It was on this day in 1968 that the Captain and the Communications Officer on Star Trek shared the first interracial kiss that took place on a scripted show. Due to concerns about how television stations in the Southern states would react to such a thing, the story called for Capt Kirk and Lt Uhura to be under the influence of a mind-controlling alien and thus not able to control themselves.
The earliest event that Wiki says happened on this day is “498 – After the death of Anastasius II, Symmachus is elected Pope in the Lateran Palace, while Laurentius is elected Pope in Santa Maria Maggiore” and the most recent is “2005 – Angela Merkel becomes the first female Chancellor of Germany.”
A few other things that also took place on this day are:
1718 – The pirate Edward “Blackbeard” Teach is killed during a battle off the coast of what is now North Carolina.
1914 – The song “Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town” is played for the first time on TV.
1963 – President Kennedy is assassinated in Dallas.
1968 – The so-called White Album by The Beatles is released.
1995 – Toy Story is released in theaters. It is the first feature film made enterily with computer-generated imagery.
Happy birthday to Mark Ruffalo, Jamie Lee Curtis, Tina Weymouth, Steven Van Zandt, and Terry Gilliam.