December 22nd, 1989. A popular uprising  topples Eastern Europe’s last hardline communist ruler, Nicolae Ceau?escu of Romania. Days later, Ceau?escu and his wife are tried and convicted by a military tribunal, then promptly shot by a firing squad.

2001. Richard Reid tries to set off explosives in his tennis shoes, aboard an American Airlines flight from Paris to Miami. But flight attendants and Reed’s fellow passengers subdue him, Reid later pleads guilty and receives a life sentence in prison.

1894. Alfred Dreyfus, a French Army officer is convicted of treason in a couurt  martial, but the case against Dreyfus who is Jewish triggers worldwide charges of anti-Semitism. Dreyfus who insists he is innocent is eventually vindicated years later.

And 2000. Wedding bells ring for the Material Girl as pop-star Madonna and film director Guy Ritchie marry in Scotland.

Today in history, December 22nd, Ross Simpson, the Associated Press.