In 1828, boundary disputes were settled between the United States and Mexico.

In 1932, Ophelia Wyatt Caraway, a Democrat from Arkansas, became the first woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate.

In 1943, the U.S. wartime Office of Price Administration said standard frankfurters would be replaced during World War II by Victory Sausages consisting of a mixture of meat and soy meal.

In 1971, a U.S. grand jury indicted the Rev. Philip Berrigan and five other people, including a nun and two priests, on charges of plotting to kidnap presidential adviser Henry Kissinger.

In 1976, the U.N. Security Council voted 11-1 to seat the Palestine Liberation Organization for its debate on the Middle East. The United States cast the only dissenting vote.

In 1990, Salvadoran President Alfredo Cristiani named eight soldiers, including chief of the military academy, as suspects in the November 1989 slayings of six Jesuit priests.

In 1994, U.S. President Bill Clinton asked Attorney General Janet Reno to appoint an independent counsel to investigate the Whitewater land deal affair that involved him and the first lady.

In 1995, U.S. President Bill Clinton and congressional leaders agreed on a bailout package that would give Mexico as much as $40 billion in loan guarantees. After Congress failed to vote quickly on the deal, Clinton invoked his emergency authority to lend Mexico $20 billion.

In 2001, scientists in Oregon announced the birth of the first genetically engineered primate. The rhesus monkey had a jellyfish gene that caused jellyfish to glow; however, the monkey did not glow.

In 2003, Maurice Gibb, 53, one of three singing brothers who made up the Bee Gees, died of complications from an intestinal blockage.

In 2004, former U.S. Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill, in a harshly critical new book, likened U.S. President George Bush in a Cabinet meeting to a blind man in a roomful of deaf people.

In 2005, The Southern California death toll from rain, flood and mudslides rose to 19.

Also in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled 5-4 that an alien can be deported to a country without the advance consent of that country's government.

In 2006, around 350 people were crushed to death by a stampeding crowd at the entrance to Jamarat Bridge in Mina, Saudi Arabia, during an annual pilgrimage to Mecca.

In 2007, a proposed law to require the U.S. government to negotiate Medicare drug prices was soundly approved by the House of Representatives.

Also in 2007, the former head of the Bangladesh central bank, Fakhruddin Ahmed, was named head of the caretaker government, replacing President Iajuddin Ahmed.

In 2008, some banned officials of the Saddam Hussein Baathist party were allowed to again hold government positions under legislation passed by the Iraqi Parliament.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include French fairy tale writer Charles Perrault, author of the Mother Goose stories, in 1628; Horatio Alger, author of rags-to-riches stories, in 1832; Alfred Fuller, the original Fuller Brush Man, in 1885; singer Sophie Tucker in 1884; Hollywood columnist Army Archerd in 1922 (age 87); and actors Robert Stack in 1919, Gwen Verdon in 1925, Charles Nelson Reilly in 1931, Richard Moll in 1943 (age 66), Kevin Anderson in 1960 (age 49), Julia Louis-Dreyfus in 1961 (age 48) and Penelope Ann Miller in 1964 (age 45).

In 1864, composer Stephen Foster (My Old Kentucky Home) died in a New York hospital, three days after he was found sick and almost penniless in a hotel room.

In 1910, radio pioneer and electron tube inventor Lee Deforest arranged the world's first radio broadcast -- a performance by the New York Metropolitan Opera -- for the public in New York City.

In 1941, Irish novelist James Joyce died at age 58.

In 1982, an Air Florida Boeing 737 crashed into a Potomac River bridge in Washington, killing 78 people.

In 1987, seven top New York Mafia bosses were sentenced to 100 years in prison each, including the heads of the Genovese, Colombo and Lucchese crime families.

In 1991, a Soviet crackdown in the Baltics killed 15 and injured 140.

Also in 1991, at least 40 South Africans were killed and 50 injured when fighting erupted during a soccer game in Orkney.

In 1993, U.S. and allied fighter planes bombed targets in southern Iraq to punish Saddam Hussein for his repeated violations of U.N. resolutions that ended the Persian Gulf War.

In 1996, U.S. Sen. William Cohen, R-Maine, announced his retirement, a record 13th senator choosing not to seek new terms. By year's end, Cohen would join the Clinton Cabinet as secretary of Defense.

In 1997, U.S. President Bill Clinton awarded the Medal of Honor to seven black soldiers for their courage in action in Italy during World War II. It was the first time the medal was given to black WWII servicemen.

