Sunday, December 16, 2012 Today in History - Sunday, Dec. 16,
2012 Today is Sunday, Dec. 16, the 351st day of 2012. There are
15 days left in the year. Today's Highlight in History: On Dec.
16, 1773, the Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists
boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea
into Boston Harbor to protest tea taxes. On this date: In 1653,
Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and
Ireland. In 1809, the French Senate granted a divorce decree to
Emperor Napoleon I and Empress Josephine (the dissolution was
made final the following month). In 1811, the first of the
powerful New Madrid earthquakes struck the central Mississippi
Valley with an estimated magnitude of 7.7. In 1907, 16 U.S. Navy
battleships, which came to be known as the "Great White Fleet,"
set sail on a 14-month round-the-world voyage to demonstrate
American sea power. In 1944, the World War II Battle of the
Bulge began as German forces launched a surprise attack against
Allied forces in Be