(Live Science) – An An, the oldest-ever male panda in captivity, has
died at the age of 35 in a Hong Kong amusement park. The giant
panda was euthanized after his health deteriorated over the course
of several weeks, according to a statement from the Ocean Park
theme park, where An An lived since 1999.
MIKE GRACIA
President Nixon shakes hands with Premier Chou En-lai of
the People’s Republic of China. Nixon’s trip to China was
to seek a “normalization of relations.”
On March 10, 1959, Tibetans banded together in revolt, surrounding
the summer palace of the Dalai Lama in defiance of Chinese
occupation forces.
China’s occupation of Tibet began nearly a decade before, in October 1950, when troops from its People’s Liberation Army (PLA) invaded
the country, barely one year after the Communists gained full control
of mainland China. The Tibetan government gave into Chinese
pressure the following year, signing a treaty that ensured the power
of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, the country’s spiritual leader, over
Tibet’s domestic affairs. Resistance to the Chinese occupation built steadily over the next several years, including a revolt in several
areas of eastern Tibet in 1956. By December 1958, rebellion was simmering in Lhasa, the capital, and the PLA command threatened
to bomb the city if order was not maintained.
ROSS SIMPSON
Texan Dooley Wilson is best known for his role as Rick’s
friend and piano player Sam in “Casablanca.”
CARLATA BRADLEY