In 1999, Michael Jordan, regarded by many as the greatest basketball player ever, announced his retirement. He had led the Chicago Bulls to six NBA championships.

In 2001, more than 800 people were killed when an early morning earthquake shook the coast of El Salvador.

In 2003, Pope John Paul II argued forcibly against war in Iraq except as the very last option and said such a conflict would be a defeat for humanity.

In 2005, the 15-year-old boy accusing Michael Jackson of child molestation vividly described sexual encounters in testimony before a grand jury.

Also in 2005, the CIA said Iraq replaced Afghanistan as the training ground for the next generation of professional terrorists.

And, U.S. major league baseball players agreed to stricter policy for steroids and other drugs that includes testing and tougher penalties.

In 2006, the U.S. military launched a missile attack in Pakistan in an unsuccessful effort to kill al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahiri. Pakistan lodged a complaint against the U.S. attack in which a reported 17 died.

In 2007, the U.S. Defense Department used an obscure law to examine the finances of hundreds of Americans suspected of terror or espionage, a published report said. The practice was described as an aggressive expansion by the military into domestic intelligence gathering.

In 2008, at least 13 states went into the new year facing mammoth budget shortfalls, officials report. California, New York and New Jersey were cited as among those in serious financial trouble.

Also in 2008, a University of Minnesota research team announced it had created a beating heart from animal tissues and cells, officials said.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include American turncoat Gen. Benedict Arnold in 1741; Thornton Waldo Burgess, author of Peter Rabbit, in 1874; philosopher and medical missionary Albert Schweitzer in 1875; film director Hal Roach in 1892; novelist John Dos Passos in 1896; English photographer Cecil Beaton in 1904; 60 Minutes commentator Andy Rooney in 1919 (age 90); actor Guy Williams (Lost In Space) in 1924; singer Jack Jones in 1938 (age 71); actress Faye Dunaway in 1941 (age 68); astronaut Shannon Lucid in 1943 (age 66); evangelist-turned-actor-and-singer Marjoe Gortner in 1944 (age 65); actor Carl Weathers in 1948 (age 61); filmmaker Lawrence Kasdan in 1949 (age 60); and actor Jason Bateman in 1969 (age 40).

In 1639, the first constitution in the American colonies, the Fundamental Orders, was adopted in Hartford, Conn., by representatives of Wethersfield, Windsor and Hartford.

In 1794, Dr. Jesse Bennett of Edom, Va., performed the first successful Caesarean section.

In 1914, Henry Ford introduced the assembly line method of manufacturing cars, allowing completion of one Model-T Ford every 90 minutes.

In 1943, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt and British Prime Minister Winston Churchill opened a 10-day World War II strategy conference in Casablanca, Morocco.

In 1952, NBC's Today, the program that started the morning news show format as we know it, premiered.

In 1964, George Wallace was inaugurated as the governor of Alabama, promising his followers, Segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever!

In 1969, a series of explosions aboard the nuclear aircraft carrier USS Enterprise off Hawaii killed 10 men.

In 1980, after being released from government control, gold reached a record price, exceeding $800 an ounce.

In 1985, the British pound sank to a record low, $1.11, and the Bank of England raised interest rates to halt the decline.

In 1991, two PLO leaders and a third man were killed in Tunis. Al Fatah, the PLO's main-line faction, blamed a dissident group for the assassinations.

In 1993, David Letterman accepted a multimillion-dollar deal to move his late night talk show to CBS in August after his NBC contract expired.

In 2000, thousands of Cubans marched in Havana to demand that 6-year-old refugee Elian Gonzalez be returned to his father in Cuba. The boy's mother had drowned as they tried to enter the United States; the child was turned over to a great-uncle in Miami.

In 2004, U.S. President George Bush outlined a plan to establish a U.S. colony on the moon from where manned expeditions to Mars could be launched.

In 2005, a U.S. Army reservist, Spec. Charles Graner, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for abusing detainees at Iraq's infamous Abu Ghraib prison. He said he didn't regret his actions.

In 2006, the head of a European inquiry into allegations the CIA ran secret detention camps blamed the United States for torture and Europe for ignoring it.

In 2007, Saddam Hussein's half brother and the judge who approved the 1982 killing of 148 Shiite men and boys, were executed by hanging in Baghdad. Saddam was hanged two weeks earlier.

Also in 2007, major flooding forced more than 90,000 people from their homes in southern Malaysia.

