Today in History: Dec. 7 – The Herald Bulletin

THOUGHT FOR THE DAY

Its the friends you can call up at 4 a.m. that matter. Marlene Dietrich

TODAY IS

Today is MONDAY, DEC. 7, the 342nd day of 2020. There are 24 days left in the year.

HIGHLIGHT IN HISTORY

FILE In this Dec. 7, 1941, file photo, smoke rises from the battleship USS Arizona as it sinks during a Japanese surprise attack on Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. Japans aerial attack on the U.S. Naval fleet at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii killed more than 2,300 U.S. service people, propelling the United States into World War II. The Dec. 7, 1941, attack has long been cited by many Americans to justify the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki to hasten Japans surrender. (AP Photo/File)

On Dec. 7, 1941, the Empire of Japan launched an air raid on the U.S. Navy base at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii as well as targets in Malaya, Hong Kong, Guam, the Philippines and Wake Island; the United States declared war against Japan the next day.

10 YEARS AGO

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange surrendered to authorities in London, where he was jailed for nine days before being freed on bail as he fought extradition to Sweden for questioning in a rape investigation.

ON THIS DATE

In 1909, in his State of the Union address, President William Howard Taft defended the decision to base U.S. naval operations in the Pacific at Pearl Harbor in Hawaii, instead of in the Philippines.

In 1972, Americas last moon mission to date was launched as Apollo 17 blasted off from Cape Canaveral. Imelda Marcos, wife of Philippine President Ferdinand E. Marcos, was stabbed and seriously wounded by an assailant who was shot dead by her bodyguards.

In 1982, convicted murderer Charlie Brooks Jr. became the first U.S. prisoner to be executed by injection, at a prison in Huntsville, Texas.

In 1987, 43 people were killed after a gunman aboard a Pacific Southwest Airlines jetliner in California apparently opened fire on a fellow passenger, the pilots and himself, causing the plane to crash.

In 2018, the man who drove his car into counterprotesters at a 2017 white nationalist rally in Virginia was convicted of first-degree murder; a state jury rejected defense arguments that James Alex Fields Jr. acted in self-defense.

CELEBRITY BIRTHDAYS

Larry Bird poses in the press room with the lifetime achievement award at the NBA Awards on Monday, June 24, 2019, at the Barker Hangar in Santa Monica, Calif. (Photo by Richard Shotwell/Invision/AP)

Bluegrass singer Bobby Osborne is 89.

Actor Ellen Burstyn is 88.

Baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench is 73.

Actor-director-producer James Keach is 73.

Basketball Hall of Famer LARRY BIRD is 64.

Actor Priscilla Barnes is 63.

Former Tonight Show announcer Edd Hall is 62.

Actor C. Thomas Howell is 54.

Former NFL player Terrell Owens is 47.

Singer Aaron Carter is 33.

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Today in History: Dec. 7 - The Herald Bulletin