Today is Friday, Dec. 28, the 363rd day of 2012. There are three days left in the year.
Today's Highlight in History:
On Dec. 28, 1912, San Francisco's Municipal Railway began operations with Mayor James Rolph Jr. at the controls of Streetcar No. 1 as 50,000 spectators looked on.
On this date:
In 1832, John C. Calhoun became the first vice president of the United States to resign, stepping down because of differences with President Andrew Jackson.
In 1945, Congress officially recognized the Pledge of Allegiance.
In 1987, a mass killing came to light as the bodies of 14 relatives of Ronald Gene Simmons were found at his home near Dover, Ark., after Simmons shot and killed two other people in Russellville. (Simmons was executed in 1990.)
Ten years ago: The U.N. nuclear watchdog decided to pull its inspectors out of North Korea by New Year's Eve, a step demanded by the North.
Five years ago: President George W. Bush used a "pocket veto" to reject a sweeping defense bill because he objected to a provision that would have exposed the Iraqi government to expensive lawsuits seeking damages from the Saddam Hussein era.
One year ago: North Korea's new leader, Kim Jong Un, escorted his father's hearse in an elaborate state funeral, bowing somberly and saluting in front of tens of thousands of citizens who wailed and stamped their feet in grief for Kim Jong Il.
Today's Birthdays: Comic book creator Stan Lee is 90. Actor Martin Milner is 81. Actress Dame Maggie Smith is 78. Rock singer-musician Edgar Winter is 66. Actor Denzel Washington is 58. Country singer Joe Diffie is 54. Actor Malcolm Gets is 48. Comedian Seth Meyers is 39. Rhythm-and-blues singer John Legend is 34. Actress Sienna Miller is 31. Actor Thomas Dekker is 25. Actress Mackenzie Rosman is 23. Pop singer David Archuleta (TV: "American Idol") is 22.
Thought for Today: "If you don't know history, then you don't know anything. You are a leaf that doesn't know it is part of a tree." -- Michael Crichton, American author (1942-2008).