This Day in History

Thu, 2 Dec 2021

Barney Clark Receives World's First Permanent Artificial Heart (1982)

In the late 1940s, doctors at the Yale School of Medicine used parts from an Erector Set to build the first artificial heart pump. The device bypassed the heart of a dog for more than an hour. However, an artificial heart would not be implanted in a human until decades later. Barney Clark, a Seattle dentist with congestive heart failure, was the first recipient. Though the surgery was successful, Clark never recovered enough to leave the hospital and died of complications after how long? Discuss

Wed, 1 Dec 2021

The Taman Shud Case: Mystery Man Found Dead on Somerton Beach (1948)

On the night of November 30, 1948, passersby on Australia's Somerton Beach saw a man they believed to be drunk or sleeping. The next day, the mystery man was determined to be dead, which opened the still unsolved Taman Shud Case. The dead man has never been identified. Though investigators promptly searched the body and found normal things like chewing gum in the mystery man's pocket, something strange was later found, taking the case in a new—but equally elusive—direction. What was it?

Tue, 30 Nov 2021

Meteorite Strikes Ann Elizabeth Hodges (1954)

Thousands of people are struck by lightning every year, but in 1954, Ann Hodges of Sylacauga, Alabama, became the first person in modern history to be hit by a meteorite. Hodges was napping on her couch when she was rudely awakened by a grapefruit-sized meteorite crashing through her roof, bouncing off her radio, and striking her on the hip. The incident left her badly bruised. Who prevailed in the dispute between Hodges and her landlord over ownership of the meteorite?