Today in History: December 19, U.S. auto industry gets emergency bailout
Today is Friday, Dec. 19, the 353rd day of 2025. There are 12 days left in the year.
Today in history:
On Dec. 19, 2008, citing imminent danger to the national economy, President George W. Bush ordered a $17.4 billion emergency bailout of the U.S. auto industry.
Also on this date:
In 1777, during the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington led his army of more than 12,000 soldiers to Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, to camp for the winter.
In 1907, 239 workers died in an explosion at the Darr coal mine near Van Meter, Pennsylvania.
In 1960, fire broke out on the hangar deck of the nearly completed aircraft carrier USS Constellation at the New York Naval Shipyard, killing 50 civilian workers.
In 1972, Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, concluding the Apollo program of crewed lunar landings.
In 1998, President Bill Clinton was impeached by the U.S. House of Representatives for perjury and obstruction of justice. (He was subsequently acquitted by the Senate.)
In 2011, North Korea announced the death two days earlier of leader Kim Jong Il; North Koreans marched by the thousands to mourn while state media proclaimed his youngest son, Kim Jong Un, as the nation’s new leader.
In 2016, a truck rammed into a crowded Christmas market in central Berlin, killing 12 people in an attack claimed by the Islamic State. (The suspected attacker was killed in a police shootout four days later.)
In 2023, a strong earthquake rocked a mountainous region of northwestern China, killing 131 people, reducing homes to rubble and leaving residents outside in below-freezing winter weather.
Today’s Birthdays:
- Actor Tim Reid is 81.
- Singer Janie Fricke is 78.
- Actor Jennifer Beals is 62.
- Basketball Hall of Famer Arvydas Sabonis is 61.
- Olympic skiing gold medalist Alberto Tomba is 59.
- Actor Kristy Swanson is 56.
- Model Tyson Beckford is 55.
- Actor Alyssa Milano is 53.
- Football Hall of Famer Warren Sapp is 53.
- Actor Jake Gyllenhaal (JIH’-lihn-hahl) is 45.
- Actor Annie Murphy is 39.
- Journalist Ronan Farrow is 38.