1950 – Tom Fears (Los Angeles Rams) caught an NFL-record 18 passes against the Green Bay Packers. Terrell Owens (San Francisco 49ers) broke the record with 20 catches for 283 yards and a touchdown against the Chicago Bears on December 17, 2000.

1968 – The rules committee of Major League Baseball (MLB) announced that in 1969 the pitcher’s mound would be lowered from 15 to 10 inches. This was done in order to “get more batting action.”

1982 – Doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center removed the respirator of Barney Clark. The retired dentist had become the world’s first recipient of a permanent artificial heart only one day before.

1983 – 3-foot-high concrete barriers were installed at two White House entrances.

1999 – Tori Murden became the first woman to row across the Atlantic Ocean alone. It took her 81 days to reach the French Caribbean island of Guadeloupe from the Canary Islands.