Today in History

Today in History

Today is Monday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2015. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives at 11:48 p.m. Eastern time.

Today's Highlight in History:

On Dec. 21, 1945, U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton, 60, died in Heidelberg, Germany, 12 days after being seriously injured in a car accident.

On this date:

In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Massachusetts.

In 1864, during the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their "March to the Sea" as they captured Savannah, Georgia.

In 1879, the Henrik Ibsen play "A Doll's House" premiered at the Royal Theater in Copenhagen.

In 1914, the first feature-length silent film comedy, Mack Sennett's "Tillie's Punctured Romance," starring Marie Dressler, Mabel Normand and Charlie Chaplin, premiered. The U.S. government began requiring passport applicants to provide photographs of themselves.

In 1937, Walt Disney's first animated feature, "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs," had its world premiere in Los Angeles.

In 1940, author F. Scott Fitzgerald died in Hollywood, California, at age 44.

In 1958, Charles de Gaulle was elected to a seven-year term as the first president of the Fifth Republic of France.

In 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.

In 1971, the U.N. Security Council chose Kurt Waldheim to succeed U Thant as Secretary-General.

In 1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island, off Massachusetts, almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.

In 1988, 270 people were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pam Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, sending wreckage crashing to the ground.

In 1995, the city of Bethlehem passed from Israeli to Palestinian control.

Ten years ago: The Senate rejected opening the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil drilling. The Senate approved a six-month extension of the USA Patriot Act to keep the anti-terror law from expiring on Dec. 31, 2005.

Five years ago: The Census Bureau announced that the nation's population on April 1, 2010, was 308,745,538, up from 281.4 million a decade earlier. A divided Federal Communications Commission approved, 3-2, new rules known as "net neutrality" meant to prohibit broadband companies from interfering with Internet traffic flowing to their customers. The No. 1-ranked Connecticut women's basketball team topped the 88-game winning streak by John Wooden's UCLA men's team from 1971-74, beating No. 22 Florida State 93-62. Chip Kelly, in just his second season leading Oregon, was voted AP Coach of the Year.

One year ago: Jordan Axani, a 28-year-old businessman from Toronto, and a woman he'd never met before, Elizabeth Quinn Gallagher, a 23-year-old student from Nova Scotia, set out on a round-the-world trip. (Axani had advertised on social media for a travel companion after breaking up with his girlfriend, also named Elizabeth Gallagher; the companion was required to be a Canadian named Elizabeth Gallagher to take advantage of the non-refundable, non-exchangeable airline tickets.) Actress Billie Whitelaw, 82, died in London.

Today's Birthdays: Country singer Freddie Hart is 89. Talk show host Phil Donahue is 80. Movie director John Avildsen is 80. Actress Jane Fonda is 78. Actor Larry Bryggman is 77. Singer Carla Thomas is 73. Musician Albert Lee is 72. Conductor Michael Tilson Thomas is 71. Actor Josh Mostel is 69. Actor Samuel L. Jackson is 67. Movie producer Jeffrey Katzenberg is 65. Singer Betty Wright is 62. International Tennis Hall-of-Famer Chris Evert is 61. Actress Jane Kaczmarek is 60. Country singer Lee Roy Parnell is 59. Entertainer Jim Rose is 59. Former child actress Lisa Gerritsen is 58. Actor-comedian Ray Romano is 58. Country singer Christy Forester (The Forester Sisters) is 53. Rock musician Murph (The Lemonheads; Dinosaur Jr.) is 51. Actor-comedian Andy Dick is 50. Rock musician Gabrielle Glaser is 50. Actress Michelle Hurd is 49. Actor Kiefer Sutherland is 49. Actress Karri Turner is 49. Actress Khrystyne Haje is 47. Country singer Brad Warren (The Warren Brothers) is 47. Actress Julie Delpy is 46. Country singer-musician Rhean (rehn) Boyer (Carolina Rain) is 45. Contemporary Christian singer Natalie Grant is 44. Actor Glenn Fitzgerald is 44. Singer-musician Brett Scallions is 44. World Golf Hall of Famer Karri Webb is 41. Rock singer Lukas Rossi (Rock Star Supernova) is 39. Actress Rutina Wesley (TV: "True Blood") is 37. Rock musician Anna Bulbrook (Airborne Toxic Event) is 33. Country singer Luke Stricklin is 33. Actor Steven Yeun is 32. Actress Kaitlyn Dever is 19.

Thought for Today: "It is not necessary to understand things in order to argue about them." -- Pierre Augustin Caron de Beaumarchais, French author and dramatist (1732-1799).

Copyright 2015, The Associated Press. All rights reserved.