This Week in History: December 6th – 12th
Welcome to this week’s edition of the staff blog’s ‘This Week in History!’ You will find historical facts, happenings, and associated books; #1 box office movies; and #1 NY Times best sellers from years gone by, all with book recommendations included based on each topic. This will be a weekly feature, so make sure to check out each week’s posting! NOTE: Click on any of the below book/movie titles to be taken to them in our online Café catalog!
NY Times Fiction Bestsellers
- 1945 (75 years ago): The Black Rose by Thomas B. Costain
- 1970 (50 years ago): Love Story by Erich Segal
- 1995 (25 years ago): Five Days in Paris by Danielle Steel
- 2010 (10 years ago): Cross Fire by James Patterson
- 2015 (5 years ago): Tricky Twenty-Two by Janet Evanovich
#1 Box Office Movies
- 1970 (50 years ago): Lovers and Other Strangers
- 1985 (35 years ago): Rocky IV
- 1995 (25 years ago): Toy Story
- 2000 (20 years ago): How the Grinch Stole Christmas
- 2010 (10 years ago): The Chronicles of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
- 2015 (5 years ago): The Hunger Games: Mockingjay- Part 2
This Week in History
- December 6th
- 1865- The 13th Amendment, which officially ended the institution of slavery, is ratified. (United States)
- 1884- Washington Monument is completed. (United States)
- 1917- The Bolsheviks imprison Czar Nicholas II and his family in Tobolsk. (World)
- 1969- Hells Angels, hired to provide security at a Rolling Stones concert in California, beats to death Meredith Hunter, concert-goer, and the hippie movement is never the same. (United States)
- December 7th
- 1787- Delaware becomes the first state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. (United States)
- 1836- The first Wisconsin counties are formed by the Territorial Legislature. (Wisconsin)
- 1941- The Japanese launch a surprise attack on U.S. forces at Pearl Harbor, leading the U.S. to join the Allied cause during WWII. (United States/World)
- 1972- American astronaut Eugene Andrew Cernan commands the last crewed flight to the Moon, effectively ending the Apollo program once they return from space. (United States)
- December 8th
- 1980- John Lennon is shot and killed by an obsessed fan outside his New York City apartment building. (World)
- 1993- NAFTA is signed into law by President Bill Clinton. (United States/World)
- 2010- SpaceX becomes the first commercial company to release a spacecraft into orbit and then successfully return it to Earth with its Dragon capsule. (United States/World)
- December 9th
- 1844- The first daily newspaper in Milwaukee is published as The Daily Sentinel. (Wisconsin)
- 1965- The animated special A Charlie Brown Christmas, now widely considered a holiday classic, is first aired on American television. (United States)
- 2008- Governor of Illinois Rod Blagojevich is arrested on federal charges, some of them related to an attempt to sell the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Barack Obama to the highest bidder. (United States)
- December 10th
- 1869- Wyoming grants women the right to vote. (United States)
- 1948- The General Assembly of the United Nations adopts the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. (World)
- 1967- A twin-engine Beechcraft plane carrying Otis Redding crashes into Lake Monona in Madison, killing Redding and four members of his touring band. (Wisconsin/United States)
- December 11th
- 1941- Germany declares war on the U.S. (United States/World)
- 1961- First U.S. helicopters arrive in South Vietnam. (United States/World)
- 2008- Bernie Madoff is arrested and charged with securities fraud in what is called a $50 billion Ponzi scheme. (United States)
- December 12th
- 1770- British soldiers responsible for the ‘Boston Massacre’ are acquitted on murder charges. (United States)
- 1977- Saturday Night Fever had its world premiere. (United States/World)
- 2000- The U.S. Supreme Court effectively awards the 2000 Presidential Election to George W. Bush, ending any recounts still being conducted in Florida. (United States)
Recommended Reading Related to Movies/Historical Happenings:
- Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins
- Memoirs and Misinformation by Jim Carrey
- The Voyage of the Dawn Treader by C.S. Lewis
- Lincoln and the Politics of Slavery: The Other Thirteenth Amendment and the Struggle to Save the Union by Daniel W. Crofts
- Altamont: The Rolling Stones, the Hells Angels, and the Inside Story of Rock’s Darkest Day by Joel Selvin
- Pearl Harbor: 75 Years Later–A Day of Infamy and Its Legacy by Tessa Link and Susan Elkin
- Apollo’s Legacy: Perspectives on the Moon Landings by Roger D. Launius
- The Space Barons: Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and the Quest to Colonize the Cosmos b y Christian Davenport
- The Last Days of John Lennon by James Patterson
- Golden: How Rod Blagojevich Talked Himself Out of the Governor’s Office and Into Prison by Jeff Coen and John Chase
- Otis Redding: An Unfinished Life by Jonathan Gould
- No Place for a Woman: The Struggle for Suffrage in the Wild West by Chris Enss
- The Wizard of Lies: Bernie Madoff and the Death of Trust by Diana B. Henriques
- The Boston Massacre: A Family History by Serena R. Zabin
- Dave Barry Hits Below the Beltway: A Vicious and Unprovoked Attack on Our Most Cherished Political Institutions by Dave Barry