MOMENTS IN TIME - Dec. 3, 2009

The History Channel

• On Dec. 16, 1773, in Boston Harbor, Samuel Adams and the Sons of Liberty, disguised as Mohawk Indians, boarded three British ships — the Dartmouth, the Eleanor and the Beaver — and dumped 342 chests of tea into the harbor in a raid known as the “Boston Tea Party.” The value of the tea was $18,000.

• On Dec. 14, 1799, George Washington, the American revolutionary leader and first president of the United States, dies of acute laryngitis at his estate in Mount Vernon, Va. He was 67 years old.

• On Dec. 18, 1916, Betty Grable is born in St. Louis. Grable, trained as an actres...