Today in History 12/19/16

Today in History
(1777) General George Washington leads troops to Valley Forge
UNSPECIFIED - CIRCA 1754: George Washington on horseback in snow at Valley Forge. By E. Percy Moran 1862-1935, artist.. photomechanical print : halftone, colour. c1911. (Photo by Universal History Archive/Getty Images)
The Continental Army commander takes his 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to rest for the winter. However, the beleaguered troops will not get the recuperation they need. Basic supplies, such as food and clothing, will run low. Starvation and exposure will kill about 2,500 soldiers.

Valley Forge was the military camp 18 miles northwest of Philadelphia where the American Continental Army spent the winter of 1777–78 during the American Revolutionary War. Starvation, disease, malnutrition, and exposure killed more than 2,500 American soldiers by the end of February 1778.

Start date: Dec 19, 1777
End date: Jun 18, 1778

— Source: wiki/Valley_Forge
(1843) ‘A Christmas Carol’ is published in Britain
Scene from A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, 1843. The irascible, curmudgeonly Ebenezer Scrooge, sitting alone on Christmas Eve, is visited by the ghost of Marley, his late business partner. The same night he is visited by three more apparitions, the ghosts of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Future, whose revelations cause him to wake on Christmas Day a changed man. He sends a turkey to Bob Cratchit his clerk, thoroughly enjoys the festivities and becomes a kindly, jolly old man. From A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. (London, 1843). This was the first in the series of five Christmas books Dickens published. (Photo by Ann Ronan Pictures/Print Collector/Getty Images)
The novella by British writer Charles Dickens tells the story of miser Ebenezer Scrooge’s transformation to a kinder soul following visits from the ghost of his old business partner and the ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet to Come. The story is an immediate success, and will remain one of Dickens’ most beloved works.

A Christmas Carol in Prose, Being a Ghost-Story of Christmas, commonly known as A Christmas Carol, is a novella by Charles Dickens, first published in London by Chapman & Hall on 19 December 1843. The novella met with instant success and critical acclaim. A Christmas Carol tells the story of a bitter old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into a gentler, kindlier man after visitations by the ghost of his former business partner Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.

Authors: Charles Dickens · Paul Sills · Stephen Krensky
First published: Dec 19, 1843
ATOS reading level: 4.10
Characters: Ebenezer Scrooge · Ghost of Christmas Past · Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come · Tiny Tim · Ghost of Christmas Present · Bob Cratchit · Fezziwig · Mrs. Cratchit · Fred · Martha Cratchit
Genre: Novella
Adaptations: A Christmas Carol (2009) · A Christmas Carol (1951) · A Christmas Carol (1984) · A Christmas Carol (1938) · Scrooge (1970) · The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) · A Christmas Carol (1999)

— Source: wiki/A_Christmas_Carol
(1984) Britain agrees to give Hong Kong back to China
Photo dated 19 December 1984 showing Chinese Premier of the People's Republic of China Zhao Ziyang (R, first row) and British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher (L, first row) in Beijing during the signing ceremony agreement over Hong Kong handover. (Photo credit should read PIERRE-ANTOINE DONNET/AFP/Getty Images)
British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and Chinese Premier Zhao Ziyang sign an agreement that will end 155 years of British rule over Hong Kong. The agreement stipulates that the island will remain a capitalist economy and residents will enjoy existing freedoms for 50 years.

The Sino–British Joint Declaration, formally known as the Joint Declaration of the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Government of the People’s Republic of China on the Question of Hong Kong, was signed by Premier Zhao Ziyang of the People’s Republic of China and Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher of the United Kingdom on behalf of their respective governments on 19 December 1984 in Beijing.

The Declaration entered into force with the exchange of instruments of ratification on 27 May 1985, and was registered by the PRC and UK governments at the United Nations on 12 June 1985. In the Joint Declaration, the PRC Government stated that it had decided to resume the exercise of sovereignty over Hong Kong (including Hong Kong Island, Kowloon, and the New Territories) with effect from 1 July 1997, and the UK Government declared that it would hand over Hong Kong to the PRC with effect from 1 July 1997. The PRC Government also declared its basic policies regarding Hong Kong in the document.

In accordance with the “one country, two systems” principle agreed between the UK and the PRC, the socialist system of PRC would not be practiced in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), and Hong Kong’s previous capitalist system and its way of life would remain unchanged for a period of 50 years until 2047. The Joint Declaration provides that these basic policies should be stipulated in the Hong Kong Basic Law and that the socialist system and socialist policies shall not be practiced in HKSAR.

— Source: wiki/Sino-British_Joint_Declaration
(1998) US President Bill Clinton is impeached
President Clinton address Democratic lawmakers who joined him outside the Oval Office of the White House after the House of Representatives voted to impeach the president, Saturday Dec.19, 1998. Looking on is Vice President Gore. (AP Photo/Doug Mills)
The House of Representatives votes to remove President Clinton from office over charges relating to his affair with Monica Lewinsky. Clinton is just the second US president to be impeached, following Andrew Johnson in 1868. The Senate, however, will vote to acquit Clinton, and he will finish out his second term in office.

Bill Clinton, the 42nd President of the United States, was impeached by the House of Representatives on two charges, one of perjury and one of obstruction of justice, on December 19, 1998. Two other impeachment articles, a second perjury charge and a charge of abuse of power, failed in the House. He was acquitted of both charges by the Senate on February 12, 1999. Independent Counsel Ken Starr alleged that Clinton had broken the law during his handling of the Lewinsky scandal and the Paula Jones lawsuit. Four charges were considered by the full House of Representatives; only two passed, and those on a nearly party-line vote. It was only the second time in history that the House had impeached the President of the United States, and only the third that the full House had considered such proceedings. The trial in the United States Senate began right after the seating of the 106th Congress, in which the Republicans began with 55 senators. A two-thirds vote was required to remove Clinton from office. Fifty senators voted to remove Clinton on the obstruction …

Start date: Dec 19, 1998
End date: Feb 12, 1999

— Source: wiki/Impeachment_of_Bill_Clinton
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