On December 28, 1975, Dallas Cowboys quarterback Roger
Staubach (above) threw a 50-yard touchdown pass to Drew
Pearson in the waning seconds to beat the Minnesota Vikings
in a playoff game, 17-14.

Afterward, Staubach calls the miraculous touchdown a "Hail
Mary," thus cementing the term for a  desperation pass in the
sports lexicon.

"It was a play you hit one in a hundred times if you’re lucky,”
Staubach told reporters after the game in Bloomington,
Minnesota. "I guess it’s a Hail Mary pass. You throw it up and
pray he catches it."

Said Dallas coach Tom Landry: "Our only hope was to throw
and hope for a miracle."

Wide receiver Drew Pearson catches the ball. 

Comedian Tom Smothers has died at the age of 86.

The National Comedy Center, on behalf of his family,
said in a statement Wednesday that Smothers died
Tuesday at home in Santa Rosa, California.   

In 2023, Smothers announced he had been diagnosed
with stage two lung cancer.

Tommy with brother Dick…The Smothers Brothers.

…‘’THIS ISN’T THE MEN’S ROOM”

Apollo 8, the first manned mission to the moon, returned safely
to Earth after an historic six-day journey.

On December 21, Apollo 8 was launched by a three-stage Saturn
5 rocket from Cape Canaveral, Florida, with astronauts Frank
Borman, James Lovell, Jr., and William Anders aboard.

On Christmas Eve, the astronauts entered into orbit around the
moon, the first manned spacecraft ever to do so.

From left Astronauts Borman, Anders and Lovell
after splashing down in the Pacific Ocean and
being recovered by the aircraft carrier USS Yorktown.            
           

                           

THE FIRST IMAGE TAKEN BY HUMANS OF THE
WHOLE EARTH on December 22. 

On December 26, 1973, The Exorcist, a horror film starring the
actress Linda Blair as a girl possessed by an evil spirit, made
its debut in theaters; it went on to earn a reputation as one
of the scariest movies in history. 

The film stars Ellen Burstyn, Max von Sydow, Jason Miller,
and Linda Blair.

It become the first horror film to be nominated for the Academy
Award for Best Picture, as well as nine others.