An all-Navy crew of Capt. Charles “Pete” Conrad Jr. and Cmdrs. Joseph P. Kerwin and Paul J. Weitz salvage the Skylab program, as they repair the space station (which had been damaged on launch) in orbit. Their 28-day, 404-orbit mission is the longest in history to this point.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.

