On December 6, 1865, the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution,
officially ending the institution of slavery, was ratified. “Neither slavery
nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the
party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States,
or any place subject to their jurisdiction.” With these words, the single
greatest change wrought by the Civil War was officially noted in the
Constitution.

The ratification came eight months after the end of the war, but it
represented the culmination of the struggle against slavery.

Workers set the capstone on top of the Washington Monument on
Dec. 6, 1884.

On this day in 1884, in Washington, D.C., workers (above) place a nine-inch aluminum pyramid atop a tower of white marble, completing the construction
of an impressive monument to the city’s namesake and the nation’s first
president, George Washington. As early as 1783, the infant U.S. Congress
decided that a statue of George Washington, the great Revolutionary War
general, should be placed near the site of the new Congressional building, wherever it might be. After then-President Washington asked him to lay out
a new federal capital on the Potomac River in 1791, architect Pierre L’Enfant
left a place for the statue at the western end of the sweeping National Mall
(near the monument’s present location).

It wasn’t until 1832, however–33 years after Washington’s death–that anyone
really did anything about the monument. That year, a private Washington
National Monument Society was formed. After holding a design competition
and choosing an elaborate Greek temple-like design by architect Robert Mills,
the society began a fundraising drive to raise money for the statue’s
construction.

The Washington Monument is under construction in 1859 in
Washington D.C.

The Washington Monument in 1888, the year it was
open to the public.

The Monument reopened to the public in September after a three-
year closure for elevator repairs and other updates.

Members of the Flight 19 crew which disappeared in 1945.(History.com)

 

At 2:10 p.m., five U.S. Navy Avenger torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19
take off from the Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine three-
hour training mission. Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east for 120
miles, north for 73 miles, and then back over a final 120-mile leg that would
return them to the naval base. They never returned.

Two hours after the flight began, the leader of the squadron, who had been
flying in the area for more than six months, reported that his compass and
back-up compass had failed and that his position was unknown. The other
planes experienced similar instrument malfunctions. Radio facilities on land
were contacted to find the location of the lost squadron, but none were
successful. After two more hours of confused messages from the fliers, a
distorted radio transmission from the squadron leader was heard at 6:20
p.m., apparently calling for his men to prepare to ditch their aircraft due
to a lack of fuel.

Five U.S. Navy Grumman TBF-1 Avengers from Escort Scouting Squadron 29 (VGS-29) flying in formation over Norfolk, Virginia.

Dorothy Catherine Fontana (March 25, 1939 – December 2, 2019)

NEW YORK (AP) — D.C. Fontana, a writer and story editor for the original
“Star Trek” television series and later a contributor to “Star Trek: The
Next Generation" and other related projects, has died.

Fran Evans, a family friend, told The Associated Press that she died
Tuesday after a brief illness.

DIANE KEPLY

On this day in 1991, Associated Press correspondent Terry
Anderson (center) was released after nearly seven years of
captivity in Lebanon.

Terry A. Anderson turned 72 in October.