This month in history:

Dec. 5, 1955 The AFL-CIO was founded with a joining of the American Federation of Labor and the Congress of Industrial Organizations, becoming the leading advocate for trade unions.

Dec. 15, 1993 Delegations from 117 countries approve the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade, known as GATT. It was supposed to reduce international tariffs, eliminate trade quotas and protect intellectual property.

Dec. 23, 1913 The Federal Reserve Act was passed by Congress, establishing the Federal Reserve System to serve as the nation's central bank.

Dec. 23, 1947 The transistor, a creation that changed the world, was invented at Bell Laboratories by John Bardeen, Walter Brattain and William Shockley.

H&R Block shuts down its lending unit after failing to sell it to Cerberus Capital, laying off the division's 620 employees and leaving behind a portfolio of $1.1 billion in mortgages.

A coalition of business leaders, Federal Reserve officials and members of the Bush administration engineer a deal to freeze interest rates on adjustable rate mortgages in order to prevent a wave of anticipated foreclosures in 2008 and 2009.

The Federal Open Market Committee continues on its path and cuts rates another 25 basis points amid more talks of a looming recession and to ease housing concerns.

Just three months after her sister bombed on the MTV Video Music Awards, Jamie Lynn Spears, 16-year-old sister of Britney Spears, drops her own bomb and announces she is 12 weeks pregnant.