Also on this day: During the American Revolutionary War, Gen. George Washington leads his army of about 11,000 men to Valley Forge, Pa., to camp for the winter.A coal mine explosion in Jacobs Creek, Pa.
kills 239 workers War breaks out in Indochina as troops under Ho Chi Minh launch widespread attacks against the French. Gen.
Dwight D. Eisenhower is named commander of the military forces of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization.Meredith Willson’s "The Music Man" opens on Broadway.Apollo 17 splashes down in the Pacific Ocean, bringing the Apollo program of manned lunar landings to an end.