DECEMBER 23 ~ ON THiS DAY in History

1823 – A Visit from St. Nicholas aka The Night Before Christmas was published anonymously on the 23rd December 1823.

1893 – The Hansel and Gretel opera by Engelbert Humperdinck was first performed on the 23rd December 1893.

1938 – The first modern coelacanth was discovered on the 23rd December 1938, in South Africa.

1947 – The transistor was first demonstrated at Bell Laboratories on the 23rd December 1947.

1954 – The 1st successful kidney transplant was performed on the 23rd December 1954, by J. Hartwell Harrison and Joseph Murray.

1958 – Tokyo Tower was became the world’s highest self-supporting iron tower on the 23rd December 1958.

1970 – The North Tower of the World Trade Center in ManhattanNew York, New York was topped out at 417 m (1,368 feet ), making it the tallest building in the world on the 23rd December 1970.

1972 – A 6.5 magnitude earthquake struck the Nicaraguan capital of Managua on the 23rd December 1972, killing more than 10,000.

1972 – The 16 survivors of the Andes flight disaster were rescued after 73 days on the 23rd December 1972, having survived by cannibalism.

1986 – Voyager, piloted by Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager, landed at Edwards Air Force Base in California on the 23rd December 1986, becoming the first aircraft to fly non-stop around the world without aerial or ground refueling.

2002 – A MQ-1 Predator was shot down by an Iraqi MiG-25 on the 23rd December 2002, making it the first time in history that an aircraft and an unmanned drone had engaged in combat.

2013The Melbourne Star (originally the Southern Star) giant Ferris wheel re-opened at the Waterfront City precinct of the DocklandsMelbourne, Australia, on the 23rd December 2013. Official website: www.MelbourneStar.com | Melbourne Star YouTube video…

The Melbourne Star giant Ferris wheel opened Waterfront City Docklands Australia biggest Southern Hemisphere observation website
The Melbourne Star observation wheel official website ~ www.MelbourneStar.com

Leave a Reply

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.