It’s a Throwback Thursday with one of Great Plains Communications’ cable channels, The History Channel and one of its most popular features, This Day in History. It is exciting to think of the things that happened on this very day all throughout history. Below we have listed just a few highlights, you can find the full list here on the History Channel’s website.
1818 – Illinois Becomes the 21st State
Immigrants used to the vast forests of Tennessee and the eastern states didn’t know what to make of the prairies that covered Illinois. The first assumption was that it was inferior to the land they left, due to the lack of trees. Though it took some time for the people to get used to the land, it later grew to be the densely populated state we know today.
1967 – First Human Heart Transplant
After a 25-year-old was fatally injured in a car accident, 53-year-old Lewis Washkansky, residing in Cape Town, South Africa was given a second chance at a working heart. The surgery went well, with the heart working normally, however Washkansky later passed away from double pneumonia after the medication had left him susceptible to sickness.
1979 – Last AMC Pacer Rolls off Assembly Line
What was originally known as the car of the future, with tag lines like, “When you buy any other car, all you end up with is today’s car. When you get a Pacer, you get a piece of tomorrow,” ended with fading sales and a rough reputation.