Important Events

1776 Thomas Paine publishes his 1st “American Crisis” essay beginning”These are the times that try men’s souls” (date disputed)
1783 William Pitt the Younger becomes the youngest ever British Prime Minister at age 24
1932 British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas
1950 Chinese invasion of Tibet forces the Tibetan spiritual leader the Dalai Lama to flee
1958 1st radio broadcast from space, US President Dwight D. Eisenhower Christmas message “to all mankind, America’s wish for peace on Earth and goodwill to men everywhere”
1984 Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher sign the Sino-British Joint Declaration to transfer Hong Kong back to China in 1997

Today in Film & TV

1960 Frank Sinatra’s 1st session with Reprise Records (Ring-A-Ding-Ding)
1971 Stanley Kubrick’s X-rated film “A Clockwork Orange” based on the book by Anthony Burgess and starring Malcolm McDowell premieres

Today in Sport

2010 “Miracle at the New Meadowlands”, Philadelphia Eagles trail New York Giants by 21 points with eight minutes to play, before scoring 4 touchdowns in final 7 minutes, including dramatic walk-off punt returned for a touchdown by DeSean Jackson