DECEMBER 7th

On this date in:
1787	Delaware became the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1796	Electors chose John Adams to be the second president of the United States.
1836	Martin Van Buren was elected the eighth president of the United States.
1842	The New York Philharmonic gave its first concert.
1963	Videotaped instant replay was used for the first time in a live sports telecast during the Army-Navy football game on CBS.
1972	America's last moon mission was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral.
1982	Convicted murderer Charlie Brooks became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.
1985	Retired Supreme Court Justice Potter Stewart died at age 70.
1988	An earthquake in northern Armenia claimed an estimated 25,000 lives.
1993	A gunman opened fire on a Long Island Rail Road commuter train, killing six people and wounding 17. Colin Ferguson was later sentenced to a minimum of 200 years in prison.
1995	A 746-pound probe from the Galileo spacecraft hurtled into Jupiter's atmosphere, sending back data to the mothership before it was destroyed.
2001	Taliban forces abandoned their last bastion in Afghanistan, fleeing the southern city of Kandahar.
2002	Iraq denied it had weapons of mass destruction in a declaration to the United Nations.
2004	Hamid Karzai was sworn in as Afghanistan's first popularly elected president.
2007	Baseball home run king Barry Bonds pleaded not guilty in San Francisco to charges he'd lied to federal investigators about using performance-enhancing drugs.

Article of the day

Pearl Harbor bombed

At 7:55 a.m. Hawaii time, a Japanese dive bomber bearing the red symbol of the Rising Sun of Japan on its wings appears out of the clouds above the island of Oahu. A swarm of 360 Japanese warplanes followed, descending on the U.S. naval base at Pearl Harbor in a ferocious assault. The surprise attack struck a critical blow against the U.S. Pacific fleet and drew the United States irrevocably into World War II.

With diplomatic negotiations with Japan breaking down, President Franklin D. Roosevelt and his advisers knew that an imminent Japanese attack was probable, but nothing had been done to increase security at the important naval base at Pearl Harbor. It was Sunday morning, and many military personnel had been given passes to attend religious services off base. At 7:02 a.m., two radio operators spotted large groups of aircraft in flight toward the island from the north, but, with a flight of B-17s expected from the United States at the time, they were told to sound no alarm. Thus, the Japanese air assault came as a devastating surprise to the naval base.

Much of the Pacific fleet was rendered useless: Five of eight battleships, three destroyers, and seven other ships were sunk or severely damaged, and more than 200 aircraft were destroyed. A total of 2,400 Americans were killed and 1,200 were wounded, many while valiantly attempting to repulse the attack. Japan's losses were some 30 planes, five midget submarines, and fewer than 100 men. Fortunately for the United States, all three Pacific fleet carriers were out at sea on training maneuvers. These giant aircraft carriers would have their revenge against Japan six months later at the Battle of Midway, reversing the tide against the previously invincible Japanese navy in a spectacular victory.

The day after Pearl Harbor was bombed, President Roosevelt appeared before a joint session of Congress and declared, "Yesterday, December 7, 1941--a date which will live in infamy--the United States of America was suddenly and deliberately attacked by naval and air forces of the Empire of Japan." After a brief and forceful speech, he asked Congress to approve a resolution recognizing the state of war between the United States and Japan. The Senate voted for war against Japan by 82 to 0, and the House of Representatives approved the resolution by a vote of 388 to 1. The sole dissenter was Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, a devout pacifist who had also cast a dissenting vote against the U.S. entrance into World War I. Three days later, Germany and Italy declared war against the United States, and the U.S. government responded in kind.

The American contribution to the successful Allied war effort spanned four long years and cost more than 400,000 American lives.

Today Birthdays

Susan Collins turns 56 years old today.

AP Photo/Joel Page Sen. Susan Collins, R-Maine, turns 56 years old today.

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