Today in History

Published 10:18 pm Thursday, December 17, 2009

Today is Friday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2009. There are 13 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

On Dec. 18, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward.

ON THIS DATE

In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

In 1892, Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered secret preparations for Nazi Germany to invade the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.)

Associated Press