Yesterday, the Dow increased 34.31 points (0.14%) to 24,423.36, the NASDAQ gained 51.27 points (0.74%) to finish at 7,020.52, and the S&P 500 closed 4.64 points (0.18%) higher at 2,637.72. The Russell 2000 was down 4.99 points (0.34%) at 1,443.10, and the Wilshire 5000 was up 16.29 points (0.06%) at 27,160.15.

The price of the 10-year Treasury note was down 2/32, increasing its yield to 2.860%. The price of the 30-year Treasury bond was up 5/32, decreasing its yield to 3.131%.

ON THIS DATE: In 1719, the first recorded sighting of the aurora borealis took place in New England. In 1769, Edward Beran of London patented venetian blinds. In 1816, Indiana was admitted to the Union as the 19th American state. In 1844, Dr. Horace Wells became the first person to have a tooth extracted after receiving an anesthetic—Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas. In 1872, Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback became America’s first black governor when he took office as acting governor of Louisiana. In 1930, the Bank of the United States in New York failed. In 1937, the Fascist Council in Rome withdrew Italy from the League of Nations. In 1941, Germany and Italy declared war on the United States. The U.S in turn declared war on the two countries. In 1946, the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) was established by the U.N. General Assembly. The fund provides relief to children in countries devastated by war. In 1951, Joe DiMaggio  of the New York Yankees announced his retirement from major league baseball. In 1961, the first direct American military support for South Vietnam occurred when a U.S. aircraft carrier carrying Army helicopters arrived in Saigon. In 1981, Muhammad Ali fought his last fight. He lost his 61st fight to Trevor Berbick. In 1985, General Electric Company agreed to buy RCA Corporation for $6.3 billion. Also included in the deal was NBC Radio and Television. In 1998, majority Republicans on the House Judiciary Committee pushed through three articles of impeachment against President Bill Clinton. In 2001, U.S. Attorney General John Ashcroft announced the first federal indictment directly related to the terrorist attacks on the United States on September 11, 2001. Zacarias Moussaoui was charged with six conspiracy charges. Moussaoui was in custody at the time of the attacks. In 2013, Standard & Poors announced that Facebook would join its S&P 500 index after the close of trading on December 20.