@rh18bold:Today in History

Today is Thursday, December 6, the 340th day of 2007. There are 25 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1790, Congress moved to Philadelphia from New York.

In 1889, Jefferson Davis, the first and only president of the Confederate States of America, died in New Orleans.

In 1906, Britain granted self-government to the Transvaal and Orange River colonies in South Africa.

In 1921, The Irish Free State became an independent member of the British Commonwealth.

In 1947, Everglades National Park in Florida was dedicated by US President Harry Truman.

In 1971, India recognised the Democratic Republic of Bangladesh, formerly East Pakistan; Pakistan responded by breaking off diplomatic relations.

In 1973, US House of Representatives minority leader Gerald R. Ford was sworn in as vice president, succeeding Spiro T. Agnew.

In 1982, 11 soldiers and six civilians were killed when an Irish National Liberation Army bomb exploded at a pub in Ballykelly, Northern Ireland.

In 1989, 14 women were shot to death at the University of Montreal's school of engineering by a man who then took his own life.

In 1990, Iraqi president Saddam Hussein ordered all foreign hostages held in Iraq and Kuwait to be freed in an attempt to head off a war.

In 1992, Hindu extremists destroyed a historically important mosque at Ayodhya, India. More than 400 people died in the resulting sectarian violence.

Thought for Today

"People who never get carried away should be." — Malcolm S. Forbes, American publisher