Today in History

On Dec. 2, 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.

Also on this date:

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France in a coronation ceremony at Notre Dame de Paris cathedral.

In 1823, President James Monroe outlined his doctrine opposing European expansion in the Western Hemisphere.

In 1859, militant abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on Harpers Ferry the previous October.

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

In 1954, the U.S. Senate passed, 67-22, a resolution condemning Republican Sen. Joseph R. McCarthy of Wisconsin, saying he had “acted contrary to senatorial ethics and tended to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.”

In 1993, Colombian drug lord Pablo Escobar was shot to death by security forces in Medellin (meh-deh-YEEN’).

In 2015, a couple loyal to the Islamic State group opened fire at a holiday banquet for public employees in San Bernardino, California, killing 14 people and wounding 21 others before dying in a shootout with police.

In 2016, a fire that raced through an illegally converted warehouse in Oakland, California, during a dance party killed 36 people.

In 2018, Israeli police recommended indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on bribery charges, adding to a growing collection of legal troubles for the longtime leader.

Today’s Birthdays: Film director Penelope Spheeris is 79. Author T. Coraghessan Boyle is 76. Actor Dan Butler is 70. Actor Steven Bauer is 68. U.S. Secretary of the Interior Deb Haaland is 64. Actor Lucy Liu is 56. Rapper Treach (Naughty By Nature) is 54. Tennis Hall of Famer Monica Seles is 51. Singer Nelly Furtado is 46. Pop singer Britney Spears is 43. Actor-singer Jana Kramer is 41. Actor Yvonne Orji is 41. Actor Daniela Ruah is 41. NFL quarterback Aaron Rodgers is 41. Actor Alfred Enoch is 36. Pop singer-songwriter Charlie Puth is 33.