TODAY IN HISTORY

Monday, December  16, 2013 AP Highlight in History:  On Dec. 16, 1770, composer Ludwig van Beethoven was born in Bonn, Germany.   AP Photo
On this date in: 1653 Oliver Cromwell became lord protector of England, Scotland and Ireland. 1773 The Boston Tea Party took place as American colonists boarded a British ship and dumped more than 300 chests of tea overboard to protest tea taxes. 1809 Napoleon Bonaparte was divorced from the Empress Josephine by an act of the French Senate. 1811 The first of the powerful New Madrid earthquakes, with an estimated magnitude of 7.7, struck the central Mississippi Valley. 1916 Gregory Rasputin, the monk who had wielded powerful influence over the Russian court, was murdered by a group of noblemen. 1917 Science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke was born in Minehead, England. 1944 The Battle of the Bulge during World War II began as German forces launched a surprise counterattack against Allied forces in Belgium. 1985 Reputed organized-crime chief Paul Castellano was shot to death outside a New York City restaurant. AP Photo/Mario Suriani 1990 Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president of Haiti in the country's first democratic elections. 1991 The U.N. General Assembly rescinded its 1975 resolution equating Zionism with racism. 1998 President Bill Clinton ordered a sustained series of airstrikes against Iraq by American and British forces in response to Saddam Hussein's continued defiance of U.N. weapons inspectors. 2000 President-elect George W. Bush selected Colin Powell to become the first African-American secretary of state. 2007 British forces formally handed over to Iraq responsibility for Basra, the last Iraqi region under their control. 2009 Iran test-fired a missile capable of hitting Israel and parts of Europe. 2010 Larry King concluded his CNN talk show after 25 years.		Video HIGHLIGHTS OF THIS DAY IN HISTORY Today's Birthdays: Broadcast journalist Lesley Stahl ("60 Minutes") turns 72 years old today. AP Photo/Evan Agostini Name Profession Age Morris Dees Civil rights attorney 77 Joyce Bulifant Actress 76 Liv Ullmann Actress 75 Steven Bochco TV producer ("NYPD Blue," "Hill Street Blues") 70 Billy Gibbons Rock musician (ZZ Top) 64 Peter Orszag Former White House budget director 45 Krysten Ritter Actress ("Don’t Trust the B---- in Apartment 23") 32 Actor Benjamin Bratt turns 50 years old today. AP Photo/Dan Steinberg