Today is Friday, December 4, the 338th day of 2009. There are 27 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1918, the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes was proclaimed in what later became Yugoslavia, with Alexander I as prince regent.

In 1942, US bombers struck the Italian mainland for the first time.

In 1993, the Angolan government and its UNITA guerrilla foes formally adopted terms for a truce to end a conflict that had killed an estimated average of 1,000 people a day.

In 1998, the last Khmer Rouge fighters surrendered, ending a 20-year war against the Cambodian government.

Thought for Today

"Beauty is the promise of happiness." — Stendahl (Henri Beyle), French author and critic (1783-1842).