In the week ending December 15, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims for unemployment insurance was 214,000, an increase of 8,000 from the previous week’s unrevised level of 206,000, the Labor Department reported. The four-week moving average was 222,000, a decrease of 2,750 from the previous week’s unrevised average of 224,750.

Thursday, the Dow fell 464.06 points (1.99%) to 22,859.60, the NASDAQ closed 108.42 points (1.63%) lower at 6,528.41, and the S&P 500 decreased 39.55 points (1.58%) to 2,467.41. The Russell 2000 was down 23.23 points (1.72%) at 1,326.00, and the Wilshire 5000 lost 419.24 points (1.63%) to finish at 25,333.36.

ON THIS DATE: In 1620, the Mayflower and its passengers landed at Plymouth Rock, Massachusetts. In 1898, scientists Pierre and Marie Curie discovered the radioactive element radium. In 1913, Arthur Wynne published a new “word-cross” puzzle in the “New York World” in England. The name was later changed to “crossword.” In 1937, Walt Disney debuted the first, full-length, animated feature in Hollywood—”Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs.” In 1945, U.S. Gen. George S. Patton died in Heidelberg, Germany, of injuries from a car accident. In 1991, 11 of the 12 former Soviet republics proclaimed the birth of the Commonwealth of Independent States. In 1998, the first vaccine for Lyme disease was approved.

Near Helena, Montana, a man setting up targets to shoot in a forest area ran into the trees when bul.lets nearly hit him. He was able to find and confront the shooter, who told him, “I thought you were Bigfoot,” according to the Idaho Statesman. The shooter also said, “I don’t target practice, but if I see something that looks like Bigfoot, I just shoot at it.”

In Port St. Lucie, Florida, police say a 23-year-old man went through a McDonald’s drive-thru and tried to pay for his order with a bag of mari.juana. News outlets report that the fast food worker denied the trade and the man drove off, only to return again a short time later. Police arrested him on charges of mari.juana possession and driving under the influence.

In Springfield, Missouri, a judge has ordered a creative sentence to a poacher who illegally killed hundreds of deer. The Springfield News-Leader reports that the man was ordered to watch the Walt Disney movie “Bambi” at least once each month during his year-long jail sentence.

In Waverly, Ohio, an escaped jail inmate chose an unusual place to hide. The Pike County Sheriff’s Office says the 34-year-old woman fled while being booked on drug-possession charges. She was captured by the sheriff and the local police chief several hours later when a 911 caller reported the woman sitting in the hot tub at a senior community’s activity center.

And, in Greenup, Kentucky, another inmate who was able to break free and run after an officer unlocked one of his handcuffs decided to hitch a ride from a nearby highway. Unfortunately for him, the person who stopped to pick him up was a campus officer at Morehead State University who saw handcuffs hanging off one wrist, according to The Independent. The man was driven back to jail and now faces an escape charge.