Today in History: Dec. 27

FILE - Charles Darwin poses in a wicker chair in 1875 at an unknown location. The father of evolution's ailments are the topic of an annual conference in Baltimore on Friday, May 6, 2011 that offers modern medical diagnoses for the mysterious illnesses and deaths of historical figures. The very travels that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and shaped modern biology may have led to one of the illnesses that plagued the British naturalist for decades and ultimately led to his death. (AP Photo, File)
In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle. (AP Photo, File)
Dutch Queen Juliana,  with Prince Bernhard, is seen in this September 1948  photo, during her official inauguration ceremony as queen of the Netherlands in New Church in Amsterdam. Juliana, the popular queen mother of the Netherlands, who presided over the dismantling of the centuries-old Dutch empire and witnessed the birth of a social revolution during her 31-year reign, died as a result of pneumonia early Saturday morning March 20, 2004, at the age of 94. (AP Photo/NFP)
In 1949, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed an act recognizing Indonesia’s sovereignty after more than three centuries of Dutch rule.  (AP Photo/NFP)
Apollo 8 Spacecraft commander Frank Borman addresses the crew of the USS Yorktown while Apollo 8 astronauts Bill Anders, center, and Jim Lovell, right, look on following a flawless lunar orbital mission and recover in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 miles Southwest of Hawaii, Dec. 27, 1968. Navy officer at left is unidentified. (AP Photo/Four Walls Eight Windows, Nasa)
In 1968, Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.  (AP Photo/Four Walls Eight Windows, Nasa)
Rebel Muslim fighters inspect a Soviet tank captured in fighting with the Kabul government forces on September near Asmar, Afghanistan on Thursday, Dec. 27, 1979. The Kabul government of Hafizaullah Amin was overthrown by former Deputy Prime Minister Babrak Karmal. (AP Photo/Steve McCurry)
In 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin (hah-FEE’-zoo-lah ah-MEEN’), who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal. (AP Photo/Steve McCurry)
Former Olympic gymnast and Broadway star Cathy Rigby, who is launching a nationwide, yearlong tour, performs as "Peter Pan" at La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, Calif. Sept. 24, 2004. Rigby,  51, says this will be the last time she plays the role.  (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)
On Dec. 27, 1904, James Barrie’s play “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” opened at the Duke of York’s Theater in London. Former Olympic gymnast and Broadway star Cathy Rigby, who is launching a nationwide, yearlong tour, performs as “Peter Pan” at La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, Calif. Sept. 24, 2004. Rigby, 51, says this will be the last time she plays the role. (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)
In 1945, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were formally established. Managing Director of International Monetary Fund (IMF) Christine Lagarde, left, leaves after a press conference ahead of the annual meetings of the IMF and World Bank in Bali, Indonesia Thursday, Oct. 11, 2018. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
In 2001, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. In this June 5, 2018 photo reviewed by U.S. military officials, a bird perches on barbed wire where a U.S. flag flies at the Camp VI detention facility on the Guantanamo Bay U.S. naval base in Cuba. The two Guantanamos have been a contrast since the U.S. opened the base at the southeastern tip of the island in 1903, following the Spanish-American War, and the divide has only grown under Cuba’s communist government, which refuses to cash the annual rent checks from Washington as it insists the U.S. leave. (AP Photo/Ramon Espinosa)
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FILE - Charles Darwin poses in a wicker chair in 1875 at an unknown location. The father of evolution's ailments are the topic of an annual conference in Baltimore on Friday, May 6, 2011 that offers modern medical diagnoses for the mysterious illnesses and deaths of historical figures. The very travels that inspired Charles Darwin's theory of evolution and shaped modern biology may have led to one of the illnesses that plagued the British naturalist for decades and ultimately led to his death. (AP Photo, File)
Dutch Queen Juliana,  with Prince Bernhard, is seen in this September 1948  photo, during her official inauguration ceremony as queen of the Netherlands in New Church in Amsterdam. Juliana, the popular queen mother of the Netherlands, who presided over the dismantling of the centuries-old Dutch empire and witnessed the birth of a social revolution during her 31-year reign, died as a result of pneumonia early Saturday morning March 20, 2004, at the age of 94. (AP Photo/NFP)
Apollo 8 Spacecraft commander Frank Borman addresses the crew of the USS Yorktown while Apollo 8 astronauts Bill Anders, center, and Jim Lovell, right, look on following a flawless lunar orbital mission and recover in the Pacific Ocean some 1,000 miles Southwest of Hawaii, Dec. 27, 1968. Navy officer at left is unidentified. (AP Photo/Four Walls Eight Windows, Nasa)
Rebel Muslim fighters inspect a Soviet tank captured in fighting with the Kabul government forces on September near Asmar, Afghanistan on Thursday, Dec. 27, 1979. The Kabul government of Hafizaullah Amin was overthrown by former Deputy Prime Minister Babrak Karmal. (AP Photo/Steve McCurry)
Former Olympic gymnast and Broadway star Cathy Rigby, who is launching a nationwide, yearlong tour, performs as "Peter Pan" at La Mirada Theater for the Performing Arts in La Mirada, Calif. Sept. 24, 2004. Rigby,  51, says this will be the last time she plays the role.  (AP Photo/Stefano Paltera)

