December 14 is a date that has witnessed many remarkable events in history, from exploration and discovery to entertainment and tragedy. Here are some of the highlights of what happened on this day:
- In 1911, Norwegian explorer Roald Amundsen became the first person to reach the South Pole, beating his British rival Robert Scott by more than a month. Amundsen and his team of four men and 52 dogs planted the Norwegian flag at the pole and returned safely to their base camp.
- In 1972, Apollo 17 astronauts Eugene Cernan and Harrison Schmitt became the last humans to walk on the moon. They spent more than three hours on the lunar surface, collecting rocks and conducting experiments. Cernan was the last to re-enter the lunar module, saying “As I take man’s last step from the surface, back home for some time to come – but we believe not too long into the future – I’d like to just [say] what I believe history will record: that America’s challenge of today has forged man’s destiny of tomorrow.
- In 1947, the National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing (NASCAR) was founded by Bill France Sr. in Daytona Beach, Florida. NASCAR is now one of the most popular and lucrative sports in the US, with millions of fans and billions of dollars in revenue. Some of the most famous NASCAR drivers include Richard Petty, Dale Earnhardt, Jeff Gordon, and Jimmie Johnson.
- In 1995, the Dayton Agreement was signed in Paris, ending the Bosnian War that had lasted for more than three years. The agreement divided Bosnia and Herzegovina into two entities, the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina and the Republika Srpska, and established a peacekeeping force and a civilian administration. The war had claimed the lives of about 100,000 people and displaced more than two million.
- In 2000, the merger of AOL and Time Warner was completed, creating the largest media and internet company in the world. The deal was valued at $165 billion and was seen as a landmark of the dot-com era. However, the merger proved to be a disaster, as the two companies struggled to integrate their cultures and businesses, and faced competition from rivals like Google and Apple. In 2009, AOL was spun off as a separate company, and Time Warner changed its name to WarnerMedia in 2018.
- In 2012, a mass shooting occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut, killing 26 people, including 20 children and six staff members. The shooter, 20-year-old Adam Lanza, had earlier killed his mother at their home, and later killed himself at the school. The shooting sparked a national debate on gun control and mental health, and led to the creation of the Sandy Hook Promise, a nonprofit organization that advocates for violence prevention.
- In 2015, the highly anticipated film Star Wars: The Force Awakens had its world premiere in Los Angeles. The film, directed by J.J. Abrams, was the seventh installment in the Star Wars saga, and the first one produced by Disney, which had acquired Lucasfilm in 2012. The film featured the return of original cast members like Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill, and Carrie Fisher, as well as new stars like Daisy Ridley, John Boyega, and Adam Driver. The film broke numerous box office records and received critical acclaim, becoming the highest-grossing film of 2015 and the fourth-highest-grossing film of all time.
- On Dec. 14, 2020, the largest vaccination campaign in U.S. history began with health workers getting shots on the same day the nation’s COVID-19 death toll hit 300,000
