Today's Highlight in History:
On December 28th, 1917, the New York "Evening Mail" published a facetious¹滑稽的 essay by H.L. Mencken on the history of bathtubs浴缸 in America. (The essay claimed, for example, that Millard Fillmore was the first president to have a bathtub installed in the White House.)

On this date:
In 1694, Queen Mary the Second of England died after five years of joint² rule with her husband, King William the Third.

In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice³ president of the United States to resign, stepping down走下，辞职 over differences with President Jackson.

In 1846, Iowa became the 29th state to be admitted to the Union.

In 1856, the 28th president of the United States, Thomas Woodrow Wilson, was born in Staunton, Virginia.

In 1897, the play "Cyrano de Bergerac," by Edmond Rostand, premiered首次公演 in Paris.

In 1937, composer Maurice Ravel died in Paris.

In 1944, the musical "On the Town" opened on Broadway.

In 1945, Congress officially recognized the "Pledge of Allegiance."

In 1973, Alexander Solzhenitsyn published "Gulag Archipelago," an expose揭露，显示 of the Soviet⁴ prison system.

In 1981, Elizabeth Jordan Carr, the first American "test-tube" baby, was born in Norfolk, Virginia.

Ten years ago: Alexander Dubcek, the former Czechoslovak Communist leader who was deposed免职 in a Soviet-led Warsaw Pact⁶ invasion in 1968, was named chairman of the country's parliament.

Five years ago: CIA Director R. James Woolsey resigned, ending a tenure占有，任期 that was shadowed by the Aldrich Ames spy scandal. President Clinton nominated Dan Glickman to be agriculture secretary, succeeding Mike Espy⁸.

One year ago: American warplanes exchanged missile fire with Iraqi air defenses, and President Clinton said there would be no letup停止，中止 in American and British pressure on Saddam Hussein. Four people were killed, two gone missing and presumed dead, when fierce gales⁹ struck during an Australian yacht游艇，快艇 race.