Today In History

Today is Thursday, Dec. 2, the 336th day of 2021. There are 29 days left in the year.

TODAY’S HIGHLIGHT

› 1859: Militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October.

ON THIS DATE

› 1697: London’s

St. Paul’s Cathedral, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, was consecrated for use even though the building was still under construction.

› 1942: An artificially created, self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction was demonstrated for the first time at the University of Chicago.

› 1957: The Shippingport Atomic Power Station in Pennsylvania, the first full-scale commercial nuclear facility in the U.S., began operations. (The reactor ceased operating in 1982.)

› 1970: The newly created Environmental Protection Agency opened its doors under its first director, William D. Ruckelshaus.

› 1982: In the first operation of its kind, doctors at the University of Utah Medical Center implanted a permanent artificial heart in the chest of retired dentist Dr. Barney Clark, who lived 112 days with the device.

› 2000: Al Gore sought a recount in South Florida, while George W. Bush flatly asserted, “I’m soon to be the president” and met with GOP congressional leaders.

TODAY’S BIRTHDAYS

Former Attorney General Edwin Meese III is

90. Former Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., is 82. Actor Cathy Lee Crosby is 77. Movie director Penelope Spheeris is 76. Actor Ron Raines is 72. Country singer John Wesley Ryles is 71. Broadcast journalist Stone Phillips is 67. Actor Dennis Christopher is 66. Actor Steven Bauer is 65. Country singer Joe Henry is 61. Rock musician Rick Savage (Def Leppard) is

61. Rock musician Nate Mendel (Foo Fighters) is

53. Actor Suzy Nakamura is 53. Actor Rena Sofer is

53. Rock singer Jimi HaHa (Jimmie’s Chicken Shack) is 53. Actor Lucy Liu is 53. U.S. Veterans Affairs Secretary Denis McDonough is 52. Rapper Treach (Naughty By Nature) is

51. International Tennis Hall of Famer Monica Seles is 48. Actor-singer Jana Kramer is 38. Actor Yvonne Orji is 38. Actor Daniela Ruah is 38. NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 38. Actor Alfred Enoch is 33. Pop singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is 30.