On this day in history
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1688: James II abdicates the throne due to William of Orange landing in England.
1882: A production of Gilbert and Sullivan’s Iolanthe at Boston’s Bijou Theatre becomes the first performance in a theatre lit by incandescent electric lights.
1941: The United States declares war on Italy and Germany.
1951: Joe DiMaggio announces his retirement from baseball.
1964: Frank Sinatra, Jr., is returned home to his parents after being kidnapped for the ransom amount of $240,000.
1967: The Concorde, a joint British-French venture and the world’s first supersonic airliner, is unveiled in Toulouse, France.
1972: Challenger, the lunar lander for Apollo 17, touches down on the moon’s surface. This is the last time that men visit the moon.
1978: Massive demonstrations take place in Tehran against the shah.
1997: The Kyoto Protocol international treaty intended to reduce emissions of greenhouse gasses, opens for signature.
2001: The People’s Republic of China joins the World Trade Organization.
2006: President of Mexico Felipe Calderon launches a military-led offensive against drug cartel violence in the state of Michoacan.
2008: Bernard “Bernie” Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in what was called a $50-billion Ponzi scheme.
