December first

Today's Highlight in History:
On December first, 1955, Rosa Parks, a black seamstress, refused to give up her seat to a white man on a Montgomery, Alabama, city bus. Mrs. Parks was arrested, sparking a year-long boycott of the buses by blacks.

On this date:
In 1913, the first drive-in automobile service station opened, in Pittsburgh.

In 1919, Lady Astor was sworn in as the first female member of the British Parliament.

In 1934, Sergei M. Kirov, a collaborator of Josef Stalin, was assassinated in Leningrad, resulting in a massive purge.

In 1942, nationwide gasoline rationing went into effect in the United States.

In 1943, President Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet leader Josef Stalin concluded their Tehran conference.

In 1956, the Leonard Bernstein musical "Candide," based on Voltaire, opened on Broadway.

In 1959, representatives of 12 countries, including the United States, signed a treaty in Washington setting aside Antarctica as a scientific preserve, free from military activity.

In 1965, an airlift of refugees from Cuba to the United States began in which thousands of Cubans were allowed to leave their homeland.

In 1969, the US government held its first draft lottery since World War Two.

In 1973, David Ben-Gurion, Israel's first prime minister, died in Tel Aviv at age 87.

Ten years ago: In an extraordinary encounter, Soviet President Mikhail S. Gorbachev met with Pope John Paul the Second at the Vatican. East Germany's Parliament abolished the Communist Party's constitutional guarantee of supremacy.

Five years ago: The Senate gave final congressional approval to a world trade agreement, passing the 124-nation General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade 76-to-24.

One year ago: Exxon agreed to buy Mobil for $73.7 billion. Cuba's Communist Party recommended that December 25th be re-established as a permanent holiday.

"I got a simple rule about everybody. If you don't treat me right, shame on you."

-- Louis Armstrong, American jazz musician (1900-1971).