Today's Highlight in History:
On December 18th, 1944, in a pair of rulings, the Supreme¹ Court upheld支持 the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans, but also said undeniably不可否认地 loyal Americans of Japanese ancestry²祖先，血统 could not be detained.

On this date:
In 1787, New Jersey³ became the third state to ratify批准 the US Constitution.

In 1865, the 13th Amendment修正案 to the Constitution, abolishing废除，废止 slavery, was declared in effect.

In 1892, Tchaikovsky柴可夫斯基's "The Nutcracker胡桃夹子 Suite⁶" publicly premiered初次公演 in St. Petersburg, Russia.

In 1915, President Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt at her Washington home.

In 1940, Adolf Hitler signed a secret directive ordering preparations for a Nazi⁸ invasion of the Soviet⁹ Union. (Operation "Barbarossa" was launched in June 1941.)

In 1956, Japan was admitted to the United Nations.

In 1969, Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.

In 1971, the Reverend Jesse Jackson announced in Chicago the founding of Operation PUSH (People United to Save Humanity).

In 1972, the United States began its heaviest bombing of North Vietnam at that time during the Vietnam War. (The bombardment ended 12 days later.)

In 1980, former Soviet Premier⁷ Alexei N. Kosygin died at age 76.

Ten years ago: Robert E. Robinson, an attorney and alderman总督，市议员 in Savannah, Georgia, was killed by a mail bomb similar to a device that had claimed the life of a federal judge in Alabama two days earlier. (Walter Leroy Moody¹⁰ Junior was later convicted of both bombings, and is on Alabama's death row.)

Five years ago: Former US president Jimmy Carter arrived in Bosnia-Herzegovina on a private mission to seek an end to 32 months of war.

One year ago: The House debated articles of impeachment¹¹检举信，弹劾状 against President Clinton. US and British forces blasted枯萎的，被害的 Iraq with a third day of airstrikes. South Carolina carried out the nation's 500th execution since capital punishment resumed in 1977.