1992 Nannygate: Pres. Clinton's announces Zoë Baird as his choice for U.S. Attorney General  (who is in charge of INS). Later she withdrew her nomination after it was revealed she had hired illegal aliens and not paid their social security taxes.

1968 First men to orbit the moon Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and William Anders aboard the Apollo 8.

1942 First surface-to-surface guided missile is launched, by German engineer Wernher von Braun.

1928 The Voice of Firestone debuts on radio.

1906 First Long-Range Radio Transmission of Voice: Reginald Fessenden transmits from Brant Rock, Massachusetts to ships at sea.

1865 Ku Klux Klan is organized, in Pulaski, Tennessee.

1844 Mormons Brigham Young is elected president of the Mormon Church.

1822 The Night Before Christmas Clement Clarke Moore's famous Christmas poem is first recited.

1818 Silent Night, Holy Night The famous Christmas carol is written; it was performed for the first time later that night. Source: An Almanac of the Christian Church

1814 War of 1812 Treaty of Ghent is signed ending the war between the U.S. and Britain. This news did not arrive in time to prevent the Battle of New Orleans.

1922 Ava Gardner d. 1990 American actress, Hollywood's leading lady of the 1940s and '50s.

1905 Howard Robard Hughes, Jr d. 1976 American billionaire, world-class aviator, motion picture executive. His eccentricity is described in the book I Caught Flies for Howard Hughes and the film The Aviator (2004).

1898 Irvin Charles Mollison d. 1962 American judge. He was the first black U.S. Customs Court judge (1945).

1868 Emanuel Lasker d. 1941 German chess master, world chess champion (1894-1921).

1818 James Prescott Joule d. 1889 English physicist, for whom Joule's Law is named.

1818 Eliza Cook d. 1889 English author. Her poem The Old Armchair made her a household word in England and America.

1809 Kit Carson d. 1868 (Christopher Carson), American frontiersman.

1745 Benjamin Rush d. 1813 American physician, signer of the Declaration of Independence. He co-founded the first the first U.S. anti-slavery society (1774), and established the first U.S. free medical dispensary (1786).

1491 Saint Ignatius of Loyola d. 1556 Spanish ecclesiastic, in 1535 he founded the Society of Jesus (Jesuit order).

1994 Rossano Brazzi b. 1916 Italian actor, specializing in Continental lover roles. Film: The Barefoot Contessa (1954), Summertime (1955), and South Pacific (1958). TV: The Survivors (Riakos).

1993 Norman Vincent Peale b. 1898 American minister, author, and founder of Guideposts magazine (1945). Writings: The Power of Positive Thinking (1952). Radio: The Art of Living. His life was portrayed in the movie One Man's Way (1964).

1992 Pierre Culliford b. 1928 Belgian cartoonist, creator of the Smurfs (1958).

1984 Peter Lawford b. 1923 British-born American actor. TV: The Thin Man (Nick Charles).

1957 Norma Talmadge b. 1897 American silent film actress. In 1927, she accidently stepped into wet cement at Grauman's Chinese Theater, starting a long tradition.

1873 Johns Hopkins b. 1795 American businessman, philanthropist, contributed money for the Johns Hopkins University and Johns Hopkins Hospital.

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