1468 Teenager Lorenzo the Magnificent became head of the d’ Medici family and the de facto ruler of Florence on the death of his father. His grandfather had made an enormous fortune in banking throughout western Europe, and his son had consolidated it. Grandson Big Larry spent the fortune on art. We saw some of it when I spent a semester at the European Universities Institute there.
1586 Sir Thomas Herriot introduced potatoes to England from Colombia. The Inca Empire cultivated dozens of varieties and they spread from there. Is that potatoes or potatos? Ask Dan Quayle.
1854 The Battle of the Eureka Stockade began near Ballarat, Victoria. Been there; I have commented on the Museum of Australian Democracy at Eureka elsewhere on this blog.
1947 In New York City ‘Stella!‘ is heard as ‘A Street Car Named Desire’ opened on Broadway. Seen it and been on that streetcar in NOLA.
1967 In Cape Town Dr Christiaan Barnard successfully completed the first human heart transplant on Louis Washkansky. The heart came from a car accident fatality. The operation was successful and the patient died eighteen days later.
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