Today is Thursday, Dec. 27, the 361st day of 2018.

Today’s Highlight in History:

On Dec. 27, 1979, Soviet forces seized control of Afghanistan. President Hafizullah Amin (hah-FEE’-zoo-lah ah-MEEN’), who was overthrown and executed, was replaced by Babrak Karmal.

On this date:

In 1831, naturalist Charles Darwin set out on a round-the-world voyage aboard the HMS Beagle.

In 1904, James Barrie’s play “Peter Pan: The Boy Who Wouldn’t Grow Up” opened at the Duke of York’s Theater in London.

In 1945, the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund were formally established.

In 1947, the original version of the puppet character Howdy Doody made his TV debut on NBC’s “Puppet Playhouse.”

In 1949, Queen Juliana of the Netherlands signed an act recognizing Indonesia’s sovereignty after more than three centuries of Dutch rule.

In 1968, Apollo 8 and its three astronauts made a safe, nighttime splashdown in the Pacific.

In 1970, the musical play “Hello, Dolly!” closed on Broadway after a run of 2,844 performances.

In 1981, composer and bandleader Hoagy Carmichael (”Stardust”) died in Rancho Mirage, Calif., at age 82.

In 1985, Palestinian guerrillas opened fire inside the Rome and Vienna airports; 19 victims were killed, plus four attackers who were slain by police and security personnel. American naturalist Dian Fossey, 53, who had studied gorillas in the wild in Rwanda, was found hacked to death.

In 1995, Israeli jeeps sped out of the West Bank town of Ramallah, capping a seven-week pullout giving Yasser Arafat control over 90 percent of the West Bank’s one million Palestinian residents and one-third of its land.

In 2001, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld announced that Taliban and al-Qaida prisoners would be held at the U.S. naval base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

In 2002, A defiant North Korea ordered U.N. nuclear inspectors to leave the country and said it would restart a laboratory capable of producing plutonium for nuclear weapons; the U.N. nuclear watchdog said its inspectors were “staying put” for the time being.

Ten years ago: Israel bombed security sites in Hamas-ruled Gaza in retaliation for rocket fire aimed at civilians in southern Israeli towns, opening one of the Mideast conflict’s bloodiest assaults in decades. Tens of thousands of people in Pakistan paid homage to Benazir Bhutto on the one-year anniversary of her assassination.

Five years ago: Connecticut police released thousands of pages from their investigation into the Newtown massacre, providing the most detailed and disturbing picture yet of the Dec. 14, 2012, shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School that left 20 first-graders and six educators dead.

One year ago: Freezing temperatures and below-zero wind chills socked much of the northern United States. Houston Astros star second baseman Jose Altuve was named AP Male Athlete of the Year after leading the team to its first World Series title. A power outage struck parts of Disneyland in California, forcing some guests to be escorted from stalled rides.

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