@rh18bold:Today in History

Today is Wednesday, December 17, the 352nd day of 2008. There are 14 days left in the year.

On this date

In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright of Dayton, Ohio, conducted the first successful manned powered-airplane flights, near Kitty Hawk, N.C., using their experimental craft, the Wright Flyer.

In 1939, the German pocket battleship Admiral Graf Spee was scuttled by its crew, ending the Battle of the River Plate off Uruguay.

In 1944, the US Army announced it was ending its policy of excluding Japanese-Americans from the West Coast.

In 1957, the United States successfully test-fired the Atlas intercontinental ballistic missile for the first time.

In 1975, Manson Family member Lynette (Squeaky) Fromme was sentenced in Sacramento, California, to life in prison for her attempt on the life of US president Gerald R. Ford.

In 1979, in a case that aggravated racial tensions, Arthur McDuffie, a black insurance executive, was fatally beaten after a police chase in Miami. Four white police officers were later acquitted of charges stemming from McDuffie's death.

In 1981, members of the Red Brigades kidnapped Brig. Gen. James L. Dozier, the highest-ranking US Army official in southern Europe, from his home in Verona, Italy. Dozier was rescued 42 days later.

In 1986, Eugene Hasenfus, the American convicted by Nicaragua for his part in running guns to the Contras, was pardoned, then released.

Thought for Today

"The only people who never fail are those who never try." — Ilka Chase, American author, actress, humorist (1905-1978).