Today is Thursday, December 6, the 339th day of 2007. There are 26 days left in the year.
963 _ Leo VIII elected pope
1240 _ Mongols under Batu Khan occupy and destroy Kiev
1768 _ The first edition of ``Encyclopedia Brittanica" published (Scotland)
1877 _ The Washington Post publishes its first edition
1904 _ Theodore Roosevelt confirms Monroe-doctrine (Roosevelt Corollary)
1912 _ China votes for universal human rights
1917 _ Finland declares independence from Russia
1921 _ The Anglo-Irish Treaty signed; Ireland receives dominion status; partition creates Northern Ireland
1929 _ Turkey introduces female suffrage
1933 _ A ban on James Joyce' ``Ulysses" in the U.S. lifted
1941 _ Dutch and British pilots see Japanese invasion fleet in Singapore
1956 _ Nelson Mandela and 156 others arrested for political activities in South Africa
1957 _ Indonesia begins nationalizing Dutch possessions
1966 _ Polio vaccination becomes obligatory in Belgium
1978 _ Spain adopts constitution
1982 _ Bomb attack on Londonderry, North Ireland disco, 17 killed
1990 _ Saddam announces release of all foreign hostages
1992 300,000 Hindus destroy Ayodha Mosque of Babri India, 4 die; riots follow