Def is 44. Actor Rider Strong is 38. Actress Xosha Roquemore is 33. Actress Karla Souza is 31. Actress Hailee Steinfeld is 21.

Thought for Today: "The fear of life is the favorite disease of the twentieth century." -- William Lyon Phelps, American educator and journalist (1865-1943).