Opinion - The Korea Times

MONDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2009

Today is Monday, December 21, the 355th day of 2009. There are 10 days left in the year. 1620 _ 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock 1898 _ Scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discover radium 1913 _ First crossword puzzle (with 32 clues) printed in New York World 1923 _ Nepal changes from British protectorate to independent nation 1925 _ Eisenstein's movie Potemkin premieres in Moscow 1937 _ First feature-length color and sound cartoon premieres (Disney's Snow White) 1958 _ Charles De Gaulle wins 7-year term as first president of 5th Republic of France 1962 _ U.S. and Cuba accord, releases bay of pigs captive 1968 _ David Crosby, Stephen Stills and Graham Nash premiere together in California 1991 _ Soviet Union formally dissolves 11 of 12 republics sign treaty forming Commonwealth of Independent States

Dec 20, 2009

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 19, 2009

Today is Saturday, December 19, the 353rd day of 2009. There are 12 days left in the year. 1686 _ Robinson Crusoe leaves his island after 28 years (as per Defoe) 1776 _ Thomas Paine published his first ``American Crisis" essay, in which he wrote, ``These are the times that try men's souls" 1843 _ Charles Dickens publishes ``A Christmas Carol" in England 1932 _ British Broadcasting Corp begins transmitting overseas 1941 _ Hitler takes complete command of German Army 1946 _ War breaks out in Indochina as Ho Chi Minh attacks French in Hanoi 1950 _ Tibet's Dalai Lama flees Chinese invasion 1958 _ First radio broadcast from space (recorded Christmas message by President Eisenhower: ``To all mankind, America's wish for Peace on Earth & Good Will to Men Everywhere") 1978 _ Indira Gandhi ambushed in India 1995 _ Queen Elizabeth asks Prince Charles and Diana to divorce

Dec 18, 2009

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 18, 2009

Today is Friday, December 18, the 352nd day of 2009. There are 13 days left in the year. 1621 _ English parliament accept unanimously, Protestation 1799 _ George Washington's body interred at Mount Vernon 1839 _ First celestial photograph (the moon) made in US, John Draper, New York, N.Y. 1917 _ Soviet regiment (Stalin/Lenin) declares Finland Independent 1960 _ General Meeting of United Nations condemns apartheid 1961 _ For second consecutive year, AP names Wilma Rudolph female athlete of year 1969 _ Britain abolishes death penalty 1970 _ Polish uprising fails 1971 _ First Candlelight Processional 1985 _ U.N. Security Council unanimously condemns ``acts of hostage-taking"

Dec 17, 2009

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2009

Today is Thursday, December 17, the 351st day of 2009. There are 14 days left in the year. 1538 _ Pope Paul III excommunicated England's King Henry VIII 1718 _ England declares war on Spain 1777 _ France recognizes independence of English colonies in America 1914 _ Great Britain declares Egypt a protectorate 1920 _ Japan receives League of Nations mandate over Pacific islands 1923 _ Greek king George II overthrown by army/republic 1944 _ U.S. Army announces end of excluding Japanese-Americans from West Coast; Japanese-Americans are released from detention camps 1963 _ Choi Doo-sun forms government in South Korea 1986 _ Davina Thompson makes medical history by having the first heart, lung and liver transplant (Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England) 1991 _ Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80, by record 68 points

Dec 16, 2009

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 16, 2009

Today is Wednesday, December 16, the 350th day of 2009. There are 15 days left in the year. 1617 _ Spanish viceroy Hernando Arias de Saavedra founds provinces Rio de la Plata (Argentina)/Guaira (Paraguay) 1631 _ Mount Vesuvius, Italy erupts, destroys six villages & 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) 1809 _ Napoleon Bonaparte divorces Empress Josephine by the French Senate 1913 _ Charlie Chaplin began his film career at Keystone for $150 a week 1915 _ Albert Einstein publishes his ``General Theory of Relativity" 1950 _ Truman proclaims state of emergency against ``Communist imperialism" 1971 _ Don McLean's 8+ minute version of ``American Pie" released 1987 _ Roh Tae-woo wins presidential election in South Korea

Dec 15, 2009

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2009

Today is Tuesday, December 15, the 349th day of 2009. There are 16 days left in the year. 1488 _ Bartholomeus Diaz returns to Portugal after sailing round Cape of Good Hope 1582 _ Spanish Netherlands/Denmark/Norway adopt Gregorian calendar 1815 _ Rossini gets assignment for Il Barbiere di Siviglia 1877 _ Thomas Edison patents phonograph 1916 _ French defeat Germans in WWI Battle of Verdun 1939 _ First commercial manufacture of nylon yarn, Seaford, Del. 1949 _ Albert Camus' ``Les Justes" premieres in Paris 1964 _ First time four people in space 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, 2009

MONDAY, DECEMBER 14, 2009

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)

Dec 13, 2009

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 12, 2009

Today is Saturday, December 12, the 346th day of 2009. There are 19 days left in the year. 1098 _ First Crusaders capture and plunder Mara Syria 1474 _ Isabella crowns herself queen of Castile and Aragon 1792 _ In Vienna, Ludwig van Beethoven (21) receives first lesson in music composition from Franz Joseph Haydn 1800 _ Washington D.C. established as capital of U.S. 1878 _ Joseph Pulitzer begins publishing ``St Louis Dispatch" 1913 _ ``Mona Lisa", recovered after being stolen from the Louvre Museum in 1911 1917 _ Worst train disaster (derailment near mouth of Mt. Cenis tunnel) ever (Modane, France _ 543 French troops killed) 1968 _ Arthur Ashe becomes first black to be ranked No. 1 in tennis 1979 _ Rhodesia becomes the independent nation of Zimbabwe 1997 _ Japanese train builders (Maglev) claim world speed record at 332 MPH

Dec 11, 2009

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 11, 2009

Today is Friday, December 11, the 345th day of 2009. There are 20 days left in the year. 1620 _ 103 Mayflower pilgrims land at Plymouth Rock 1688 _ England's King James II arrested 1792 _ France's King Louis XVI went on trial, accused of treason 1917 _ German-occupied Lithuania proclaims independence from Russia 1931 _ Japan leaves the Golden Standard 1941 _ Germany and Italy declare war on U.S. 1946 _ U.N. Children's Fund (UNICEF) established (Nobel, 1965) 1961 _ Adolf Eichmann is found guilty of war crimes, in Israel 1961 _ Elvis Presley's ``Blue Hawaii" album goes to No. 1 and stays No. 1 for 20 weeks 1981 _ Muhammad Ali's 61st and last fight, losing to Trevor Berbick

Dec 10, 2009

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 10, 2009

Today is Thursday, December 10, the 344th day of 2009. 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 1901 _ First Nobel Peace Prizes (to Jean Henri Dunant, Frederic Passy) 1903 _ Nobel for physics awarded to Pierre/Marie Curie 1907 _ Ruyard Kipling receives Nobel prize for literature 1926 _ Second part of Hitler's ``Mein Kampf" published 1941 _ Japanese troops overrun Guam 1948 _ U.N. General Assembly adopts Universal Declaration of Human Rights 1984 _ First ``planet'' outside our solar system discovered

Dec 9, 2009

Today in History