Today is Tuesday, December 14, the 348th day of 2010. 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
1825 ― Decembrist uprising in Russia against Tsar Nicholas I begins
1911 ― South Pole first reached, by Norwegian Roald Amundsen
1927 ― Iraq gains independence from Britain, but British troops remain
1946 ― U.N. General Assembly votes to establish headquarters in New York City
1960 ― Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) forms
1967 ― DNA created in a test tube
1972 ― Willy Brandt re-elected West German chancellor
1977 ― Egypt and Israel representatives gather in Cairo for 1st formal peace conference
1988 ― U.S. agrees to talk to Palestine Liberation Organization (first time in 13 years)