On this day in 1991, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was released after nearly seven years in captivity in Lebanon.
President George H.W. Bush ordered American troops to lead a
mercy mission to Somalia on this day in 1992.
Gen. George Washington said farewell to his officers at Fraunces
Tavern in New York on this day in 1783.
Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993)
One of Frank’s last interviews (above), conducted by NBC’s Jamie
Gangel for the Today Show. Aired on May 14, 1993. He died, after
his long battle with prostate cancer just 18 days before his 53rd
birthday at his home with his wife and children by his side.
Zappa is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock
musicians of his era. He worked as an independent artist for most of his career
and remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His honors include
an induction into the 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, he was ranked number 36 on VH1‘s 100
Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at
number 71 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and in 2011 at
number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".
On this day in 1967. in Cape Town, South Africa, a team of surgeons headed by Dr. Christian Barnard, performed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky. He only lived 18 days.
In Bhopal, India on this day in 1984, more than 2,000 people were
killed after a cloud of poisonous gas escaped from a pesticide
plant. The plant was operated by a Union Carbide subsidiary.
It was on this day in 1964.
“A Streetcar Named Desire” is a 1947 play written by American playwright Tennessee Williams that received the Pulitzer Prize
for Drama in 1948. The play opened on Broadway on December
3, 1947, and closed on December 17, 1949, at the Ethel Barrymore Theatre.
Marlon Brando
Ozzy in 1974.
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is 69 years old today.
Rock ‘n’ roll performer Ozzy Osbourne gained fame as the lead singer of Black
Sabbath and became known as the Prince of Darkness and the Godfather of
Heavy Metal.
GUADALUPE, Calif. (AP) — Archaeologists working in sand dunes on the central California coast have dug up an intact plaster sphinx (above) that was part of an
Egyptian movie set built more than 90 years ago for Cecil B. DeMille’s silent film
epic "The Ten Commandments” (1923).
The 300-pound sphinx is the second recovered from the Guadalupe-Nipomo
Dunes.
Cecil Blount DeMille
(August 12, 1881 – January 21, 1959)
On this day in 1954, the U.S. Senate voted to condemn Sen. Joseph
R. McCarthy for what it called "conduct that tends to bring the
Senate into dishonor and disrepute." The censure was related to McCarthy’s controversial investigation of suspected communists
in the U.S. government, military and civilian society.
A self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated by Dr.
Enrico Fermi (below) and his staff at the University of Chicago on
this day in 1942.
On this day in 2001, Enron Corp. filed for Chapter 11 reorganization
five days after Dynegy walked away from a $8.4 billion buyout. It was
the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
On this day in 1993.
On the day in 1982, Doctors at the University of Utah implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Barney
Clark (below). He lived 112 days with the device. The operation
was the first of its kind.
Seattle dentist Barney Clark and Dr. William C. DeVries.