10 years ago

From the Journal Tribune: “Bad weather presented a series of challenges through the day Friday, coating the roads with snow, slush and ice. Three people were injured, one of them seriously, in a two-car crash on Route 9 near Noble High School in North Berwick Friday morning.”

50 years ago

From the Biddeford-Saco Journal: “Biddeford voters will decide Monday whether Democratic Leo R. Lemire, furniture store owner and present councilman, or Republican John F. Xaphes, Attorney and former treasurer, will be chosen mayor.

100 years ago

From the Biddeford Daily Journal: “A series of interclass basketball games has been arranged between the girls at Biddeford high on Tuesday, December 28 and December 30. On the first day the seniors and juniors will meet while the sophomores and freshman will endeavor to settle which is the better team.” — Krysteana Scribner

Today in History

Today is Friday, Dec. 18, the 352nd day of 2015. There are 13 days left in the year.

On this date: In 1787, New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution. In 1863, in a speech to the Prussian Parliament, Prime Minister Otto von Bismarck declared, “Politics is not an exact science.” In 1865, the 13th Amendment to the Constitution, abolishing slavery, was declared in effect by Secretary of State William H. Seward. In 1892, Tchaikovsky’s ballet “The Nutcracker” publicly premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia. In 1912, fossil collector Charles Dawson reported to the Geological Society of London his discovery of supposed early human remains at a gravel pit in Piltdown. (More than four decades later, Piltdown Man was exposed as a hoax.) In 1940, Adolf Hitler ordered secret preparations for Nazi Germany to invade the Soviet Union. (Operation Barbarossa was launched in June 1941.) In 1944, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the government’s wartime evacuation of people of Japanese descent from the West Coast while at the same time unanimously agreeing that “concededly loyal” Americans of Japanese ancestry could not continue to be detained.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 18, 1915, President Woodrow Wilson, whose first wife, Ellen, had died the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt, a widow, at her Washington home.

Ten years ago In a televised speech, President George W. Bush declared that Iraq’s parliamentary elections signaled the birth of democracy in the Middle East. Vice President Dick Cheney made a surprise visit to Iraq, where he faced tough questions from battle-weary troops. Susanne Osthoff, a German aid worker kidnapped in Iraq, was freed after three weeks in captivity. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a mild stroke.

Five years ago The U.S. Senate approved repeal of the military’s 17-year “don’t ask, don’t tell” ban on openly gay troops in a 65-31 vote. (President Barack Obama later signed it into law.) Skier Lindsey Vonn was named the 2010 Female Athlete of the Year as chosen by members of The Associated Press.

One year ago Sternly warning the West it could not defang the metaphorical Russian bear, President Vladimir Putin promised to shore up the plummeting ruble and revive the economy within two years. Mandy Rice-Davies, 70, a key figure in the “Profumo Scandal” that rocked Cold War Britain, died in London. Actress Virna Lisi, 78, died in Rome. “The Colbert Report” came to an end after nine years on Comedy Central (host Stephen Colbert went on to become the host of CBS’ “Late Show.”) — By The Associated Press