Today is Thursday, Dec. 23, the 357th day of 2010. There are 8 days left in the year.

Today’s Highlight

in History

On Dec. 23, 1968, 82 crew members of the U.S. intelligence ship Pueblo were released by North Korea, 11 months after they had been captured.

On this date

In 1783, George Washington resigned as commander in chief of the Continental Army and retired to his home at Mount Vernon, Va.

In 1788, Maryland passed an act to cede an area “not exceeding 10 miles square” for the seat of the national government; about two-thirds of the area became the District of Columbia.

In 1823, the poem “Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas” was published anonymously in the Troy (N.Y.) Sentinel; the verse, more popularly known as “ ’Twas the Night Before Christmas,” was later attributed to Clement C. Moore.

In 1893, the Engelbert Humperdinck opera “Haensel und Gretel” was first performed, in Weimar, Germany.

In 1928, the National Broadcasting Company set up a permanent, coast-to-coast network.

In 1941, during World War II, American forces on Wake Island surrendered to the Japanese.

In 1948, former Japanese premier Hideki Tojo and six other Japanese war leaders were executed in Tokyo.

In 1967, President Lyndon B. Johnson held an unprecedented meeting with Pope Paul VI at the Vatican.

In 1975, Richard Welch, the Central Intelligence Agency station chief in Athens, was shot and killed outside his home by the militant group November 17.

In 1980, a state funeral was held in Moscow for former Premier Alexei Kosygin, who had died Dec. 18 at age 76.

Ten years ago

Pro-democracy forces claimed a sweeping victory in Serbia’s parliamentary elections. Death claimed comedian Victor Borge in Greenwich, Conn., at age 91 and actor Billy Barty in Glendale, Calif., at age 76.

Five years ago

Chad declared itself in a “state of belligerence” with Sudan, accusing its neighbor of aggression. An Azerbaijan Airlines passenger plane carrying 23 people crashed into the Caspian Sea, killing all on board.

One year ago

Richard and Mayumi Heene, the parents who had pulled the “balloon boy” hoax in hopes of landing a reality TV show, were sentenced by a judge in Fort Collins, Colo., to jail — 90 days for him, 20 days for her. Gary Patterson, who had guided TCU to its best season in 70 years, became the first Associated Press Coach of the Year from outside the six conferences with automatic BCS bids. Yitzhak Ahronovitch, captain of the Exodus during a 1947 attempt to take Holocaust survivors to Palestine, died in northern Israel at age 86.

Today’s Birthdays

Actor Gerald O’Loughlin is 89. Actor Ronnie Schell is 79. Emperor Akihito of Japan is 77. Pro Football Hall of Famer Paul Hornung is 75. Actor Frederic Forrest is 74. Actor James Stacy is 74. Rock musician Jorma Kaukonen is 70. Rock musician Ron Bushy is 69. Actor-comedian Harry Shearer is 67. Gen. Wesley Clark (ret.) is 66. Actress Susan Lucci is 64. Singer-musician Adrian Belew is 61. Rock musician Dave Murray (Iron Maiden) is 54. Actress Joan Severance is 52. Singer Terry Weeks is 47. Rock singer Eddie Vedder (Pearl Jam) is 46. The first lady of France, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, is 43. Rock musician Jamie Murphy is 35. Jazz musician Irvin Mayfield is 33. Actress Estella Warren is 32. Actress Anna Maria Perez de Tagle is 20.

Thought for Today

“All that is really necessary for survival of the fittest, it seems, is an interest in life, good, bad or peculiar.”

— Grace Paley,

American writer (1922-2007)