Today’s highlight

On Dec. 19, 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the Republican-controlled House for perjury and obstruction of justice. (Clinton was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.)

On this date

1777: During the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.

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

1946: War broke out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launched widespread attacks against the French.

1950: Gen. Dwight D. Eisenhower was named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.

1960: Fire broke out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard; 50 civilian workers were killed.

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

2001: The fires that had burned beneath the ruins of the World Trade Center in New York City for the previous three months were declared extinguished except for a few scattered hot spots.

2003: Design plans were unveiled for the signature skyscraper — at the site of the World Trade Center in New York City.