■ On Dec. 30, 1988, President Ronald Reagan and President-elect George Bush were subpoenaed to testify at the trial of Oliver North, a former White House aide implicated in the Iran-Contra affair, in which arms were secretly sold to Iran while profits from the sale were diverted to guerrillas attempting to topple the Nicaraguan government.
■ On Dec. 31, 1781, America’s first bank, the Bank of North…