December 26, 1919. Baseball’s so-called Sultan of Swat, Babe Ruth, is sold to the world-famous New York Yankees.

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December 25, 1989. After decades of brutal dictatorial rule, Romanian president Nicolae Ceasescu and his wife Elena are executed by firing squad for crimes against humanity.

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On today's Saturday Matinee, we travel back to biblical times to learn about King Herod the Great, the tyrant that changed the face of the Middle East in the 1st century BC.

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December 22, 1894. Alfred Dreyfus, a Jewish captain in the French army, is convicted of treason for allegedly passing military secrets to the Germans.

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December 21, 1891: James Naismith invents a new sport to control a boisterous college gym class.

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December 20, 1956. The Montgomery Bus Boycott ends after the Supreme Court rules that segregation on buses is unconstitutional.

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December 19, 1675. During King Philip's War, colonial militias wage a devastating attack against the Narragansett tribe in Rhode Island.

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December 18, 1972. After peace talks break down, US President Richard Nixon announces the start of the “Christmas Bombing” of North Vietnam.

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