George Washington crosses the Delaware, "To Kill a Mockingbird" premieres, Gorbachev resigns, and passengers on a Christmas flight into Detroit foil the "Underwear Bomber," all on this day.
20 / 29
Public domain
1977: Actor and film director Charlie Chaplin, a silent film star who became one of the world's biggest celebrities before World War I, dies in his sleep from the complications of a stroke at the age of 88 in Vevey, Switzerland.