Today in History - December 19th

1732 - On this day in history, Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."
1776 - Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay.
1777 - Today in history, General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, PA, to camp for the winter.
1842 - Hawaii's independence was recognized by the United States.
1843 - On this day in history, Charles Dickens' "A Christmas Carol" was first published in England.
1903 - The Williamsburg Bridge opened in New York City. It opened as the largest suspension bridge on Earth and remained the largest until 1924.
1918 - Today in history, Robert Ripley began his "Believe It or Not" column in "The New York Globe".

1989 - US troops invaded Panama to overthrow the regime of General Noriega.
1996 - On this day in history, the school board of Oakland, California, voted to recognize Black English, also known as "ebonics." The board later reversed its stance.
1998 - President Bill Clinton was impeached on two charges of perjury and obstruction of justice by the House of Representatives.
2003 - Today in history, images for the new design for the Freedom Tower at the World Trade Center site were released. The building sloped into a spire that reached 1,776 feet.
2008 - President George W. Bush signed a $17.4 billion rescue package of loans for ailing auto makers General Motors and Chrysler.

SCIENCE, INVENTIONS, PATENTS - Today in History, December 19th

1979 - ESPN televised its first NHL game. The teams were the Washington Capitals and the Hartford Whales.
1985 - On this day in history, ABC Sports announced that it was severing ties with Howard Cosell and released him from all TV commitments.

1960 - Frank Sinatra recorded his first session with his very own record company, Reprise Records. Frank did "Ring-A-Ding-Ding" and "Let's Fall in Love."
1974 - Today in history, Ron Woods joined the Rolling Stones.
2001 - Dick Clark filed a $10 million lawsuit against Recording Academy President Michael Greene. The charge was that Greene would keep artists who appeared first on Clark's American Music Awards from performing on the Grammy Awards.