GMT

Today in History December 17

1861 The Stonewall Brigade begins to dismantle Dam No. 5 of the C&O Canal.

1903 Near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville and Wilbur Wright make the first successful flight in history of a self-propelled, heavier-than-air aircraft.

1927 U.S. Secretary of State Frank B. Kellogg suggests a worldwide pact renouncing war.

1944 U.S. approves end to internment of Japanese Americans. U.S. Major General Henry C. Pratt issues Public Proclamation No. 21, declaring that Japanese American "evacuees" from the West Coast could return to their homes effective January 2, 1945.

1948 The Smithsonian Institution accepts the Kitty Hawk - the Wright brothers' plane.

1989 The Simpsons, television's longest-running animated series, makes its US debut.

2010 Mohamed Bouazizi immolates himself, the catalyst for the Tunisian revolution and the subsequent Arab Spring.


Born on December 17

1937 US Lt. Gen. Calvin Waller, deputy commander-in-chief for military operations with US Central Command (Forward) during the First Gulf War.

1982 SlapahoeTribe, drunkard, physicist, TD poster.

JOTD

Two hunters are out in the woods when one of them collapses. He doesn't seem to be breathing and his eyes are glazed. The other guy whips out his phone and calls the emergency services. He gasps, "My friend is dead! What can I do?" The operator says, "Calm down. I can help. First, let's make sure he's dead." There is a silence; then a gun shot is heard. Back on the phone, the guy says, "OK, now what?"