Today in HistoryToday is Monday, December 18, the 352nd day of 2006. There are 13 days left in the year.

ON THIS DATE<$>

In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the US Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect.

In 1892, Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi invasion of the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.)

In 1944, in a pair of rulings, the US Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said undeniably loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry could not continue to be detained.

In 1969, Britain’s Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.

In 1972, the United States began heavy bombing of North Vietnamese targets during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 12 days later.)

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

“The price one pays for pursuing any profession, or calling, is an intimate knowledge of its ugly side.” — James Baldwin, American author (1924-1987).