Today is Friday, December 21st, the 355th day of the year. There are 10 days until the end of the year.
On This Day:
In 1909, McKinley and Washington schools of Berkeley, California became the country's first authorized junior high schools. They served grades seven, eight and nine.
In 1940, author F. Scott Fitzgerald died at the age of 44. He is best remembered for his book "The Great Gatsby."
In 1968, Apollo Eight was launched. The crew aboard carried out the first manned flight around the moon.
In 1972, East and West Germany signed a treaty committing each side to good neighbor relations.
In 1978, John Wayne Gacy, Jr., was arrested in Des Plaines, Illinois. He was eventually convicted of murdering 33 men and boys.
In 1988, Pan-Am Flight 103 exploded in the air over Lockerbie, Scotland, killing 270 people. The explosion was caused by a terrorist bomb.
In 2005, pop star Elton John married his longtime partner David Furnish in a civil partnership ceremony in Windsor, England. The ceremony came on the first day that same-sex unions were allowed to take place in England.
In 2012, some calendars predicted the world to end on this date.
In 2015, Kim Kardashian released her new "Kimoji" app and it was in such high demand that some users had trouble downloading it. Kardashian tweeted "Apple, I'm so sorry I broke your App Store."
In 2015, the FDA lifted its lifetime ban on gay men donating blood. The new policy allowed homosexuals to donate blood 12 months after their last sexual contact with another man.
In 2015, a grand jury in Texas decided not to charge anyone in connection with the death of Sandra Bland. She was found hanged in her jail cell at the Waller County Jail and her death was later ruled a suicide. Bland was initially arrested over accusations that she assaulted a police officer during a traffic stop.