This Day In History — Congress passes Embargo Act

December 22

1772
Construction of the first schoolhouse west of the Allegheny Mountains was started in Schoenbrunn, Ohio, by Moravian missionaries.

1807
The U.S. Congress passed the Embargo Act.

1864
During the Civil War, Union general William T. Sherman sent a message to President Lincoln saying, “I beg to present you as a Christmas gift the city of Savannah.”

1894
French army officer Capt. Alfred Dreyfus was convicted of treason in a court-martial.

1989
Romanian dictator Nicolae Ceausescu was overthrown.

2001
Hamid Karzai sworn in as president of Afghanistan.

2010
President Obama officially repealed the “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” military policy.

Birthdays

Lady Bird Johnson
1912–2007, Businessperson, Wife of Lyndon Johnson.

James Oglethorpe

founder of the American colony of Georgia (1696)

Thomas Wentworth Higginson

abolitionist (1823)

Giacomo Puccini

composer of operas (1858)

Connie Mack

baseball player and manager (1862)

Edwin Arlington Robinson

poet (1869)

Dame Peggy Ashcroft

actress (1907)

Diane Sawyer

television journalist (1945)

Ralph Fiennes

actor (1962)

Jordin Sparks

singer (1989)

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