MIKE GRACIA

Douglas Wilder, the first African American to be elected governor
of an American state, took office as Governor of Virginia on this
day in 1990. Wilder broke a number of color barriers in Virginia
politics and remains an enduring and controversial figure in the
state’s political scene.

Born in 1931 in Church Hill, a poor and segregated neighborhood
of Richmond, Wilder is the grandson of slaves and is named for Frederick Douglass. He grew up in the Jim Crow era, graduating
from Richmond’s Virginia Union University in 1951. Wilder fought
in the Korean War, earning the Bronze Star, before studying law
at Howard University and returning to Richmond to practice.

On January 4, 1847, Samuel Colt rescues the future of his
faltering gun company by winning a contract to provide
the U.S. government with 1,000 of his .44 caliber revolvers

Before Colt began mass-producing his popular revolvers
in 1847, handguns had not played a significant role in the
history of either the American West or the nation as a
whole.

View of the Colt Factory from Dutch Point or Little River, Hartford, oil painting.

Drawing of an early Colt pistol, ca. 1835.
(Connecticut Historical Society)        

ROSS SIMPSON

    
Madonna, aged 42, married Guy Ritchie, who was ten years
her junior, in a ceremony steeped in the groom’s Scottish heritage. 

U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials in Los Angeles
seized more than $18 million in fake Gibson guitars in the
largest counterfeit musical instrument seizure in history.  

Working with local and federal agencies at the LA/Long
Beach Seaport, agents intercepted the suspected cargo
arriving in ocean containers from Asia. 

In total, agents seized more than 3,000 counterfeit guitars
and had they been genuine, the value would have been
more than $18.74 million.
(FOX NEWS)

WASHINGTON (TNND) — President-elect Donald Trump has
picked a well-known television host and Army veteran
officer to serve in his Cabinet.

Trump has selected Fox News host Pete Hegseth (44) to
serve as Secretary of Defense. Hegseth currently co-hosts
"Fox & Friends Weekend."

Hegseth is an Army combat veteran who deployed to Iraq
and Afghanistan. He was decorated with two Bronze Stars,
as well as a Combat Infantryman’s Badge for his service.

Pete Hegseth was previously the executive director of Vets
for Freedom and Concerned Veterans for America.

"Nobody fights harder for the Troops, and Pete will be a
courageous and patriotic champion of our ‘Peace through
Strength’ policy," Trump wrote.