Today in History - History - December 21st

1958Charles de Gaulle wins 7 year term as 1st pres of 5th Rep of France

1961Gangster Joe Gallo is sentenced to 7 to 14 years in state prison for extortion

1864General Sherman conquers Savannah, Georgia

1959Tom Landry accepts coaching job with Dallas Cowboys (stays until 1988)

1939Hitler named Adolf Eichmann leader of "Referat IV B"

1894Mackenzie Bowell becomes the 5th Prime Minister of Canada

1900Gerhart Hauptmann's "Michael Kramer" premieres in Berlin

1784John Jay becomes 1st US Secretary of State (foreign affairs)

2005Joe Sakic is named captain of the 2006 Team Canada Olympic team

1936Bradman's 2nd consecutive Test Cricket duck! Australia all out 80

1892Walter Hagen, Rochester NY, PGA golfer (US Open 1914, 19)

1937Jane Fonda, NYC, actress (Barbarella, Klute), physically fit

1948Samuel L. Jackson, Washington DC, actor (Amos & Andrew, White Sand, Pulp Fiction)

1117Thomas Becket, Cheapside, London, archbishop of Canterbury (1162-1170), (d. 1170)

1886Founder of Girl Scouts of the USA Juliette Gordon Low (26) weds William Mackay Low in Savannah, Georgia

1958Actress Ingrid Bergman (43) weds producer Lars Schmidt

1947Actress Estelle Getty (24) weds Arthur Gettleman

1991Actress Jane Fonda (55) weds CNN founder Ted Turner at the groom's home in north Florida

1762British Explorer Captain James Cook marries Elizabeth Batts

1996Famous singer Lionel Richie (47) weds clothing designer Diane Alexander (30) at Metropolitan Club in New York

2008Talk show host Craig Ferguson (46) weds art dealer Megan Wallace Cunningham (26) in Chester, Vermont

1989Explorer Edmund Hillary (70) weds June Mulgrew

1945George S Patton, US General (Sicily/Normandy), dies of congestive heart failure at 60

1937Frank Kellogg, US Secretary of State and Nobel laureate, dies at 80