2015
A landmark climate change agreement was reached at a UN conference in Paris as 195 countries agreed to limit greenhouse gas emissions; the accord effectively replaced the Kyoto Protocol.
2009
With the victory of Democratic politician Annise Parker, Houston became the then largest city in the United States to elect an openly gay mayor.
1999
American author Joseph Heller—the author of Catch-22 (1961), one of the most significant works of protest literature to appear after World War II—died at age 76.
1977
The music drama Saturday Night Fever, starring John Travolta, had its world premiere; the film was a huge hit, as was the accompanying disco sound track by the Bee Gees.
1964
Kenya became a republic on the first anniversary of its independence from Britain.
1936
Chinese Nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shek was seized by one of his own generals, Chang Hsüeh-liang, beginning the Xi’an Incident.
1923
American game show host Bob Barker, who was best known for hosting The Price Is Right (1972–2007), was born.
1915
American popular singer Frank Sinatra, who also achieved wide success as a film actor, was born in Hoboken, New Jersey.
1846
New Granada (now Colombia and Panama) signed the Bidlack Treaty with the United States, granting U.S. right-of-way across the Isthmus of Panama in exchange for a guarantee of neutrality for the isthmus and the sovereignty of New Granada.
1821
Novelist Gustave Flaubert—a leading figure in the realist school of French literature, best known for his masterpiece, Madame Bovary—was born.
Nurturing Creativity – Keekli Charitable Trust, Shimla