In 2008, the war crimes trial of a former Bosnian Serb military leader accused of ordering artillery to fire on hundreds of civilians in 1995 opened in Sarajevo. Gen. Novak Djukic said he was innocent.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include outlaw Cole Younger in 1844; nuclear physicist Edward Teller in 1908; drummer Gene Krupa in 1909; actor Lloyd Bridges in 1913; Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser in 1918; civil rights leader Martin Luther King Jr. in 1929; actress Margaret O'Brien in 1937 (age 72); actress Andrea Martin in 1947 (age 62); and actors Mario Van Peebles in 1957 (age 52) and Chad Lowe in 1968 (age 41).

In 1870, a cartoon by Thomas Nast appeared in Harper's weekly with a donkey symbolizing the Democratic Party for the first time.

In 1922, the Irish Free State was formed.

In 1943, the Pentagon, the world's largest building of its kind, was completed on the Virginia side of the Potomac River just outside Washington.

In 1967, the first Super Bowl, pitting the NFL and AFL champions, was played at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum with the Green Bay Packers defeating the Kansas City Chiefs, 35-10.

In 1973, U.S. President Richard Nixon called a halt to U.S. military offensives in Vietnam.

In 1986, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev proposed a sweeping arms control plan to eliminate all nuclear weapons by the year 2000 and rid mankind of the fear of nuclear catastrophe.

In 1993, four-time Oscar-winning songwriter Sammy Cahn, who wrote such hits as Fly Me to the Moon and Three Coins in the Fountain, died of heart failure at age 79.

In 1997, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat reached an agreement on the Israeli withdrawal from the West Bank city of Hebron.

In 1999, Serb forces killed 45 ethnic Albanian civilians in Kosovo.

In 2002, John Walker Lindh, a 20-year-old American seized with the Taliban in Afghanistan in December, was charged with conspiring to kill U.S. citizens and abetting terrorist groups.

In 2005, U.S. President George Bush outlined his plan to secure Social Security with current benefit levels, no payroll tax rise and partial private investment accounts.

In a 2006 runoff, Chile elected Michelle Bachelet as its first female president.

Also in 2006, Sheik Jaber al-Ahmad al-Sabah, the emir of Kuwait, died at the age 77.

In 2007, hundreds of thousands of central U.S. homes from Michigan south to Texas were without power as deadly ice storms coated the region.

Also in 2007, civil unrest in Somalia led to a government shutdown of TV and radio stations while other nations sought ways to quell the violence.

In 2008, meat and milk from cloned animals were ruled safe for human consumption by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after years of debate.

Also in 2008, Citigroup, the largest U.S. bank, reported a fourth-quarter loss of $9.83 billion.

And, an Israeli Gaza strike killed as many as 20 Palestinians, including several Hamas fighters, in retaliation to the firing of rockets and mortar bombs into southern Israel.

"Here at last

"We shall be free;

"the Almighty hath not built

"Here for his envy, will not drive us hence:

"Here we may reign secure, and in my choice

"To reign is worth ambition though in Hell:

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include German philosopher Franz Brentano in 1838; Andre Michelin, the French industrialist who first mass-produced rubber automobile tires, in 1853; Canadian poet Robert Service in 1874; Cuban dictator Fulgencio Batista in 1901; singer Ethel Merman in 1909; baseball pitcher Jay Dizzy Dean in 1910; opera singer Marilyn Horne in 1934 (age 75); race car driver A.J. Foyt in 1935 (age 74); country singer Ronnie Milsap in 1944 (age 65); director John Carpenter in 1948 (age 61); choreographer, actress and director Debbie Allen in 1950 (age 59); and actor David Chokachi (Baywatch) in 1968 (age 41).

In 1883, the U.S. Congress passed a bill creating the civil service.

In 1919, the United States went legally dry as prohibition of alcoholic beverages took effect under the 18th amendment to the Constitution. The amendment was repealed in 1933.

In 1925, Leon Trotsky was dismissed as chairman of the Russian Revolution Military Council.

In 1942, screen star Carole Lombard, her mother and 20 other people were killed in a plane crash near Las Vegas. Lombard was the wife of actor Clark Gable.

In 1944, U.S. Army Gen. Dwight Eisenhower arrived in London to assume command of the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces in Europe.

In 1984, U.S. President Ronald Reagan called for peaceful competition with Moscow. He authorized research and development on space-age weapons capable of destroying incoming nuclear missiles, the program known as Star Wars.

