Timeline December 18 & 19

December 18
1642  Abel Tasman becomes first European to land in New Zealand.
1707  Charles Wesley, English Methodist hymnist was born.
1856  Sir J. J. Thomson, English physicist and Nobel laureate, was born.
1863  Francis Ferdinand, Austrian archduke, was born. Died June 28, 1914.
1865  Slavery ended in the United States as the 13th Amendment to the U.S. Constitution was declared in effect.
1888  Robert Moses, the American public servant who supervised the construction of many New York landmarks, including the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts and Shea Stadium , was born.
1958  The world's first communications satellite was launched by the United States aboard an Atlas rocket.
1969  Britain's Parliament abolished the death penalty for murder.

December 19
1732  Benjamin Franklin began publishing "Poor Richard's Almanac."
1776  Thomas Paine published his first "American Crisis" essay, writing: "These are the times that try men's souls."
1777  Gen. George Washington led his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.
1843  Charles Dickens' Yuletide tale, "A Christmas Carol," was first published in England.
1852  Albert Abraham Michelson, Prussian-born American physicist, Nobel laureate, was born.
1944  Richard E Leakey, palaeontologist, was born.
1972  Apollo 17 splashed down in the Pacific, ending the Apollo program of manned lunar landings.