First Lady Pat Nixon attending the reception ceremony

 
From left: Giant Pamdas Ling-Ling and Hsing-Hsing

Two Giant Pandas were given to the United States as gifts by the government of
China following President Richard Nixon‘s visit in 1972. In return, the U.S. sent 
China a pair of musk oxen.The Pandas arrived at the National Zoo in Washington,
D.C.at a ceremony attended by First Lady Pat Nixon. During their time at the Zoo,
the pair had five cubs, but none of them survived past a few days.

Ling-Ling died suddenly from heart failure in December 1992, at which time she was
the longest-lived giant panda in captivity outside China. Hsing-Hsing would go on to
pass her record when he was euthanized by zookeepers in November 1999 at the
age of 28 due to painful kidney failure.

The radio crime drama Dragnet, starring Jack Webb (above), debuted on television
in a special preview on NBC’s Chesterfield Sound Off Time on Sunday, December
16, 1951. The pilot was titled “The Human Bomb” and was adapted from a 1949
radio episode. After the pilot’s success, the Dragnet series officially began on
Thursday,  January 3, 1952. 

Elvis after signing his first contract with RCA Records

On November 21, 1955 Elvis Presley’s contract was officially transferred from Sun Records to RCA Records. Colonel Tom Parker negotiated the sale, which included
his five Sun singles and his unreleased Sun material. The price is an unprecedented $40,000, with a $5,000 bonus for Elvis. His first RCA single was "Heartbreak Hotel”
in 1956.

 

The Iceman Cometh was written by playwright Eugene O’Neil in 1939. The play
premiered on Broadway at the Martin Beck Theatre in New York on October 9,
1946. It was directed by Eddie Dowling and ran for 136 performances closing
on March 15, 1947. 

Eugene O’Neill