Today is Wednesday, December 14, the 348th day of 2011. There are 17 days left in the year.

1825 ― Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins

1911 ― South Pole first reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen

1937 ― Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing

1950 ― U.N. General Assembly establishes High Commissioner for Refugees (Nobel 1954)

1952 ― Uprising of captives in Pongam, South Korea, 82 die

1960 ― Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forms

1969 ― Jackson Five made their first appearance on ``Ed Sullivan Show"

1977 ― Egypt and Israel representatives gather in Cairo for 1st formal peace conference

1980 ― At 2 p.m. EST there is 10 minutes of silence in memory of John Lennon

1988 ― U.S. agrees to talk to Palestine Liberation Organization (first time in 13 years)