Today is Monday, December 14, the 348th day of 2009. There are 17 days left in the year.
1656 _ Artificial pearls first manufactured by M. Jacquin in Paris made of gypsum pellets covered with fish scales
1798 _ David Wilkinson of Rhode Island patents a nut and bolt machine
1825 _ Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins
1901 _ First table tennis tournament is held at the London Royal Aquarium
1911 _ South Pole first reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen
1937 _ Japanese troops conquer/plunder Nanjing
1952 _ Uprising of captives in Pongam, South Korea _ 82 die
1960 _ Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forms
1972 _ Willy Brandt re-elected West German chancellor
1988 _ U.S. agrees to talk to Palestine Liberation Organization (first time in 13 years)