December 5th, 2008

Today in History

1978:
The Soviet Union signs a 'friendship treaty' with the communist government of Afghanistan.

1974:
The last new episode of Monty Python's Flying Circus is broadcast on the BBC.

1873:
In Boston, Massachusetts, Warren Avenue Baptist Church sexton Thomas Piper strangles and beats to death his first victim, Bridget Landregan (the press later dubbed the then unknown serial killer "The Boston Belfry Murderer").

1831:
Former US President John Quincy Adams takes a seat in the United States House of Representatives.

1776:
At the College of William and Mary in Williamsburg, Virginia, the Phi Beta Kappa is founded as the first scholastic fraternity in the United States.