In 1986, Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi said Libya would train, arm and protect Arab guerrillas for Palestinian suicide and terrorist missions, his first explicit endorsement of terrorism.

In 1987, China's No. 2 leader, Hu Yaobang, 71, was forced to resign as Communist Party chief for failing to curb student demonstrations for more democracy.

In 1990, Moscow rushed 11,000 troops to Azerbaijan and Armenia to reinforce soldiers trying to quell ethnic violence.

In 1991, the Persian Gulf War began with the allied bombing of Baghdad.

In 1993, Windsor Castle was reopened two months after a fire swept through the British landmark.

In 1994, at a Geneva news conference with U.S. President Bill Clinton, Syrian President Hafez Assad indicated a willingness to negotiate a peace treaty with Israel.

In 1997, a bomb exploded at an Atlanta building housing an abortion clinic. An hour later, after investigators and others had come to the scene, a second bomb went off, injuring six people.

In 1998, investigators for special counsel Kenneth Starr questioned former White House intern Monica Lewinsky about allegations that she had an affair with U.S. President Bill Clinton.

In 2000, British drug maker Glaxo Wellcome agreed to buy SmithKline Beecham for $76 billion, creating the world's largest pharmaceutical company.

In 2001, President Laurent Kabila of the Democratic Republic of the Congo was shot to death, reportedly by one of his bodyguards, who was killed by other bodyguards.

In 2005, U.S. President George Bush said his re-election was a ratification of what he did in Iraq and there was no reason to hold any administration official accountable.

In 2006, International Atomic Energy Agency officials said Iran's newly restarted nuclear program could enable the country to have nuclear weapons within three years.

Also in 2006, a suicide attack at a Kandahar wrestling match killed 22 civilians, reportedly the highest toll so far in the Afghan conflict.

In 2007, a U.N. report said about 34,000 Iraqis died violent deaths due to fighting and terrorist attacks in Iraq during 2006.

In 2008, officials in Islamabad put the death toll at 47 in the attack on a northwestern Pakistani military outpost by about 200 Taliban militants.

Also in 2008, Republican Bobby Jindal took over as the new governor of Louisiana, first Indian-American elected to that office in the United States. At 36, he also was the nation's youngest governor.

And, a report says the United States' roads, bridges, dams and sewer systems are in such major disrepair that fixing infrastructure could cost $1.6 trillion.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include American statesman, scientist and author Benjamin Franklin in 1706; British statesman David Lloyd George in 1863; Mack Sennett, director of slapstick silent films, in 1880; U.S. gangster Al Capone in 1899; English novelist Nevil Shute in 1899; actors Betty White in 1922 (age 87); singer Eartha Kitt in 1927; actors James Earl Jones in 1931 (age 78) and Sheree North in 1933; puppeteer Shari Lewis in 1933; talk show host Maury Povich in 1939 (age 70); champion heavyweight boxer Muhammad Ali in 1942 (age 67); comedian Andy Kaufman in 1949; and comic actor Jim Carrey in 1962 (age 47).

In 1806, the first baby was born in the White House, the grandson of U.S. President Thomas Jefferson.

In 1871, Andrew Hallikie received a patent for a cable car system that went into service in San Francisco in 1873.

In 1893, Queen Liliuokalani of Hawaii was deposed in a bloodless revolution and a provisional government established, with annexation by the United States as its aim.

In 1917, the United States bought 50 of the Virgin Islands in the West Indies from Denmark for $25 million.

In 1950, nine bandits staged a $1.5 million robbery of a Brink's armored car in Boston.

In 1966, a U.S. B52 bomber carrying four hydrogen bombs collided with its refueling plane over Palomares, Spain, scattering radioactive plutonium over the area.

In 1977, convicted killer Gary Gilmore was executed by firing squad in Utah, the first execution since the U.S. Supreme Court reinstated the death penalty the previous year.

In 1987, U.S. President Ronald Reagan signed a secret order permitting the covert sale of arms to Iran.

In 1993, U.S. missiles attacked an Iraqi nuclear weapons facility outside Baghdad in an effort to destroy Saddam Hussein's ability to build weapons of mass destruction.

In 1994, a pre-dawn earthquake struck the Los Angeles area, claiming 61 lives and causing widespread damage.

In 1995, a powerful earthquake rocked Kobe, Japan, and the surrounding area, killing more than 5,000 people.

