Today's Highlight in History:
One year ago, on December 19th, 1998, President Clinton was impeached弹劾，控告 by the Republican-controlled House for perjury伪证，伪誓 and obstruction of justice阻碍司法. The 42nd chief executive became only the second in history to be ordered to stand trial in the Senate, where, like Andrew Johnson before him, he was acquitted无罪开释.

On this date:
In 1732, Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."

In 1776, Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay.

In 1777, General George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

In 1843, "A Christmas Carol," by Charles Dickens, was first published in England.

In 1907, 239 workers died in a coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pennsylvania.

In 1932, the British Broadcasting Corporation began transmitting overseas with its "Empire Service" to Australia.

In 1957, the musical play "The Music Man" opened on Broadway.

In 1972, "Apollo 17" splashed down溅落 in the Pacific, winding up the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.

In 1974, Nelson A. Rockefeller was sworn in as the 41st vice president of the United States.

In 1984, Britain and China signed an accord符合，协议 returning Hong Kong to Chinese sovereignty主权 on July first, 1997.

Ten years ago: Police in Jacksonville, Florida, disarmed a parcel bomb邮件炸弹，包裹炸弹 at the local NAACP office, the fourth in a series of mail bombs to turn up in the Deep South. (Two of the bombs killed a Savannah, Georgia, alderman总督，市议员 and a federal judge in Alabama -- Walter L. Moody Junior was convicted in both bombings.)

Five years ago: Former President Jimmy Carter, on a peace mission to Bosnia波斯尼亚-Herzegovina黑塞哥维那, met with Bosnian Serb塞尔维亚 leaders, who offered a four-month cease-fire. CNN publicly acknowledged it had wrongfully disobeyed a judge's order in broadcasting former Panamanian military ruler Manuel Noriega's jailhouse监狱 telephone conversations.

One year ago: Two days after his confession of marital infidelity背信, Bob Livingston told the House he wouldn't serve as its next speaker. President Clinton halted airstrikes against Iraq after a fourth day of attacks.