Today in History....December 12

On this day in …

1901, Italian physicist and radio pioneer Guglielmo Marconi succeeds in sending the first radio transmission across the Atlantic Ocean, disproving detractors who told him that the curvature of the earth would limit transmission to 200 miles or less. The message--simply the Morse-code signal for the letter "s"--traveled more than 2,000 miles from Poldhu in Cornwall, England, to Newfoundland, Canada
1906, the Senate confirmed Oscar Straus to be President Theodore Roosevelt's Secretary of Commerce and Labor; Straus became the first Jewish member of a presidential cabinet

1925, the first motel -- the Motel Inn -- opened in San Luis Obispo, Calif.

1937, Japanese aircraft sank the U.S. gunboat Panay on China's Yangtze River. (Japan apologized, and paid $2.2 million in reparations.)

1941, the U.S. Navy takes control of the largest and most luxurious ocean liner on the seas at that time, France's Normandie, while it is docked at New York City. Shortly thereafter, the conversion for U.S. wartime use began

1963, a vinyl long-playing record ("LP") called John Fitzgerald Kennedy: A Memorial Album sets a record for album sales. A total of 4 million copies sold in the first six days of its release

1980, American oil tycoon Armand Hammer pays $5,126,000 at auction for a notebook containing writings by the legendary artist Leonardo da Vinci. The manuscript, written around 1508, was one of some 30 similar books da Vinci produced during his lifetime on a variety of subjects

1987, during an official visit to Denmark, U.S. Secretary of State George Shultz issues a statement calling on America's NATO allies in western Europe to sharply increase their defense spending. Shultz bluntly informed his Danish hosts that it was "important for all of us to increase our contributions to NATO?to insure that we do everything we can to preserve our values." The call for funds was in direct response to the INF Treaty that had recently been signed by the U.S. and the Soviet Union

2000, a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court decision for recounts in Florida's contested election. George W. Bush became president-elect