December 27th

1703: Portugal and England sign the Methuen Treaty which gives preference to Portuguese imported wines into England. As soon as the English stop only drinking warm beer, this treaty might mean something.


1845: Ether anesthetic is used for childbirth for the first time by Dr. Crawford Williamson Long in Jefferson, Georgia. Long later admits he did it just to start getting some from his wife again.


2001: The People's Republic of China is granted permanent normal trade relations with the United States. And by "permanent," we mean they forever get all the manufacturing jobs we used to have.