1986: Mike Baab practices despite stretched knee ligaments as the Browns get ready for their AFC playoff game against the Jets with training in Vero Beach, Fla.

1975: Scott Rose’s 29 points and 15 rebounds pace Brush in a 74-65 Greater Cleveland Conference boys basketball victory at South.

1964: The North wrestling team shares the team lead after the first day of the Brecksville Holiday tournament with 17 points and five wrestlers remaining in the competition.

1953: Dave Love scores 17 points, and Dick Arkenburg contributes nine of his 10 points in the fourth quarter of Geneva’s 45-40 win over Willoughby Union at the Riverside Invitational.

1942: Fairport and Harvey prepare for the rest of their respective boys basketball seasons with practices for their annual alumni games before the remainder of the regular season commences.

1931: Joe Lapchick, playing with an injured knee, gives the Cleveland Rosenbloom-Celtics the cushion they need with a late basket in a 28-24 win over the Chicago Bruins.

2007: The frontcourt of Drew Gooden, Zydrunas Ilgauskas and Anderson Varejao combines for 46 points and 24 rebounds in the Cavaliers’ 96-82 win over the Heat.

1996: Cavaliers players reveal what they want for Christmas, including forward Antonio Lang hoping for a Tickle Me Elmo doll for his 1-year-old son.

1985: Lisa Kilstrom has 26 points to lead Chagrin Falls past Wickliffe, 56-46, and George Mixon’s offensive rebound and putback with 1:27 to play gives University a 55-54 win over visiting Euclid.

1974: Crusaders coach John Hanna keeps his team in the locker room for 40 minutes after a 3-0 loss to Houston, Cleveland’s seventh defeat in eight games.

1963: Bob Heinrich (133 pounds), Bob Koritansky (145), Phil Johnson (154) Marv Hostetler (165) and Keith Mishne (175) won their weight classes as Chardon takes a wrestling tournament at Harvey.

1952: Frank Nimmo’s 16 points are high honors in Euclid’s 60-38 boys basketball win at Harvey, a game delayed for 50 minutes because officials did not show up on time.

1941: Sterling Miner has 10 points to lead all scorers as Bainbridge edges Geauga County League foe Chardon, 23-21, in boys basketball action.

1930: Cleveland native Erwin Rudolph takes the world pocket billiards championship, defeating Ralph Greenleaf, 125-120, in a match that lasted 37 innings.

2006: Derek Anderson throws for 223 yards and a pair of TDs, but the Browns fall at Baltimore, 27-17, pushing the team to 0-6 against the AFC North for the season.

1995: T.J. Kwasniak’s two free throws with four seconds to go are the difference in Villa Angela-St. Joseph’s 65-63 boys basketball victory over St. Ignatius.

1984: Nancy Janaszek’s putback off her own miss at the buzzer gives Gilmour a 31-30 girls basketball victory over Chagrin Falls.

Do you remember what happened on Dec. 13, 2003?

If not, this front page from two days later should jog your memory:

Nearly nine months after the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq, Saddam Hussein was captured by U.S. forces near Tikrit, Iraq.

Do you remember where you were when either of those events happened?

A freshman at Ohio University, I watched footage of the invasion with my dorm neighbors, one of whom was dating someone in the armed forces. On Dec. 14, at home for winter break, I woke to a phone call from my then-boyfriend (who was on his way out of the Army): "Merry Christmas: They got Saddam!"

Did you think then that the U.S. would still be in Iraq eight years later?

On Oct. 21, President Barack Obama announced all U.S. troops would be leaving Iraq by the end of the year, declaring an end to the Iraq war, according to The Associated Press. Watch his announcement below:


On Monday, Obama heralded the end of the Iraq war, according to The AP. Follow along with the withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq with The AP.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

1973: Ernie Arnett (132 pounds), Earl Reid (167) and Taylor Pniewski (heavyweight) each win by pin in Ledgemont’s 33-21 dual wrestling victory over Fairport.

1962: Bad weather wipes out all but four of the area’s 17 high school boys basketball games a day in advance, with Berea at North the last game on tap in Lake County.

1951: Barons rookie Ike Hildebrand scores the go-ahead goal with two minutes remaining to propel his team to a 4-3 win over visiting Pittsburgh, 4-3, their first victory over the Hornets in five tries.

1940: Concerns are raised for the Harvey boys basketball team as three players come down with colds, and as a result according to the Painesville Telegraph, practices were listless.

1929: The Indians, despite losing top defenseman Irwin Frew to a five-minute fighting major, get sturdy goaltending from Gordon McFarlane and pull out a 3-2 IHL win over Detroit.

2007: University junior Mac McLaughlin earns News-Herald boys golfer of the year honors after leading the Preppers to the Division II state championship.

2004: Drew Gooden has 27 points and 15 rebounds as the Cavaliers defeat the Raptors, 105-97, to move into first place in the Central Division for the first time since 2000.

1998: Four area football standouts earn Divisions V-VI All-Ohio honors — Berkshire wide receiver Adam Gonczy, Hawken defensive lineman Jim Dempsey, Newbury running back Justin Yates and Richmond Heights punter Joe Catanese.

2005: Joe O’Donnell scores 20 points and Mark Warmeling records a double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds as Ledgemont rides a 26-point fourth quarter to a 59-45 boys basketball win over Conneaut.

1994: The combined score of the girls basketball games contested in The News-Herald coverage area is 309-98, with Fairport, VASJ, Euclid, Hawken and Orange Christian all recording victories.