Today in History Dec. 21
Today is Thursday, Dec. 21, the 355th day of 2017. There are 10 days left in the year. Winter arrives at 11:28 a.m. Eastern time.
On Dec. 21, 1937, Walt Disney’s first animated feature, “Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs,” had its world premiere at Carthay Circle Theater in Los Angeles. The first Dr. Seuss book, “And to Think That I Saw It on Mulberry Street,” was published by Vanguard Press.
In 1620, Pilgrims aboard the Mayflower went ashore for the first time at present-day Plymouth, Mass.
In 1864, during the Civil War, Union forces led by Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman concluded their “March to the Sea” as they captured Savannah, Ga.
In 1891, the first basketball game, devised by James Naismith, is believed to have been played at the International YMCA Training School in Springfield, Mass. (The final score of this experimental game: 1-0.)
In 1940, author F. Scott Fitzgerald died in Hollywood, Calif., at 44.
In 1942, the U.S. Supreme Court, in Williams v. North Carolina, ruled 6-2 that all states had to recognize divorces granted in Nevada.
In 1945, U.S. Army Gen. George S. Patton, 60, died in Heidelberg, Germany, 12 days after being seriously injured in a car accident.
In 1968, Apollo 8 was launched on a mission to orbit the moon.
In 1976, the Liberian-registered tanker Argo Merchant broke apart near Nantucket Island off Massachusetts almost a week after running aground, spilling 7.5 million gallons of oil into the North Atlantic.
“The time will come when Winter will ask us: ‘What were you doing all the Summer?'”
– Bohemian proverb