Today's Highlight in History:
On December 26th, 1799, the late George Washington was eulogized颂扬，称赞 by Colonel Henry Lee as "first in war, first in peace and first in the hearts of his countrymen."

On this date:
In 1776, the British suffered a major defeat in the Battle of Trenton特伦顿 during the Revolutionary War.

In 1893, Chinese leader Mao Tse-tung was born in Hunan province.

In 1917, during World War One, the US government took over operation of the nation's railroads.

In 1941, Winston Churchill became the first British prime minister to address a joint¹ meeting联合会议 of the US Congress.

In 1944, in the World War Two Battle of the Bulge², the embattled严阵以待的，被敌人包围的 US 101st Airborne Division was relieved by units of the Fourth Armored Division.

In 1944, Tennessee Williams' play "The Glass Menagerie" was first performed publicly, at the Civic³ Theatre in Chicago.

In 1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry⁴ S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Missouri.

In 1974, comedian喜剧演员 Jack⁶ Benny died in Los Angeles at age 80.

In 1975, the Soviet⁷ Union inaugurated使正式就任，开幕 the world's first supersonic transport超音速运输机 service with a flight of its Tupolev-144 airliner⁸ from Moscow to Alma-Ata.

In 1996, six-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled抑制，掐死 in the basement of her family's home in Boulder⁹, Colorado. (To date迄今为止，至今, the slaying杀戮 remains¹¹ unsolved.)

Ten years ago: Romanian television broadcast videotape showing ousted¹² President Nicolae Ceausescu and his wife, Elena, at their secret trial as well as footage片段 of the former leader's body following his execution. That same day, a provisional临时的，暂定的 government took control of Romania.

Five years ago: French commandos突击队 stormed a hijacked¹³ Air France jetliner喷气客机 on the ground in Marseille, killing¹⁴ four Algerian hijackers and freeing 170 hostages.

One year ago: President Clinton, in his weekly radio address, urged Congress to lower the blood-alcohol limit for drunken driving nationwide to .08 percent.