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This day in history

Today is Monday, Dec. 5, the 340th day of 2016. There are 26 days left in the year.

Today’s birthdays: Singer Little Richard is 84. Author Joan Didion is 82. Author Calvin Trillin is 81. College Football Hall of Famer and former NFL quarterback Jim Plunkett is 69. Actress Morgan Brittany is 65. Actor Brian Backer is 60. Rock singer-musician John Rzeznik (The Goo Goo Dolls) is 51. Actress Amy Acker is 40. Actor Nick Stahl is 37. Rhythm-and-blues singer Keri Hilson is 34. Actor Frankie Muniz is 31.

In 1782, the eighth president of the United States, Martin Van Buren, was born in Kinderhook, New York; he was the first chief executive to be born after American independence.

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In 1945, five U.S. Navy torpedo bombers mysteriously disappeared after taking off from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, on a training mission, with the loss of all 14 crew members; the event contributed to the legend of the Bermuda Triangle.

In 1955, the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations merged to form the AFL-CIO.

In 1979, feminist Sonia Johnson was formally excommunicated by the Mormon Church because of her support for the proposed Equal Rights Amendment to the Constitution.

In 2013, Nelson Mandela, the anti-apartheid leader who became South Africa’s first black president, died at age 95.

In 2006, New York became the first city in the nation to ban artery-clogging trans fats at restaurants.

In 2015, a rare pressing of the Beatles’ White Album from Ringo Starr’s record collection sold at auction in New York for $790,000.