On This Day December 27

1988
River Ferry capsizes en route to Dhaka, Bangladesh, 250 persons missing, believed dead.

1985
Terrorist attacks: Palestinian terrorists kill 20 civilians at airport ticket counters in Rome and Vienna.

1979
Soviet war in Afghanistan: Russia invades starting the nearly 10-year conflict between the Soviet Army and rebels in Afghanistan.

1947
Howdy Doody dubuts on NBC, with only the voice for Howdy, since the puppet was still being built.

1945
World Bank: It is established at a meeting in Washington, D.C. (Source: Famous First Facts)

1932
Radio City Music Hall: Opens in New York City, featuring the high-kicking Rocketts.

1927
Show Boat: Oscar Hammerstein II and Jerome Kern's musical opens at the Ziegfield Theater on Broadway.

1975 d. 1988
Heather O'Rourke, American child actress. Film: Poltergeist (1982, Carol Anne) and Poltergeist II (1986).

1917 d. 1973
Mary Kornman, American actress. She appeared in 41 Our Gang films.

1906 d. 1996
Benjamin Eisenstadt, American inventor. He originated the idea of individual-sized sugar packets for use in restaurants and he and his son Marvin invented "Sweet'N Low" artificial sweetener (1957). The the musical-scale logo for Sweet'N Low received Federal Trademark Registration No. 1,000,000.

1901 d. 1992
Marlene Dietrich (Maria Magdalene Dietrich), German-born American actress, singer. Film: The Blue Angel (1930). She was awarded the Medal of Freedom for her efforts during World War II.

1896 d. 1955
Arch Ward, American sports editor for the Chicago Tribune. He originated the idea of major-league all-star baseball (1933) and football games (1934).

1822 d. 1895
Louis Pasteur, French chemist, bacteriologist, discovered a vaccination for rabies (1885) and food preservation by heating (pasteurization).

1773 d. 1857
Sir George Cayley, English inventor, "Father of Aerodynamics." He piloted the first manned glider.

1717 d. 1799
Pius VI, Italian religious leader, 250th Pope (1775-99). He was imprisoned (1798) by Bonaparte, where he died.

1571 d. 1630
Johann Kepler, German mathematician, astronomer, "Father of Modern Astronomy," discovered that planetary orbits are elliptical (1609) and invented the astronomical telescope (1611).

2003 b. 1934
Sir Alan Arthur Bates, British actor. Film: The Fixer (1968).

1993 b. 1914
David Pace, American businessman, creator of Pace Picante Sauce (1947).

1988 b. 1929
Hal Ashby, American Oscar-winning editor, director. Film: In the Heat of the Night (1967, Oscar for Film Editing), Harold and Maude (1971), and Shampoo (1975).

1982 b. 1931
John Leonard "Jack" Swigert, Jr., American astronaut. During Apollo 13 he proclaimed, "Okay, Houston, we've had a problem here." Lovell repeated the sentiment a few seconds later.

1955 b. 1900
Ham Fisher (Hammond Edward Fisher), American cartoonist, created Joe Palooka (1927).

1836 b. 1793
Stephen Fuller Austin, American pioneer, "Father of Texas." He established the first American settlement in Texas (Austin, 1822).

December 27

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