On this day …
December 23, 2014
- In 1783, George Washington resigned as commander-in-chief of the Continental Army at the Maryland State House.
- In 1823, A Visit from St. Nicholas (The Night Before Christmas) was published anonymously.
- In 1913, President Woodrow Wilson signed the Federal Reserve Act into law.
- In 1938, a coelacanth, a species of fish believed to be extinct, was discovered off the coast of South Africa.
- In 1947, the transistor was first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories.
- In 1954, the first successful kidney transplant was performed by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.
- In 1972, a 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit Managua, Nicaragua, killing more than 10,000.
- In 1986, Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, became the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without refueling.