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On This Day December 2

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Celebrity Birthdays

1925 – Five-time Tony Award-winning actress Julie Harris (“The Member of the Wedding,” “I Am a Camera,” “The Lark,” “East of Eden,” “The Haunting”) (d. 2013)

1944 – Actress Cathy Lee Crosby (“The Laughing Policeman,” “Wonder Woman”)

1946 – Fashion designer Gianni Versace (d. 1997)

1968 – Actress Lucy Liu (“Ally McBeal,” “Charlie’s Angels,” “Kill Bill,” “Chicago,” “Southland,” the “Kung Fu Panda” series, “Elementary”)

1973 – Retired international tennis champion Monica Seles

1978 – Grammy-winning singer-songwriter Nelly Furtado (“Turn Off the Light,” “I’m Like a Bird”)

1981 – Grammy-winning pop superstar Britney Spears

History Highlights

1823 – President James Monroe delivers a speech establishing American neutrality in future European conflicts—a policy that comes to be known as the Monroe Doctrine.

1954 – The U.S. Senate votes to condemn Senator Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the Senate into dishonor and disrepute.” The move was prompted by McCarthy’s controversial investigation of suspected communists in the federal government, military and civilian society.

1970 – The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is established to protect the public health and environment.

1982 – Sixty-one-year-old Barney Clark becomes the first human recipient of a permanent artificial heart. Near death at the time of the operation, Clark survives 112 days after the surgery.

1997 – Nominated for a staggering nine Academy Awards, “Good Will Hunting” premieres in Los Angeles and goes on to earn childhood friends Ben Affleck and Matt Damon a Best Original Screenplay Oscar — propelling them to Hollywood fame. The movie, directed by Gus Van Sant, also garners Robin Williams the only Oscar of his career — for Best Supporting Actor.

2001 – Enron Corporation files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, exposing one of the largest corporate scandals in U.S. history. Before its collapse, the Houston-based energy trading giant employed some 20,000 people who now had to pack their belongings and look for new jobs. Investors lost billions.

Musical Milestones

1967 – The Monkees rule the Billboard singles chart with “Daydream Believer,” the band’s third and final No. 1 hit. The track holds the top spot for four weeks.

1972 – “Papa Was a Rollin’ Stone,” by The Temptations, is the No. 1 single. The song is the legendary Motown band’s last No. 1 hit and goes on to capture three Grammys.

1978 – The Neil Diamond-Barbra Streisand duet, “You Don’t Bring Me Flowers,” is on top of the Billboard Hot 100.

1983 – Michael Jackson’s groundbreaking “Thriller” video, featuring narration by Vincent Price and directed by John Landis, premieres. In 2009, it is inducted into the National Film Registry of the Library of Congress — the first music video to ever receive this honor — for being “culturally, historically or aesthetically” significant.

1989 – Milli Vanilli are chart toppers for a second straight week with “Blame It on the Rain.”

1995 – “One Sweet Day,” by Mariah Carey and Boys II Men, begins an incredible 16-week ride atop the Billboard singles chart.

2000 – “Independent Women Part I,” by Destiny’s Child, is in the midst of an 11-week domination of the Billboard Hot 100. The track is from the 2000 movie adaptation of “Charlie’s Angels.”

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