December 18

1118 – During the Reconquista, the city of Zaragoza is retaken by the army of King Alfonso I of Aragon.

1271 – Kublai Khan renames his empire of Mongolia and China “Yuan” starting the Yuan dynasty .

1777 – The U.S. celebrates its first Thanksgiving, marking the recent victory by Americans over British troops commanded by General John Burgoyne at Saratoga in October.

1787 – New Jersey becomes the 3rd state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.

1799 – George Washington is buried at Mount Vernon

1865 – Secretary of State William Seward proclaims the adoption of the 13th  Amendment to the Constitution.

1892 –  Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s The Nutcracker opens in Saint Petersburg, Russia.

1917 – The 18th amendment to enact Prohibition is passed by Congress and sent to the states for ratification.

1932 – The Chicago Bears defeat the Portsmouth Spartans in the first NFL playoff game held to break a tie in the season’s final standings to win the NFL Championship at Chicago.

1944 – In the case of Korematsu v. United States, the Supreme Court rules that President Roosevelt’s Executive Order 9066 authorizing the forced removal and internment of Japanese Americans is constitutional and is not reversed as unconstitutional until 2018, in the case of Trump v. Hawaii.

1958 – Designed and built by  U.S. Army Signal Research and Development Laboratory,  the SCORE satellite–Signal Communications by Orbiting Relay Equipment – the world’s first purpose built communications satellite is launched from Cape Canaveral’s launch complex  LC-11

1966 – The Saturn moon Epimetheus is discovered by astronomer Richard Walker using the U.S. Naval Observatory – Flagstaff Station’s 61-inch Kaj Strand Astrometric Reflector telescope.

1972 –  President Nixon announces that the U.S. will begin Operation Linebacker II, bombing North Vietnam after peace talks collapse.

1977 – United Airlines Cargo Flight 2860,  a Douglas DC-8, enroute from San Francisco to Chicago, crashes near Kaysville, Utah, killing all 3 crew members on board.

1999 – NASA launches into orbit the Terra platform carrying 5 Earth Observation instruments, including ASTER, CERES, MISR, MODIS and MOPITT.

2016 – Zsa Zsa Gabor dies, age 99, from cardiac arrest at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center.

2017 – Amtrak Cascades passenger train 501 derails near DuPont, Washington, killing 6 people, and injuring 70 others.

2019 – The House of Representatives votes to impeach President Donald Trump