TODAY IN HISTORY

DECEMBER 2

1859: Militant abolitionist John Brown is hanged in Charles Town, Va., for his part in leadership of the Oct. 16 raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, in present-day West Virginia. He was 59. Hours before his execution, Brown writes that "the crimes of this guilty land will never be purged away but with blood." The Civil War would begin 16 months later.

1927: The Ford Motor Company's Model A is unveiled in cities around North American and Europe, replacing the famous Model T. The new Model A goes on sale for between $385 and $570. Nearly 2 million Model A automobiles would be produced in 1929 alone.


1901:Gillette patents first disposable razor

1804:Napoleon becomes first French emperor.


1982: Barney Clark, a 61-year-old dentist suffering from congestive heart failure, is the recipient of the first-ever permanent artificial heart, at the University of Utah Medical Center. Clark would live for 112 days with the device, known as the Jarvik-7 after inventor Robert Jarvik.

1899:Germany and the U.S. agree to divide Samoa between them.

ANCIENT SEA CASTLE DISPLAYS POLIO MESSAGE

By Bana Kalash Kobrosly, president of the Rotary Club of Saida, Lebanon

On 20 November, the Sea Castle in Saida, Lebanon, an important archeological site, was dramatically illuminated with the End Polio Now message. The polio awareness program has been one of the most important humanitarian initiatives for Rotary clubs around the world for more than a quarter century now. For the second year in a row, Rotarians in Lebanon have played a part in helping build awareness around the need to eradicate this crippling disease. (click below to read more)

MENSA Q & A

This Canadian actress was born Gladys Marie Smith and won an Academy Award for Best Actress. What was her stage name?
(click below for the answer)

NON-TRADITIONAL WEDDING CAKES

TRUE LOVE

IT'S CHICKEN DELIGHT!

SNAPSHOT

WILL THERE BE ANOTHER CASABLANCA?

For almost as long as there have been movies, there have been sequels. "The Godfather," "Star Wars," "The Lord of the Rings," the Twilight series—if there's anything Hollywood likes more than a blockbuster, it's the follow-up to one. Perhaps it's the dearth of original ideas or the desire among studios to cash in on a proven winner one more time (or two or three more times). So I can't say I was particularly surprised to learn, earlier this month, that there's talk of a sequel to that most storied of Hollywood productions, "Casablanca," which turned 70 on Thanksgiving Day. (click below to read more)

TUNE IN TONIGHT

IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE

NBC, 8:00 p.m. ET

Few Christmas TV traditions remain, but here’s one of them. This 1946 Frank Capra holiday classic used to be shown by a ridiculous number of local stations and cable networks each year – until the film’s rights were rescued from public domain, and NBC landed a contract to televise the film exclusively, twice each year. This is the first of this month’s two prime-time NBC telecasts, with James Stewart and Donna Reed starring in a story of a small-town banker. Events of recent years have made its story of risky mortgages even more potent – and poignant.

SULLIVAN'S TRAVELS

TCM, 8:00 p.m. ET

Preston Sturges is the man behind this inspired satire and love letter to Hollywood moviemaking, a 1941 film that somehow seems more modern all the time. Joel McCrea stars as a movie director who decides to make more meaningful films, and Veronica Lake plays the woman who accompanies him on his journeys to experience hardship firsthand.

APOLLO 13

Bravo, 10:00 p.m. ET

Tom Hanks stars in this 1995 movie, directed by Ron Howard, that manages to be a real thriller, even though the outcome of the 1970 lunar mission is well known. Fabulous supporting cast, and a fantastic story – which, in this case, is true

PEOPLE BEING PEOPLE

Two boys have returned long-lost military medals to the family of a Korean War hero. Michael Mazzariello Jr., 11, and his brother Mauro, 8, were searching for G.I. Joes in an antique store in Newburgh, N.Y., when they came upon three medals bearing the name Charles George. After months of searching, they discovered that George, a Cherokee Indian, had died after throwing himself on a grenade to protect his company. “We went in looking for a G.I. Joe hero,” said Mauro, “and came out with a real American hero.”

TODAY IN HISTORY

DECEMBER 1

1952: "Ex-GI Becomes Blonde Beauty!" Christine Jorgensen, born George Jorgensen Jr., is the first person to receive widespread publicity for sex reassignment surgery, as her story appears on the front page of the New York Daily News. Jorgensen, who was an Army private during World War II, also underwent hormone-replacement therapy to become a woman, after years of feeling as if he was trapped in a body of the wrong gender.
 
1955: African American seamstress Rosa Parks sparks a boycott of the segregated bus system in Montgomery, Ala., when she refuses to give up her seat to a white man on a public bus and is promptly arrested. A year later, the U.S. Supreme Court would ban segregation on public transportation. Meanwhile, Parks' actions and the resulting boycott would help spur the nationwide civil rights movement.
 
1957: Buddy Holly and the Crickets, Sam Cooke and The Rays all make their national television debuts as musical guests on The Ed Sullivan Show.


1913:Ford Motor Co. starts assembly line.

1913:Crete is annexed by Greece

1887:Arthur Conan Doyle publishes "A Study in Scarlet" story, introducing detective Sherlock Holmes

1640:Portugal regains its independence from Spain after 60 years and John IV becomes king.

FIGHTING AIDS

By Marion Bunch, Rotarians for Family Health and AIDS Prevention (formerly RFFA)

World AIDS Day 1 December holds special meaning to me. I lost my second born child, Jerry, to AIDS early in the American epidemic (1994). At that time, the disease was so stigmatizing, I felt quite lonely not being able to discuss Jerry’s illness with anyone outside my family. I never thought I’d do anything about it until one day, three years after his death, I felt a tap on the shoulder and a voice in my ear said “mom, get up and get going, you haven’t done anything, and it’s been three years.” (click below to read more)

THE FIRST WORD

exit hosts
I was the first one in my family to ever go to college. In college, I worked as a security guard, golf trainer and bouncer (we called them "exit hosts").

A bouncer is also known as a "chucker-outer" (in Australia; a "chucker-out" in the U.K.) and a "half ouncer" (in rhyming slang). An archaic term for a bouncer (especially one employed by a brothel) is "bully back."