Today's Highlight in History:
On December eleventh, 1936, Britain's King Edward the Eighth abdicated退位，放弃· the throne in order to marry American divorcee Wallis Warfield Simpson.

On this date:
In 1719, the first recorded sighting of the Aurora¹ Borealis took place in New England.

In 1792, France's King Louis the 16th went before the Convention to face charges of treason. (Louis was convicted, and executed the following month.)

In 1816, Indiana became the 19th state.

In 1872, America's first black governor took office as Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became acting² governor of Louisiana.

In 1928, police in Buenos Aires thwarted³反对，挫败 an attempt on the life of President-elect Herbert Hoover.

In 1937, Italy withdrew from the League of Nations.

In 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States; the US responded in kind.

In 1946, the United Nations International Children's Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established.

In 1961, a US aircraft carrier carrying Army helicopters arrived in Saigon西贡 -- the first direct American military support for South Vietnam's battle against Communist guerrillas游击队.

In 1981, the UN Security Council chose Javier Perez de Cuellar of Peru to be the fifth secretary-general of the world body.

Ten years ago: President Bush, facing criticism at home for sending two US officials to China, defended the diplomatic overture前奏，序幕 despite the Beijing government's crackdown on pro-democracy demonstrators the previous June.

Five years ago: Thousands of Russian troops backed by armored columns and jets rolled into breakaway分离，逃脱 republic of Chechnya in a bid to restore Moscow's control over the region. Leaders of 34 Western Hemisphere nations signed a free-trade declaration in Miami.

One year ago: Majority Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed through three articles of impeachment⁵检举信，弹劾状 against President Clinton, over Democratic objections. The Mars Climate Orbiter blasted off点火起飞 on a nine-month journey to the red planet (however, the probe disappeared last September, apparently⁶ destroyed because scientists had failed to convert English measures to metric values度变量，折合公制).