Today in History

Published 10:22 pm Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Today is Wednesday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2011. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives.

Today’s Highlight:

On Dec. 21, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed a congressional act authorizing the Navy Medal of Honor.

On this date:

In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.

In 1910, 344 coal miners were killed in Britain’s Pretoria Pit Disaster.

In 1945, Gen. George Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident.

In 1988, 270 people were killed when a terrorist bomb exploded aboard a Pam Am Boeing 747 over Lockerbie, Scotland, sending wreckage crashing to the ground.

Associated Press