CNN Interactive - Almanac - December 17, 1998

The 56th annual Golden Globes nominations are to be held in Beverly Hills, California.
The Washington-area Muslim community is scheduled to hold a Discover Ramadan event in Herndon, Virginia, to mark the beginning of the month-long fast, expected to start around December 20th, depending in sighting of new moon.

On Friday, December 18, a hearing for Brandon Wilson, 20, charged with the November 14 murder of a 9-year-old boy in a public restroom, is to be held in Vista, California. The child was in the park attending a family reunion.
On Saturday, December 19, the Opening of World Jewish Expo '98 is scheduled in New York.
On Sunday, December 20, Ramadan, the Muslim holy month of fasting and prayer, begins.
On Monday, December 21, New York-bound Pan Am 103 exploded over Lockerbie, Scotland, ten years ago today, killing all 259 people on board and 11 on the ground.
On Tuesday, December 22, the Federal Open Market Committee is scheduled to meet in Washington to review interest rates.

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In 1538, King Henry VIII, who had declared himself head of the English church, was excommunicated by Pope Paul III.
In 1830, Simon Bolivar died. Known as the "Liberator," he freed Colombia (1819) and was elected its president. He then took Venezuela, Ecuador and Peru from the Spaniards. Upper Peru was renamed Bolivia.
In 1894, U.S. conductor Arthur Fiedler was born. He became famous for bringing classical music to the people with his Boston Pops Orchestra.
In 1903, Wilbur and Orville Wright made the first successful controlled flight in a powered aircraft, the Wright "Flyer," on the beach at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina.
In 1940, U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt outlined his plan for "lend-leasing" arms and equipment to Britain during World War II.
In 1957, the first Atlas Intercontinental Ballistic missile was tested by the United States at Cape Canaveral, Florida.
In 1967, Australian Prime Minister Harold Holt drowned while swimming off Portsea, near Melbourne.
In 1973, 32 people were killed at the Rome airport when Arab terrorists threw bombs at a Pan Am jet and machine-gunned the terminal building.
In 1986, Mrs. Davina Thompson made medical history by having the first heart, lung and liver transplant, which took place at Papworth Hospital in Cambridge, England.
In 1989, Brazil celebrated its first direct election for president in 29 years. Voters chose between Fernando Collor de Mello (who won) and Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva.
In 1990, in Haiti's first free elections, Father Jean-Bertrand Aristide was elected president.