Shimla, Dec.5 Keekli Bureau
2017
The International Olympic Committee banned Russia from the 2018 Winter Games in P’yŏngch’ang, South Korea, after uncovering a Russian state-sponsored doping program.
2013
South African nationalist and statesman Nelson Mandela, who helped end the country’s apartheid system of racial segregation and ushered in a peaceful transition to majority rule, died at age 95.
2012
Brazilian architect Oscar Niemeyer—an early exponent of modern architecture in Latin America, especially known for the curvaceous glass-and-white-concrete buildings that he designed for Brasília—died in Rio de Janeiro.
1955
The American Federation of Labor–Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) became a united body of autonomous labour unions, with George Meany as its first president.
1947
American boxer Joe Louis defended his heavyweight title against challenger Jersey Joe Walcott in New York City.
1933
Utah became the 36th U.S. state to ratify the Twenty-first Amendment, repealing Prohibition.
1890
Director Fritz Lang—whose films, dealing with fate and man’s inevitable working out of his destiny, are considered masterpieces of visual composition—was born in Vienna.
1872
The American brigantine Mary Celeste was found abandoned some 400 nautical miles (740 km) from the Azores, Portugal; the fate of the 10 people aboard remains a mystery.
1848
In his annual message to Congress, U.S. President James K. Polk confirmed the discovery of gold in California, helping to spark the Gold Rush, which brought an estimated 300,000 people to the territory.
1839
U.S. cavalry officer George Armstrong Custer, whose achievements during the Civil War were later overshadowed by the disastrous outcome of the Battle of the Little Bighorn, was born.
1791
Austrian composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart died in Vienna at age 35.
1784
Phillis Wheatley, the first African American woman poet of note in the United States, died in Boston.
1782
Martin Van Buren, who served as the eighth president of the United States (1837–41) and was one of the founders of the Democratic Party, was born.
1757
In his greatest victory, Prussian King Frederick II (the Great) defeated the Austrians at Leuthen during the Seven Years’ War.
