Today in History: December 12, Supreme Court issues Bush v. Gore decision

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Today is Friday, Dec. 12, the 346th day of 2025. There are 19 days left in the year.

Today in history:

On Dec. 12, 2000, George W. Bush became president-elect as a divided U.S. Supreme Court reversed a state court recount decision in Florida’s tightly contested presidential election.

Also on this date:

In 1870, Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first Black lawmaker sworn into the U.S. House of Representatives.

In 1963, the east African nation of Kenya declared independence from Britain; it became a republic exactly a year later.

In 1985, 248 American soldiers and eight crew members were killed when an Arrow Air charter crashed after takeoff from Gander, Newfoundland.

In 2010, the inflatable roof of the Minneapolis Metrodome collapsed in the early morning hours after a snowstorm dumped 17 inches (43 centimeters) on the city. (There were no injuries, but the NFL had to shift an already rescheduled game between the Minnesota Vikings and New York Giants to Detroit’s Ford Field.)

In 2015, nearly 200 nations meeting in Paris adopted the first global pact to fight climate change, calling on the world to collectively cut greenhouse gas emissions but imposing no sanctions on countries that didn’t do so.

In 2020, thousands of supporters of President Donald Trump gathered in Washington for rallies to back his efforts to subvert the election he lost to Joe Biden.

In 2023, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, capping a whirlwind two-day visit to Washington, D.C., urged Congress to approve more assistance to fight Russia's invasion of his country.

Today’s Birthdays: Basketball Hall of Famer Bob Pettit is 93. Singer Dionne Warwick is 85. Hall of Fame race car driver Emerson Fittipaldi is 79. Actor Bill Nighy is 76. Gymnast-actor Cathy Rigby is 73. Singer-musician Sheila E. is 68. Actor Sheree J. Wilson is 67. Tennis Hall of Famer Tracy Austin is 63. Football Hall of Famer John Randle is 58. Actor Jennifer Connelly is 55. Actor Regina Hall is 55. Actor Mayim Bialik is 50. Model-actor Bridget Hall is 48. Actor Lucas Hedges is 29. Actor and rapper Sky Katz is 21.