GMT

Today in History: December 18

1865 Slavery is abolished in the United States. The 13th Amendment is formally adopted into the U.S. Constitution, ensuring that "neither slavery nor involuntary servitude... shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction."

1916 The Battle of Verdun ends with the French and Germans each having suffered more than 330,000 killed and wounded in 10 months. It was the longest engagement of World War I.

1940 Adolf Hitler issues his secret plans for the invasion of the Soviet Union--Operation Barbarossa.

1941 Defended by 610 fighting men, the American-held island of Guam falls to more than 5,000 Japanese invaders in a three-hour battle.

1972 President Richard M. Nixon declares that the bombing of North Vietnam will continue until an accord can be reached (Operation Linebacker II).

2002 California Gov. Gray Davis announces the state faces a record budget deficit; the looming $35 billion shortfall is almost double the amount reported a month earlier during the state's gubernatorial campaign.

Born on December 18

1946 Steven Spielberg, film director (E.T., Jurassic Park, and Schindler's List).

1963 Brad Pitt, actor (12 Monkeys, The Curious Case of Benjamin Button).

1978 Katie Holmes, actress (Dawson's Creek TV series, Batman Begins).


JOTD
I couldn't decide what to get my buddy for Christmas, so I got him a prostitute with an accounting degree.

It's the thot that counts.