December 22

1828: William Wollaston, discoverer of palladium and rhodium, died. 1867: Jean-Victor Poncelet, who formulated the Continuity Principle (which includes the principle of duality and the method of reciprocation), died. 1877: Swiss chemist Raoul Pictet announced his liquefaction of oxygen. 1882: The first string of Christmas Tree lights was created by Thomas Edison's associate, Edward H. Johnson. 1884: St. Elmo Brady, the first black man to earn a PhD in chemistry, was born. 1894: The United States Golf Association was formed in New York City. 1937: The Lincoln Tunnel in New York opened to traffic. 1964: The SR-71 Blackbird aircraft completed its maiden flight. 1968: The first U.S. live telecast from a manned spacecraft in outer space was transmitted from Apollo 8. 1989: Berlin's famous Brandenburg Gate re-opened for the first time in nearly three decades. 2001: Idiot Richard Reid attempted to destroy a passenger airliner by igniting explosives hidden in his shoes.