Dec. 23 (UPI) — On this date in history:
In 1620, construction began on the first permanent European settlement in New England. It was one week after the Mayflower arrived at Plymouth Harbor in present-day Massachusetts.
In 1783, Gen. George Washington resigned his commission with the U.S. Army and retired to Mount Vernon, Va. He became the new nation’s first president in 1789.
In 1913, the U.S. Federal Reserve System was established.
In 1947, the transistor was invented, leading to a revolution in communications and electronics.
In 1948, former Prime Minister Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were hanged in Tokyo under sentence of the Allied War Crimes Commission.
In 1972, a series of earthquakes killed about 5,000 people and left the Nicaraguan capital of Managua in ruins.
In 1973, the shah of Iran announced that the petroleum-exporting states of the Persian Gulf would double the price of their crude oil.
In 1982, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention told the residents of Times Beach, Mo., to evacuate the town, which was contaminated with the chemical dioxin. The government bought all but one house in the town, which was disincorporated.
File Photo by Bill Greenblatt/UPI
In 1987, Dick Rutan and Jeana Yaeger landed the experimental aircraft Voyager at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., completing a record nine-day, 25,012-mile global flight without refueling.
In 1987, Lynette “Squeaky” Fromme, serving a sentence for attempting to assassinate President Gerald Ford, escapes from a West Virginia prison. She was captured two days later.
In 1995, fire engulfed a tent set up for a school ceremony in Mandi Dabwali, India, killing more than 500 people.
In 2003, the first case of mad cow disease was reported in the United States when a Holstein in Washington state tested positive for the ailment.
A Canadian cow living at the Sunny Dene Ranch near Mabton, Wash., was the first cow in the U.S. to have a confirmed case of mad cow disease. File Photo by Jim Bryant/UPI
In 2008, officials in Guinea’s army announced the country’s government had been dissolved and the Constitution suspended after the death of President Lansana Conte, who had ruled the African nation for 24 years.
In 2009, Mexico City voters approved a sweeping gay rights measure allowing same-sex couples to marry and adopt children.
In 2013, two members of the Pussy Riot punk band, Maria Alyokhina and Nadezhda Tolokonnikova, were released from prison in Russia in an amnesty program. They had served most of their two-year sentences after being convicted of hooliganism for participating in a performance critical of President Vladimir Putin.
In 2016, the U.N. Security Council passed a resolution condemning ongoing construction of Israeli settlements in disputed territory. The United States abstained from voting.
In 2022, Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin passed Gordie Howe for second all-time in the NHL with 802 goals after scoring twice in a game against the Winnipeg Jets. Wayne Gretzky holds the No. 1 position with 894 lifetime goals.
File Photo by Archie Carpenter/UPI
