MIKE GRACIA

On its final approach to Madison, Wisconsin on December 10,
1967, the private plane carrying soul-music legend Otis Redding 
(26)crashed into the frigid waters of a small lake three miles short         
of the runway, killing seven of the eight men aboard, including
Redding. “Sittin’ On The Dock Of The Bay”, which he had been
recording, would be released in its “unfinished” form several
weeks later, with Redding’s whistled verse a seemingly
indispensable part of the now-classic record and would soon
become history’s first posthumous #1 hit and the biggest pop
hit of Redding’s career.       

On December 8, 1941, President Franklin D. Roosevelt
delivered his "Day of Infamy" speech before a joint
session of Congress.

At 2:10 p.m. on December 5, 1945, five U.S. Navy Avenger
torpedo-bombers comprising Flight 19 took off from the
Ft. Lauderdale Naval Air Station in Florida on a routine
three-hour training mission. After having completed their
objective, Flight 19 was scheduled to take them due east
for an additional 67 miles, then turn north for 73 miles,
and back to the air station after that, totaling a distance
of 120 miles. They never returned.

A hijacker who became known as D.B. Cooper parachutes from
a Northwest Orient Airlines 727 into a raging thunderstorm over Washington State. He had $200,000 in ransom money in his
possession.

Cooper commandeered the aircraft shortly after takeoff, showing
a flight attendant what looked like a bomb and informing the crew
that he wanted $200,000, four parachutes, and “no funny stuff.”

The plane landed at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport, where authorities met Cooper’s demands and evacuated most of the passengers. Cooper then demanded that the plane fly toward
Mexico at a low altitude and ordered the remaining crew into
the cockpit.

At 8:13 p.m., as the plane flew over the Lewis River in southwest Washington, the plane’s pressure gauge recorded Cooper’s jump
from the aircraft.

A storm prevented an immediate capture, and most authorities
assumed he was killed during his apparently suicidal jump. No
trace of Cooper was found during a massive search.