December 12
1787
Pennsylvania became the second state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1870
Joseph Rainey took his seat as the first African American in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1913
The Mona Lisa was recovered in Florence after having been stolen two years earlier (August 1911) from the Louvre.
1963
Kenya gained its independence from Britain.
1998
The House Judiciary Committee approved a fourth and final article of impeachment against President Clinton.
2000
The U.S. Supreme Court stopped the presidential election recount in Florida.
2001
Yasir Arafat closed the offices of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
Birthdays
Frank Sinatra
1915–1998, American singer, actor.
John Jay
statesman (1745)
William Lloyd Garrison
abolitionist (1805)
Gustave Flaubert
novelist (1821)
Edvard Munch
painter (1863)
Edward G. Robinson
actor (1893)
Patrick O’Brian
novelist (1914)
Bob Barker
TV personality (1923)
Dionne Warwick
singer (1941)
Tracy Austin
tennis player (1962)
Jennifer Connelly
actor (1970)