1773

The Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea into Boston Harbor to protest tea taxes.

1907

16 U.S. Navy battleships, which came to be known as the “Great White Fleet,” set sail on a 14-month, round-the-world voyage to demonstrate American sea power.

1944

The World War II Battle of the Bulge began as German forces launched a surprise attack against Allied forces through the Ardennes Forest in Belgium and Luxembourg.

1960

134 people were killed when a United Air Lines DC-8 and a TWA Super Constellation collided over New York City.

2000

President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to become the first African American secretary of state.

2014

Taliban gunmen stormed a military-run school in the northwestern Pakistan city of Peshawar, killing at least 148 people, including more than 130 schoolchildren.

Birthdays

Pop singer Benny Andersson (ABBA) is 78. Rock singer-musician Billy Gibbons (ZZ Top) is 75. Actor Benjamin Bratt is 61. Filmmaker James Mangold is 61. Actor-comedian JB Smoove is 59. Actor Miranda Otto is 57. Actor Krysten Ritter is 43.