On December 21, 1891, 30-year-old James Naismith (above) 
introduced the first game of basketball. Based on 13 rules
created by Naismith, the game was tested by 18 students at
the International Young Men’s Christian Association Training
School in Springfield, Massachusetts.

On December 21, 1970, rock star Elvis Presley was greeted at
the White House by President Richard M. Nixon. Presley’s visit
was not just a social call: He wanted to meet Nixon in order to
offer his services in the government’s war on drugs.

On December 21, 1988, Pan Am Flight 103 from London to
New York exploded in midair over Lockerbie, Scotland,
killing all 243 passengers and 16 crew members aboard,
as well as 11 Lockerbie residents on the ground.

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, was
successfully launched from Cape Canaveral, Florida,
with astronauts Frank Borman, James Lovell, Jr. and
William Anders aboard.

The crew: Frank Borman, Bill Anders and Jim Lovell.

More than two years after the Berlin Wall was constructed by
East Germany to prevent its citizens from fleeing its communist
regime, nearly 4,000 West Berliners were allowed to cross into
East Berlin to visit relatives.