Friday, December 23, 2011

TODAY IN HISTORY

DECEMBER 23
1993:Tom Hanks and Denzel Washington star in Philadelphia, the first major Hollywood film to focus on AIDS (Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome), which opens in cinemas on this day. Hanks collected his first best actor Oscar for his performance as Andrew Beckett, a gay attorney who is fired when his firm discovers he has AIDS.

1823: "Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good night." The beloved poem "The Night Before Christmas" (otherwise known as "A Visit from St. Nicholas") is published anonymously in the Sentinel of Troy, N.Y. Generally attributed to Clement C. Moore, the poem is largely responsible for the popular conception of Santa Claus and his reindeer, along with many other Yuletide traditions.

1954: Dr. John P. Merrill performs the first successful kidney transplant at Peter Bent Brigham Hospital in Boston, surgically transferring a kidney donated by Ronald Herrick to his twin brother, Richard Herrick.
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