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December 17
Video Games
1993: Kay-Bee Toy Stores ceases selling the Night Trap video game in the USA.
1995: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. Two children play a home video game, showing a martial arts fighter fighting a tank. Another game is advertised as "Bonestorm". Another character refers to the games costing up to $70. Animated characters resembling Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog appear. Several video game titles in a store are shown, including "Save Hitler's Brain".
1996: At the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the "Option Red" supercomputer is started up, performing one trillion floating-point operations per second, making it the fastest computer in the world. The US$55 million computer uses 9072 Intel Pentium Pro processors with 600 GB memory and 2 terabyte disc storage.
1999: Infogrames of France announces it will acquire GT Interactive Software.
2003: Linus Torvalds announces the release of 2.6.0 of the Linux kernel. New features include ability to run on up to 32-processor multiprocessor servers, improved handling of hard drive input-output requests, improved volume manager, removal of 256 storage system limit, removal of 2-terabyte file system limit.
2006: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. On seeing an altered photo, a woman says "That PhotoShopping freak!".
2006: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A boy asks Santa Claus for "one of those video game chairs that vibrate".
2009: Square Enix releases the Final Fantasy XIII video game for the PlayStation 3 in Japan.
1995: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. Two children play a home video game, showing a martial arts fighter fighting a tank. Another game is advertised as "Bonestorm". Another character refers to the games costing up to $70. Animated characters resembling Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Sonic the Hedgehog appear. Several video game titles in a store are shown, including "Save Hitler's Brain".
1996: At the Sandia National Laboratory in Albuquerque, New Mexico, the "Option Red" supercomputer is started up, performing one trillion floating-point operations per second, making it the fastest computer in the world. The US$55 million computer uses 9072 Intel Pentium Pro processors with 600 GB memory and 2 terabyte disc storage.
1999: Infogrames of France announces it will acquire GT Interactive Software.
2003: Linus Torvalds announces the release of 2.6.0 of the Linux kernel. New features include ability to run on up to 32-processor multiprocessor servers, improved handling of hard drive input-output requests, improved volume manager, removal of 256 storage system limit, removal of 2-terabyte file system limit.
2006: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. On seeing an altered photo, a woman says "That PhotoShopping freak!".
2006: The Fox Broadcasting Company airs The Simpsons TV show in the US. A boy asks Santa Claus for "one of those video game chairs that vibrate".
2009: Square Enix releases the Final Fantasy XIII video game for the PlayStation 3 in Japan.
Movies
1986: Wayne Newton won a $19.2 million judgment against NBC News, which had aired reports linking Newton to mob figures. The reports were proven to be false.
1986: Birth of Vanessa Zima; actress (Cavedweller, Murder One).
1989: The first full length episode of The Simpsons TV show in the US, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", premieres on Fox-TV in the USA.
1990: Don Draper, actor (Pepper Agent 00X), dies of AIDS at age 61.
1990: Mieke Verstraete, Belgian/Netherlands actress (Pleasant Settled), dies at age 79.
1991: The TV soap opera One Life To Live airs its 6,000th episode.
1992: Death of Dana Andrews at age 83 from pneumonia and congestive heart failure in Los Alamitos, California, USA; actor (Laura movie, Best Years of Our Lives movie, I Was a Communist for the FBI radio show, Bright Promise TV show, Playhouse 90 TV show, Falcon Crest TV show, Ike TV show, Alcoa Premiere TV show, Ben Casey TV show, The Dick Powell Show TV show).
1993: Janet Margolin, US actress (Annie Hall), dies at age 50 of ovarian cancer.
1994: Jan Wiegel, director/producer (Uninhabitable Country), dies at age 64.
1999: Death of Rex Allen, after being accidently run over in his own driveway; singer, published over 300 songs, starred in 19 Republic western movies, narrated dozens of Disney films and TV ashows.
2003: New Line releases the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to theaters.
1986: Birth of Vanessa Zima; actress (Cavedweller, Murder One).
1989: The first full length episode of The Simpsons TV show in the US, "Simpsons Roasting on an Open Fire", premieres on Fox-TV in the USA.