In 1996, Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman was sentenced to life in prison and 16 others were also sentenced to jail for plotting to bomb the United Nations.

In 1998, U.S. President Bill Clinton denied in a sworn deposition that he had an affair with former White House intern Monica Lewinsky.

In 2000, almost 50,000 people marched in Columbia, S.C., to protest the flying of the Confederate battle flag over the state Capitol.

In 2001, parts of California were plunged into darkness after utility companies failed to deliver enough electrical power. The rolling blackouts affected as many as 2 million people.

In 2002, the volcano on Mount Nyiragongo, near the town of Goma in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo, erupted, causing at least 45 deaths and leaving an estimated 55,000 people homeless.

In 2004, authorities placed the U.S. military death toll in Iraq at 500, including 346 in combat.

In 2005, Chinese state-run media confirmed that Zhao Ziyang, the former premier who fell from power during the 1989 Democracy Movement that resulted in the Tiananmen massacre, had died at 85.

Also in 2005, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestine Liberation Organization ordered militants to stop launching attacks on Israel.

In 2006, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld Oregon's assisted suicide law by a 6-3 vote. It allows doctors to help mentally competent terminally ill patients end their lives.

In 2007, the White House said U.S. President George Bush will go ahead with his plan to send more troops to Iraq whether Congress opposes it or not. A new poll indicated 60 percent of Americans also were against it.

Also in 2007, the Bush administration gave jurisdiction over the controversial anti-terrorist wiretapping program to a court established under the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act.

In 2008, Wall Street stock indexes took a 3 percent dive on troubling reports of housing and manufacturing weaknesses.

Also in 2008, Israel added to its armed attack in retaliation against Hamas shelling of Israeli border towns by closing all Gaza entries to commercial traffic.

The moon is waning. The morning stars are Saturn and Mars. The evening stars are Mercury, Venus, Jupiter, Uranus and Neptune.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Capricorn. They include English physician Peter Roget, who compiled Roget's Thesaurus, in 1779; American orator and statesman Daniel Webster in 1782; English author A.A. (Alan Alexander) Milne, who wrote Winnie the Pooh, in 1882; comedian Oliver Hardy of the legendary Laurel and Hardy team, in 1892; actors Cary Grant in 1904 and Danny Kaye in 1913; filmmaker John Boorman in 1933 (age 76); Temptations singer David Ruffin in 1941; and actor Kevin Costner in 1955 (age 54).

In 1871, William of Prussia was declared the first German emperor.

In 1943, Moscow announced the 16-month Nazi siege of Leningrad was lifted.

In 1966, Indira Gandhi, daughter of the late Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru, became prime minister of India.

In 1968, the United States and Soviet Union agreed on a draft of a nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

In 1990, Washington Mayor Marion Barry was arrested in an FBI sting at a downtown hotel and charged with buying and smoking crack cocaine.

In 1991, Eastern Airlines stopped flying and said it would liquidate its assets. The announcement followed a two-year effort to escape bankruptcy.

In 1993, seven people were killed and nearly 70 more injured when two commuter trains collided on a bridge in Gary, Ind.

In 1994, Iran-Contra independent counsel Lawrence Walsh issued his final report on the scandal. He blasted former U.S. President George H.W. Bush for his Christmas Eve 1992 pardons of six Iran-Contra defendants.

In 1995, officials in Paris announced the discovery of a magnificent display of Paleolithic cave art in southern France.

In 1996, Lisa Marie Presley, the daughter of Elvis Presley, filed for divorce from Michael Jackson after 20 months of marriage, citing irreconcilable differences.

In 1997, Norwegian Borge Ousland completed a 1,675-mile trek across Antarctica, the first time anyone traversed the continent alone.

In 2004, at least 23 people were reported killed when a car bomb exploded in Baghdad.

In 2006, bodies of 36 Iraqis were found in mass graves in two towns north of Baghdad. Officials said many of the victims were police recruits.

In 2007, outgoing U.S. Homeland Security chief John Negroponte told the U.S. Congress that China was headed toward becoming a great military power.

Also in 2007, Venezuelan lawmakers voted to allow President Hugo Chavez to rule by decree for 18 months.

In 2008, U.S. President Bush urged passage of a $145 billion stimulus package to provide tax relief for individuals and businesses to boost a sagging U.S. economy.

Also in 2008, after major presidential primary tests in Iowa and New Hampshire, Hillary Clinton led Barack Obama in the Democratic race and Mike Huckbee and John McCain shared wins among the Republicans.