On this day :

1620 Mayflower docks at Plymouth Harbor, 1777 States give thanks, 1968 Chitty Chitty Bang Bang opens in New York, 1862 Battle of Lexington Tennessee, 1972 Nixon announces start of Christmas Bombing of North Vietnam, 1878 The death of Mollyism, 1982 Power plant burns in Venezuela, 1865 Slavery abolished in America, 1912 Piltdown Man discovered, 1946 Director Steven Spielberg born, 1870 Short story writer HH Munro is born in Burma, 1961 The Tokens earn a 1 hit with The Lion Sleeps Tonight, 1888 Wetherill and Mason discover Mesa Verde, 1915 Woodrow Wilson marries Edith Bolling Galt, 1886 Ty Cobb is born, 1972 Nixon orders the initiation of Operation Linebacker II, 1916 Battle of Verdun ends, 1941 Japan invades Hong Kong,