1990: Don Draper, actor (Pepper Agent 00X), dies of AIDS at age 61.
1990: Mieke Verstraete, Belgian/Netherlands actress (Pleasant Settled), dies at age 79.
1991: The TV soap opera One Life To Live airs its 6,000th episode.
1992: Death of Dana Andrews at age 83 from pneumonia and congestive heart failure in Los Alamitos, California, USA; actor (Laura movie, Best Years of Our Lives movie, I Was a Communist for the FBI radio show, Bright Promise TV show, Playhouse 90 TV show, Falcon Crest TV show, Ike TV show, Alcoa Premiere TV show, Ben Casey TV show, The Dick Powell Show TV show).
1993: Janet Margolin, US actress (Annie Hall), dies at age 50 of ovarian cancer.
1994: Jan Wiegel, director/producer (Uninhabitable Country), dies at age 64.
1999: Death of Rex Allen, after being accidently run over in his own driveway; singer, published over 300 songs, starred in 19 Republic western movies, narrated dozens of Disney films and TV ashows.
2003: New Line releases the film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King to theaters.
Music
1994: Birth of Nathaniel Marvin Wolff, American actor, singer-songwriter/keyboardist (The Naked Brothers Band).
1999: Grover Washington Junior, jazz saxophonist and composer, suffers a heart attack and collapses after taping four songs for The Saturday Early Show on CBS, dying in hospital in New York City.
1999: Death of Rex Allen, after being accidently run over in his own driveway; singer, published over 300 songs, starred in 19 Republic western movies, narrated dozens of Disney films and TV ashows.
1999: Grover Washington Junior, jazz saxophonist and composer, suffers a heart attack and collapses after taping four songs for The Saturday Early Show on CBS, dying in hospital in New York City.
1999: Death of Rex Allen, after being accidently run over in his own driveway; singer, published over 300 songs, starred in 19 Republic western movies, narrated dozens of Disney films and TV ashows.
Sports
1988: 77th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Gothenburg (4-1).
1988: Bryan Murray becomes the 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Washington Capitals).
1988: New York Islanders break 12-game losing streak, beat New Jersey Devils 5-2.
1989: 78th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Stuttgart (3-2).
1989: Michael Bevan scores cricket century on first-class debut (114 South Africa versus Western Australia).
1989: Patti Rizzo/Mike Hill win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship.
1989: du Maurier Ltd Classic).
1991: Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80, by record 68 points.
1991: Doral-Ryder).
1991: International-second).
1991: Western Athletic).
1992: , 1996).
1995: Friendly's-32nd).
2003: The New York Yankees and Gary Sheffield finalize a US$39 million, three-year deal.
2004: The Seattle Mariners baseball team sign free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre to a $64 million, five-year deal.
2008: Sammy Baugh, football player who set numerous passing records with the Washington Redskins (1937-1952), dies at age 94 in Rotan, Texas, USA.
1988: Bryan Murray becomes the 17th NHL coach to win 300 games (Washington Capitals).
1988: New York Islanders break 12-game losing streak, beat New Jersey Devils 5-2.
1989: 78th Davis Cup: Germany beats Sweden in Stuttgart (3-2).
1989: Michael Bevan scores cricket century on first-class debut (114 South Africa versus Western Australia).
1989: Patti Rizzo/Mike Hill win LPGA Mazda Golf Championship.
1989: du Maurier Ltd Classic).
1991: Cleveland Cavaliers beat Miami Heat 148-80, by record 68 points.
1991: Doral-Ryder).
1991: International-second).
1991: Western Athletic).
1992: , 1996).
1995: Friendly's-32nd).
2003: The New York Yankees and Gary Sheffield finalize a US$39 million, three-year deal.
2004: The Seattle Mariners baseball team sign free-agent third baseman Adrian Beltre to a $64 million, five-year deal.
2008: Sammy Baugh, football player who set numerous passing records with the Washington Redskins (1937-1952), dies at age 94 in Rotan, Texas, USA.
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