What Happened on December 2? The first permanent artificial heart was implanted in a human. (1982) Dr. William DeVries implanted the Jarvik 7 artificial heart into Dr. Barney Clark, a dentist who was on his deathbed. Dr. Clark lived for 112 days after the procedure. Benazir Bhutto was sworn in as the Prime Minister of Pakistan. (1988) She was the first woman to become a government leader in a Muslim country, a process which took over ten years of campaigning, six of which she spent in prison. Napoleon crowned himself Emperor of France. (1804) The ceremony was held at the Notre Dame Cathedral, and made Napoleon I the first French emperor in 1,000 years. The ceremony lasted for more than three hours, not counting several hours of parades and processions before and afterward. The first nuclear chain reaction was created in the US. (1942) The controlled explosion was set off as part of the top-secret Manhattan Project. It took place in a squash court underneath the football stadium at the University of Chicagos Stagg Field, and laid the groundwork for the invention of the atomic bomb. The first post-Hitler elections took place in Germany. (1990) The election was the first free and universal election since Hitler had come to power in 1932. It was also the first election that occurred after the re-unification of Eastern and Western Germany. Enron filed for bankruptcy. (2001) It was the biggest bankruptcy in history at that time, and shareholders lost nearly $11 billion US Dollars (USD) when Enron shares dropped from $90 USD per share to $1 USD per share in less than a year. Fidel Castro and Che Guevera landed in Cuba. (1956) This marked the start of the revolution in which Castro eventually deposed Batista as the dictator of Cuba. Nine years later, Castro would declare his intentions to lead Cuba into communism. The last Chinese emperor, Pu Yi, ascended the throne. (1908) Pu Yi was two years old when he ascended the throne, and only ruled for six years before he was forced to abdicate, though he was later a puppet emperor for the Japanese. The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) opened its doors. (1970) The EPA was part of President Nixons environmental action program, and marked the environmentalist movement truly making its way into popular consciousness. The first synagogue was dedicated in the US. (1762) The Touro Synagogue in Newport, Rhode Island became the only surviving synagogue from the colonial era in the US, and has operated more or less continually since its dedication.
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 19:36:40 +0000
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