December 22, 2025
The Lincoln Tunnel Opens to Traffic (1937)
About 120,000 vehicles pass under the Hudson River by way of the 1.5-mile (2.4-km) Lincoln Tunnel every day. A vital link between New York's Manhattan borough and Weehawken, New Jersey, the tunnel was constructed under the supervision of civil engineer and underwater tunnel pioneer Ole Singstad. The first two-lane tube opened in 1937, with two others opening in 1945 and 1957. To accommodate rush-hour traffic patterns, lanes can be reversed. How much was the original fare when the tunnel opened? Discuss
December 21, 2025
Marie and Pierre Curie Discover Radium (1898)
Scientists Marie and Pierre Curie were working with pitchblende, a heavy mineral known to contain the radioactive element uranium, when they noticed something unusual. Somehow, the pitchblende was more radioactive than the uranium it contained. The culprit was radium, a previously unknown element present in pitchblende only in trace amounts—yet more than a million times more radioactive than uranium. What common household products contained radium until it was discovered to be dangerous?
December 20, 2025
Spanish Prime Minister Luis Carrero Blanco Is Assassinated (1973)
When Spanish leader Francisco Franco appointed Carrero Blanco to the office of prime minister in 1973, the new premier was expected to uphold Franco's regime—including a plan to eventually restore the Spanish monarchy. Months later, Carrero Blanco was killed by a bomb that exploded under his car as he was leaving mass in Madrid. Though Spain may have moved closer to democracy after Carrero Blanco's death, that was not necessarily the intended goal of the bombing. Who was responsible for it?
