(Continued from page 26)

during the Battle of the North Cape off Norway; only 36 of its crew of more than 1,900 survived.
• In 1944, during the World War II Battle of the Bulge, the embattled U.S. 101st Airborne Division in Bastogne, Belgium, was relieved by units of the 4th Armored Division.
• In 1966, Kwanzaa was first celebrated.
• In 1972, the 33rd president of the United States, Harry S. Truman, died in Kansas City, Mo., at age 88.
• In 1973, the demon-possession horror film "The Exorcist" was released.
• In 1996, 6-year-old beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey was found beaten and strangled in the basement of her family's home in Boulder, Colo. (To date, the slaying remains unsolved.)
• In 2004, some 230,000 people, mostly in southern Asia, were killed by a tsunami triggered by the world's most powerful earthquake in 40 years beneath the Indian Ocean.
• In 2006, former President Gerald R. Ford died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 93.
•
• Ten years ago: An earthquake struck the historic Iranian city of Bam, killing at least 26,000 people. Three snowboarders were killed in an avalanche in Provo Canyon, Utah.
• Five years ago: Caroline Kennedy emerged from weeks of near-silence about her bid for a New York Senate seat; in an interview with The Associated Press and NY1 television, the daughter of President John F. Kennedy said she felt compelled to answer the call to service issued by her father a generation earlier. (Kennedy later dropped her bid; Kirsten Gillibrand was appointed by New York Gov. David Paterson.)
• One year ago: Toyota Motor Corp. said it had reached a settlement worth more than $1 billion in a case involving unintended acceleration problems in its vehicles. Old-guard veteran Shinzo Abe was voted back into office as Japan's prime minister. Gerry Anderson, 83, British puppetry pioneer and creator of the sci-fi TV show "Thunderbirds," died near Oxfordshire, England. Soul singer Fontella Bass, 72, died in St. Louis.
•
• Today's Birthdays: Actor Donald Moffat is 83. Actor Caroll Spinney (Big Bird on TV's "Sesame Street") is 80. Rhythm-and-blues singer Abdul "Duke" Fakir (The Four Tops) is 78. Record producer Phil Spector is 74. "America's Most Wanted" host

(Continued on page 28)