SATURDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2019

1287-Zuider Zee seawall collapses with loss of 50,000 lives

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

1901-First table tennis tournament held at the London Royal Aquarium

1911-South Pole first reached by Norwegian Roald Amundsen

1927-Iraq gains independence from Britain, but British troops remain

1929-Alexander Zaimis elected President of Greece

1939-Soviet Union attacks Finland; League of Nations drops Soviet Union

1946-Togo becomes a trusteeship territory of the UN

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

1977-Egypt, Israel representatives gather in Cairo for first formal peace conference

1978-China People's Republic performs nuclear test

1981-Israel annexes Golan Heights (seized from Syria in war of 1967)

1990-“Right to Die” case permits Nancy Cruzan to have her feeding tube removed, she dies 12 days later