Today in 1901, the US Army War College was established in Washington, D.C.
Today in 1920, "The Mask of Zorro" starring Douglas Fairbanks and directed by Fred Niblo, was shown in New York. America’s first American superhero film, it officially opened in theaters nationwide the following December 5th.
Today in 1978, San Francisco Mayor George Moscone and City Supervisor Harvey Milk, a gay-rights activist, were shot to death inside City Hall by former supervisor Dan White.
Today in 1989, University of Chicago doctors began implanting part of a woman’s liver in her 21-month-old daughter in the nation’s first living donor liver transplant. That young girl – Alyssa Smith (now Riggan) – has since gone on to have a completely normal life. She’s graduated college with a Bachelor’s Degree in social work and has gotten married!
Today in 1995, America Online purged the word breast from its system in accordance with possible regulations prohibiting “use of obscene or vulgar language.” Breast cancer survivors who used the system were angered; a week later the company rescinded the ban.
Today in 1998,after answering 81 questions that had been put to him three weeks earlier, President Clinton wrote the House Judiciary Committee that his testimony in the Monica Lewinsky affair was “not false and misleading.” He would later allow that it was.
Today in 2005, the first partial human face transplant was completed in Amiens, France. The recipient, Isabelle Dinoire, had fallen unconscious…and had originally lost her face as her dog gnawed on it in its efforts to rouse her. While Dinoire was always grateful, she later lost her life to cancer in September 2016.
Today in 2013, the highest-grossing animated film of all time, “Frozen,” was released.
Today in 2015, a gunman killed three people and wounded nine at a Planned Parenthood clinicin Colorado Springs, Colorado. The shooter was deemed delusional and incompetent to stand trial and ordered confined to a state mental hospital indefinitely in May 2016. He remains incompetent to stand trial.
Today in 2017, Britain's Prince Harry and American actress Meghan Markle officially announced their engagement.
Today in 2018, convicted murderer Samuel Little confirmed he was connected to 90 more murders of women after confessing details.