Today in History

Hamas and Israel begin a cease-fire following eight days of violence and 150 deaths.

Angela Merkel becomes the first woman ever to be Chancellor of Germany; the former research scientist had previously been the first secretary-general of the Christian Democratic Union.

The Orange Revolution, protesting a primary election believed to have been rigged, begins in the Ukraine. On Dec 26 Ukraine’s Supreme Court orders a revote..

The first feature-length film created entirely with computer generated imagery – Toy Story – premiers.

Britain’s Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher confirms the end of her premiership by withdrawing from the leadership election of the Conservative Party.

Lebanese President Rene Moawad killed when a bomb explodes near his motorcade in West Beirut.

First prototype of B-2 Spirit strategic stealth bomber unveiled for public viewing.

Justice Department finds memo in Lt. Col. Oliver North’s office on the transfer of $12 million to Contras of Nicaragua from Iranian arms sale.

Scarlett Johansson, actress, model (North, Lost in Translation).

President Ronald Reagan calls for defense-pact deployment of the MX missile.

Eighteen Communist Party secretaries in 49 provinces are ousted from Poland.

Great Britain announces a plan for moderate Protestants and Catholics to share power in Northern Ireland.

Almost 40,000 people pay tribute to John F. Kennedy at Arlington Cemetery on the first anniversary of his death.

Lee Harvey Oswald assassinates President John F. Kennedy in Dallas, Texas. Lyndon B. Johnson becomes president.

Mariel Hemingway, actress (Lipstick, Manhattan).

Jamie Lee Curtis, actress (Halloween, Trading Places, A Fish Called Wanda), author (Today I Feel Silly, and Other Moods That Make My Day).

Steven Van Zandt, singer, songwriter, musician, producer (E Street Band, Steel Mill, Southside Johnny & The Ashbury Jukes) and actor (The Sopranos).

David Pietrusza, historian, author (1920, 1960, 1948).

Ho Chi Minh’s Democratic Republic of Vietnam requests admittance to the UN.

Billie Jean King, U.S. tennis player and women’s rights pioneer.

Soviet troops complete the encirclement of the German Sixth Army at Stalingrad.

1,200 soldiers are killed in a battle between the Japanese and Mongolians in China.

Pan Am inaugurates the first transpacific airmail service from San Francisco to Manila.

British King George is confined to bed with a congested lung; the queen is to take over duties.

Gunther Schuller, composer and French Horn player.

Geraldine Page, actress well known for roles in Tennessee Williams’ plays.

A Labor conference committee in the United States urges an eight-hour workday and a 48-hour week.

The Anglo-Indian army, led by British General Sir Charles Townshend, attacks a larger Turkish force under General Nur-ud-Din at Ctesiphon, Iraq, but is repulsed.

Benjamin Britten, English composer, pianist and conductor.

A fire causes considerable damage to the unfinished Williamsburg bridge in New York.

Hoagy Carmichael, American composer, pianist and singer.

Charles de Gaulle, French general in exile during World War II and president of France from 1958 to 1969.

In New York, the Astor Place Opera House, the city’s first operatic theater, is opened.

George Eliot (Mary Ann Evans), English novelist (Silas Marner, Middlemarch).

The Austrian army defeats the Prussians at Breslau in the Seven Years War.

New laws are passed in Spain giving Indians in America protection against enslavement.

After promising to go to the aid of the Fifth Crusade within nine months, Frederick II is crowned emperor by Pope Honorius III.