December 17
Today in America's Present Past
1734 | Founder William Floyd was born.
1760 | Revolutionary War heroine Deborah Sampson was born.
1798 | Congress: The first impeachment trial against a US Senator began.
1807 | Poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier was born.
1821 | Poet and General Frederick West Lander was born.
1862 | Civil War: General Ulysses S. Grant issued orders barring Jews from serving.
1874 | Civil War hero William B. Cushing died.
1894 | Conductor Arthur Fiedler was born.
1900 | A New Ellis Island Immigration station completed.
1903 | The Wright Brothers successfully flew, with Orville at the controls, their Wright Flyer at Kill Devil Hills near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
1903 | Author Erskine Caldwell was born.
1908 | Chemist Willard Libby was born.
1925 | Colonel William “Billy” Mitchell was court-martialed for insubordination.
1929 | Columnist William Safire was born.
1937 | General Calvin Waller was born.
1937 | Author John Kennedy Toole was born.
1939 | Activist Charles V. Bush was born.
1945 | Commentator Chris Matthews was born.
1953 | Actor Bill Pullman was born.
1955 | SCOTUS: Justice Thurgood Marshall wed Cecilia Suyat.
1959 | Director Gregg Araki was born.
1964 | Film: “Goldfinger” debuted.
1975 | Pro Wrestler Nick Dinsmore was born.
1989 | TV: “The Simpsons” debuted.
2016 | Surgeon Henry Heimlich died.