Updated December 17, 2011, 1:28 pm

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On Dec. 18, 1957, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first civilian nuclear facility to generate electricity in the United States, went online.

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On Dec. 18, 1888, Robert Moses, the American public servant who supervised the construction of many New York landmarks, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium , was born. Following his death on July 29, 1981, his obituary appeared in The Times.

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On This Date

By The Associated Press

1787	New Jersey became the third state to ratify the U.S. Constitution.
1886	Baseball Hall of Famer Ty Cobb was born in Narrows, Ga.
1892	Peter Tchaikovsky’s “The Nutcracker Suite” premiered in St. Petersburg, Russia.
1915	President Woodrow Wilson, widowed the year before, married Edith Bolling Galt.
1944	The Supreme Court upheld the wartime relocation of Japanese-Americans.
1957	The first nuclear facility in the United States to generate electricity, the Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, went online.
1958	The world’s first communications satellite was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
1969	Britain’s Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.
1972	The United States began the heaviest bombing of North Vietnam during the Vietnam War.
1987	Ivan F. Boesky was sentenced to three years in prison for plotting Wall Street’s biggest insider-trading scandal.
2003	A judge in Seattle sentenced confessed Green River killer Gary Ridgeway to 48 consecutive life terms.
2003	A jury in Chesapeake, Va., convicted teenager Lee Boyd Malvo of two counts of murder in the Washington-area sniper shootings. (He was later sentenced to life in prison without parole.)
2008	A U.N. court in Tanzania convicted former Rwandan army Col. Theoneste Bagosora of genocide and crimes against humanity for masterminding the killings of more than half a million people in a 100-day slaughter in 1994.
2009	Reality TV stars Jon and Kate Gosselin, parents of eight children, divorced.

Current Birthdays

By The Associated Press

Actor Brad Pitt turns 48 years old today.

AP Photo/Evan Agostini

Rock musician Keith Richards (Rolling Stones) turns 68 years old today.

AP Photo/Donald Traill

1927	Ramsey Clark, Former U.S. attorney general, turns 84
1946	Steven Spielberg, Director, producer, turns 65
1950	Leonard Maltin, Movie critic, turns 61
1953	Elliot Easton, Rock musician (The Cars), turns 58
1955	Ray Liotta, Actor, turns 56
1968	Rachel Griffiths, Actress, turns 43
1970	Cowboy Troy, Country singer, rapper (“Nashville Star”), turns 41
1970	DMX, Rapper, turns 41
1971	Arantxa Sanchez Vicario, Tennis Hall of Famer, turns 40
1978	Katie Holmes, Actress, turns 33
1980	Christina Aguilera, Singer, turns 31

Historic Birthdays

Robert Moses 12/18/1888 – 7/29/1981 American public works planner; supervised construction of Lincoln Center and Shea Stadium. Go to obituary »

83	Sir J. J. Thompson 12/18/1856 – 8/30/1940 English physicist
50	Francis Ferdinand 12/18/1863 – 6/28/1914 Austrian archduke
60	Paul Klee 12/18/1879 – 6/29/1940 Swiss painter
74	Ty Cobb 12/18/1886 – 7/17/1961 American baseball player
82	Dame Gladys Cooper 12/18/1888 – 11/17/1971 English actress
70	George Stevens 12/18/1904 – 3/8/1975 American film director
78	Willy Brandt 12/18/1913 – 10/8,9/1992 German statesman
56	Betty Grable 12/18/1916 – 7/2/1973 American actress