Prohibition came to an end when Utah became the 36th state to ratify the 21st Amendment to the U.S.Constitution on this day in 1933.
Walt Disney with cartoon character Mickey Mouse.
Walter Elias Disney (December 5, 1901 – December 15, 1966)
Animator, voice actor, producer, and entertainer Walt Disney founded The Walt Disney Company and created the iconic character Mickey Mouse. He produced such classic films as Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937), and Cinderella (1950).
On this day in 1991, Islamic militants in Lebanon release kidnapped AP Middle East correspondent Terry Anderson after 2,454 days in captivity. In 2004, he ran unsuccessfully for the Ohio State Senate.
Terry A. Anderson turned 71 in October.
On this day in 1992, President George H. Bush orders 28,000 U.S. troops to Somalia, a war-torn East African nation where rival warlords were preventing the distribution of humanitarian aid to thousands of starving Somalis. In a military mission he described as “God’s work,” Bush said that America must act to save more than a million Somali lives, but reassured Americans that “this operation is not open-ended” and that “we will not stay one day longer than is absolutely necessary.” Unfortunately, America’s humanitarian troops became embroiled in Somalia’s political conflict, and the controversial mission stretched on for 15 months before being abruptly called off by President Bill Clinton in 1993.
In this Jan. 1, 1993, file photo, U.S. President George H.W. Bush holds a camera, which he borrowed from the Marine to snap the picture,for a self-portrait with Marines at the airport in Baidoa, Somalia.
In October of 1993, President Bill Clinton addressed the nation from the Oval Office concerning the events in Somalia. He outlined a plan for completing the operation.
In Cape Town, South Africa on this day in 1967, a team of surgeons headed by Dr. Christian Barnard (above), performed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky. Washkansky only lived 18 days.
Louis Waskhansky after undergoing the world’s first successful heart transplant.
On this day in 1964 the Free Speech Movement on the Berkeley campus of the University of California culminated with the arrest of some 800 student demonstrators.
Mario Savio, leader of the Berkeley Free Speech Movement, speaks to assembled students on the campus at the University of California, Berkeley.
Effigy of Governor Pat Brown hanging outside an off- campus student resident hall after the December 3rd arrests.
John Michael "Ozzy" Osbourne is 70 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.
