Ok readers, Thanksgiving is finally over, and are you suitably stuffed? I hope not too much, because you wouldn’t want to infringe on the any of the food you may have to consume during the always busy December month. Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanza… they may be different holidays but they definitely all end in food! So to help subdue your appetite, let’s get started on this week. We’ve got Iceland, Communism (as we can’t seem to get away from it), and the first heart transplant in history. Are you ready, reader?

December 1, 1918: Iceland becomes a sovereign state, yet remains part of the Danish Kingdom.

    Wow, Iceland. I don’t know about you, but to me cold is cold. And speaking of the cold, if you’re a fan of it, or of spending time on desolate continents then The Entire Earth and Sky: Views on Antarctica by Leslie Carol Roberts is sure to capture your fancy!

December 2, 1954: The US Senate votes 62 to 22 to condemn Joseph McCarthy for “conduct that tends to bring the senate into dishonor and disrepute”

Radios Revolution:  Don Hollenbeck’s CBS Views the Press edited by Loren Ghiglione chronicles the radio show that tackled the tough topic of McCarthyism.

December 3, 1967: At Groot Schuur hospital in South Africa a transplant team ran by Christiaan Barnard carries out the first heart transplant on a 53 year old Louis Washkansky. 

Medic: How I fought World War II with Morphine, Sulfa, and Iodine Swabs, by Robert “Doc Joe” Franklin, is the surprising and always inspiring memoir of one man’s fight to save lives in war torn Europe.

December 4, 1952: Great Smog of 1952. A cold fog covers London and kills at least 12,000 in the weeks and months to follow.

  Well there is nothing like a cold, people killing fog to make you appreciate the Wide Open: Prose, Poetry, and Photographs of the Prairie, edited by Annick Smith and Susan O’Connor.

December 5, 2007: A gunman opens fire with a semi-automatic rifle on an Omaha, Nebraska mall killing 8 people before himself.

    There is no book for this.  We only ask that you take a moment to remember the lives ruthlessly taken during last years holiday season.

    Ok readers, I hope we could ‘satisfy’ your craving for this weeks historical tidbits! Remember you can find all these books, and more, at the UNP website. Make sure to join us next week for a little Tuesday Trivia. and have a great weekend!