1991: Citicorp announces that the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency has finished its annual review and found no major financial deficiencies at the giant bank. Just days earlier, Wall Street had been buzzing with rumors that Citicorp might have to set aside billions of dollars in reserves to cover its faltering real-estate loans. The stock, at its lowest level since 1980, jumps almost 10%, and the market as a whole takes Citicorp's bill of health as a sign that the recession may be ending. The Dow Jones Industrial Average jumps 28.40 points, or 1%, to close at 3050.98.

The Wall Street Journal, December 26, 1991, p. C1

1963: Total trading volume for the year-to-date exceeds 1.124 billion shares on the New York Stock Exchange — finally surpassing the annual record set in 1929.

"Today in NYSE History," at www.nyse.com/about/TodayInNYSE.html

1877: Thomas A. Edison files for a U.S. patent on his "speaking machine," later known as the phonograph or record player. A few days earlier, he had brought a model of the device to the offices of Scientific American Magazine. With his usual flair for drama, Edison "turned a crank, and the machine inquired as to our health, asked how we liked the phonograph, informed us that it was very well, and bid us a cordial good night," all in a voice pre-recorded on a brass cylinder wrapped in tin foil.