Shimla, Dec. 21
2012
The music video for South Korean singer Psy’s humorous pop song Gangnam Style became the first video on YouTube to garner one billion views.
1988
Pan Am flight 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, because of a terrorist bombing; in 2003 the government of Libya accepted responsibility for the explosion and in 2004 agreed to compensate the families of the victims.
1968
Apollo 8 was launched from Cape Kennedy (Cape Canaveral) and eventually completed 10 lunar orbits.
1958
Charles de Gaulle was elected president of the French Fifth Republic.
1945
U.S. General George Patton, known as “Old Blood-and-Guts” by his men, died following an automobile accident in Germany.
1937
The classic animated movie Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs premiered, establishing Walt Disney as one of the world’s most innovative and creative moviemakers.
1913
The New York World published the first modern crossword puzzle.
1911
American professional baseball catcher Josh Gibson—one of the game’s most prodigious home-run hitters, known as “the Black Babe Ruth”—was born.
1864
General William Tecumseh Sherman captured Savannah, Georgia, during his “March to the Sea” in the American Civil War.
1845
The Battle of Firoz Shah began between British and Sikh forces during the First Sikh War.
1804
Benjamin Disraeli, British statesman and novelist who was twice prime minister (1868, 1874–80), was born.
