Opinion - The Korea Times

MONDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2011

Today is Monday, December 19, the 353rd day of 2011. There are 12 days left in the year. 1788 ― Chinese troops occupy capital Thang Long Vietnam 1843 ― Charles Dickens publishes ``A Christmas Carol" in England 1941 ― Hitler takes complete command of German Army 1950 ― Tibet's Dalai Lama flees Chinese invasion 1965 ― French President De Gaulle re-elected (Mitterrand gets 45 percent) 1984 ― China People's Republic Premier Zhao Ziyang and Margaret Thatcher sign Hong Kong Treaty 1988 ― NASA unveils plans for lunar colony and manned missions to Mars 1989 ― Larry Bird (Celtics) begins NBA free throw streak of 71 games 1991 ― Boris Yeltsin takes control of Kremlin 1995 ― Queen Elizabeth asks Prince Charles and Diana to divorce

Dec 18, 2011

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2011

Today is Saturday, December 17, the 351st day of 2011. There are 14 days left in the year. 1538 ― Pope Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII 1777 ― France recognizes independence of English colonies in America 1900 ― First prize of 100,000 francs offered for communications with extraterrestrials. Martians excluded; considered too easy 1903 ― At 10:35 a.m. first sustained motorized aircraft flight (Orville Wright) 1914 ― Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate 1942 ― Allies in London sentence German war criminals 1944 ― US Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast; Japanese-Americans are released from detention camps 1962 ― Beatles’ first British TV appearance (People & Places) 1963 ― Choi Doo-sun forms government in South Korea 1965 ― Largest newspaper ― Sunday New York Times at 946 pages

Dec 16, 2011

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2011

Today is Friday, December 16, the 350th day of 2011. There are 15 days left in the year. 1631 ― Mt. Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys six villages and kills 4,000 1689 ― English Parliament adopts Bill of Rights after Glorious Revolution 1773 ― Big tea party in Boston harbor; Indians welcome (Boston Tea Party) 1893 ― Anton Dvorak's ``New World Symphony" premieres 1913 ― Charlie Chaplin began his film career at Keystone for $150 a week 1915 ― Albert Einstein publishes his ``General Theory of Relativity" 1966 ― Jimi Hendrix releases its first single, ``Hey Joe", in the U.K. 1978 ― Ronald Reagan denounces President Jimmy Carter's recognition of China People's Republic 1987 ― Roh Tae-woo wins Presidential election in South Korea 1991 ― U.N. reverses ruling that Zionism is racism by 111-25 (13 abstain) vote

Dec 15, 2011

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2011

Today is Thursday, December 15, the 349th day of 2011. There are 16 days left in the year. 1593 ― State of Holland grants patent on windmill with crankshaft 1612 ― Simon Marius is first to observe Andromeda galaxy through a telescope 1794 ― Revolutionary Tribunal abolished in France 1877 ― Thomas Edison patents phonograph 1891 ― James Naismith invents basketball (Canada) 1926 ― Fascist national symbol elevated in Italy 1939 ― First commercial manufacture of nylon yarn, Seaford, Del. 1970 ― Soviet Venera 7 is first spacecraft to land on another planet (Venus) 1970 ― South Korean ferry Namyong-ho sinks in Strait of Korea, 308 killed 1995 ― Playboy goes back on sale after 36 year ban in Ireland

Dec 14, 2011

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2011

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)

Dec 13, 2011

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 13, 2011

Today is Tuesday, December 13, the 347th day of 2011. There are 18 days left in the year. 1642 ― New Zealand discovered by Dutch navigator Abel Tasman 1833 ― HMS Beagle/Charles Darwin arrives in Port Deseado, Patagonie 1843 ― ``A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens published, 6,000 copies sold 1895 ― First complete execution of Gustav Mahler’s 2nd Symphony 1916 ― Avalanche kills 10,000 Austrian and Italian troops in 24 hours in Tyrol 1944 ― Japanese kamikaze crashes into U.S. cruiser Nashville, kills 138 1950 ― James Dean begins his career with an appearance in a Pepsi commercial 1990 ― President De Klerk of South Africa meets with Nelson Mandela to talk of end of apartheid 1991 ― Both Koreas sign an accord calling for reconciliation 1993 ― Deadline for Israeli troop withdrawal from Gaza, they don't

Dec 12, 2011

MONDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2011

Today is Monday, December 12, the 346th day of 2011. There are 19 days left in the year. 1769 ― Pope Clement XIV proclaims a universal jubilee 1792 ― In Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven (21) receives first lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn 1878 ― Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing ``St. Louis Dispatch" 1901 ― Marconi receives first transatlantic radio signal, England to U.S. 1913 ― ``Mona Lisa", recovered after being stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911 1917 ― Worst train disaster (derailment near mouth of Mount Cenis tunnel) ever (Modane, France; 543 French troops killed) 1925 ― Arthur Heinman coins term ``motel," opens Motel Inn, San Luis Obispo 1963 ― Argentina asks for extradition of ex-President Peron 1988 ― PLO leader Yasser Arafat accepts Israel's right to exist 1997 ― Carlos the Jackal, ``professional revolutionary" goes on trial in Paris

Dec 11, 2011

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2011

Today is Saturday, December 10, the 344th day of 2011. There are 21 days left in the year. 1520 ― Martin Luther publicly burned papal edict demands he recant 1799 ― Metric system established in France 1898 ― Spanish-American War ends; U.S. acquires Philippines, Puerto Rico and Guam 1922 ― Nobel awarded to Fridtjof Nansen, Niels Bohr and Albert Einstein 1926 ― Second part of Hitler's ``Mein Kampf” published 1940 ― British anti-offensive in Libya (Sidi Barrani) 1948 ― U.N. General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1963 ― Six-year-old Donny Osmond's singing debut on the Andy Williams Show 1974 ― European Economic Community calls for a European Parliament 1994 ― European Campaign against Racism ``All different, All equal" begins

Dec 9, 2011

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2011

Today is Friday, December 9, the 343rd day of 2011. There are 22 days left in the year. 1878 ― Joseph Pulitzer buys St. Louis Dispatch for $2,500 1884 ― Levant Richardson patents ball-bearing skate 1905 ― French Assembly National votes for separation of church and state 1931 ― Spain becomes a republic 1941 ― China declares war on Japan, Germany and Italy 1941 ― Hitler orders U.S. ships torpedoed 1948 ― U.N. General Assembly unanimously approves Convention on Genocide 1989 ― ``Les Miserables" opens at Princess Theatre, Melbourne, Australia 1990 ― Lech Walesa wins presidential election in Poland 1992 ― Prince Charles and Princess Diana separation announced by British P.M. John Major

Dec 8, 2011

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011

Today is Thursday, December 8, the 342nd day of 2011. There are 23 days left in the year. 1813 ― Ludwig von Beethoven's 7th Symphony in A minor, premieres 1854 ― Pope Pius IX proclaims Immaculate Conception, makes Mary, free of Original Sin 1941 ― U.S. and Britain declare war on Japan, U.S. enters WWII 1949 ― Chinese Nationalist government moves from Chinese mainland to Formosa 1961 ― Wilt Chamberlain scores the second highest total in the NBA of 78 1962 ― 114-day newspaper strike begins in New York City 1966 ― U.S. and USSR sign treaty to prohibit nuclear weapons in outer space 1987 ― Occupied Palestinians start ``intifada" (uprising) against Israel 1991 ― Russia, Byelorussia and Ukraine form Commonwealth of Independent States 1992 ― Galileo's nearest approach to Jupiter (303 km)

Dec 7, 2011

Today in History