What Happened This Day In History - 17th June - Watergate scandal, first hydrogen, first successful kidney transplant.
World Events
1972
Watergate scandal started
Image source: Wiki
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Watergate was a major political scandal that occurred in the United States in the 1970s, following a break-in at the Democratic National Committee (DNC) headquarters at the Watergate office complex in Washington, D.C. on June 17, 1972 and President Richard Nixon’s administration’s attempted cover-up of its involvement. When the conspiracy was discovered and investigated by the U.S. Congress, the Nixon administration’s resistance to its probes led to a constitutional crisis.
The term Watergate, by metonymy, has come to encompass an array of clandestine and often illegal activities undertaken by members of the Nixon administration. Those activities included such “dirty tricks” as bugging the offices of political opponents and people of whom Nixon or his officials were suspicious. Nixon and his close aides also ordered investigations of activist groups and political figures, using the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), and the Internal Revenue Service (IRS).
The scandal led to the discovery of multiple abuses of power by members of the Nixon administration, an impeachment process against the president that led to articles of impeachment, and the resignation of Nixon. The scandal also resulted in the indictment of 69 people, with trials or pleas resulting in 48 being found guilty, many of whom were Nixon’s top administration officials.
The affair began with the arrest of five men for breaking and entering into the DNC headquarters at the Watergate complex on Saturday, June 17, 1972. The FBI investigated and discovered a connection between cash found on the burglars and a slush fund used by the Committee for the Re-Election of the President (CRP), the official organization of Nixon's campaign. In July 1973, evidence mounted against the President’s staff, including testimony provided by former staff members in an investigation conducted by the Senate Watergate Committee. The investigation revealed that President Nixon had a tape-recording system in his offices and that he had recorded many conversations.
After a series of court battles, the U.S. Supreme Court unanimously ruled that the president was obliged to release the tapes to government investigators. The tapes revealed that Nixon had attempted to cover up activities that took place after the break-in, and to use federal officials to deflect the investigation. Facing virtually certain impeachment in the House of Representatives and equally certain conviction by the Senate, Nixon resigned the presidency on August 9, 1974, preventing the House from impeaching him. On September 8, 1974, his successor, Gerald Ford, pardoned him.
The name “Watergate” and the suffix “-gate” have since become synonymous with political and non-political scandals in the United States, and some other parts of the world.
Source: Wiki
1967
China tested its first hydrogen bomb.
Image source: ctbto.org
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On 17 June 1967, the People's Republic of China conducted its first thermonuclear test, codenamed 'Test No. 6'. The explosion took place in the atmosphere over the Lop Nor Test Site, in the northwest of the country, with a yield of 3.3 megatons. The design of the bomb was such that it could be delivered either by aircraft or ballistic missile.
The test was carried out only 32 months after the country’s first nuclear explosion on 16 October 1964. By comparison, the United States took 86 months from conducting the first-ever nuclear test in 1945 until the world’s first thermonuclear explosion in 1951.
China's efforts to acquire nuclear weapons date back to the 1950s. The Soviet Union had assisted the Chinese nuclear weapons programme significantly following agreements signed in 1951 and 1957. Seven years after 'Test No. 6', neighbouring India conducted its first nuclear explosion in 1974.
The last of China’s 45 nuclear tests took place on 29 July 1996, only months before China signed the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBT) when it opened for signature on 24 September 1996. The Treaty bans all nuclear explosions.
Of the 44 countries that must ratify the CTBT before it can enter into force, 35 have already done so. Of the eight remaining, China has already signed the CTBT, together with Egypt, Iran, Israel and the United States. India, Pakistan and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea have yet to sign and ratify.
Source: ctbto.org
1885
Statue of Liberty arrives in New York Harbor
Image source: heavy.com
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On this day in 1885, the dismantled Statue of Liberty, a gift of friendship from the people of France to the people of America, arrives in New York Harbor after being shipped across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces packed in more than 200 cases. The copper and iron statue, which was reassembled and dedicated the following year in a ceremony presided over by U.S. President Grover Cleveland, became known around the world as an enduring symbol of freedom and democracy.
Source: history.com
1950
First successful kidney transplant operation was performed
Image source: stressmarq.com
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On June 17th 1950 Dr. Richard Lawler performed the first successful kidney transplant. The recipient was Ruth Tucker, a 44-year-old woman who had polycystic kidney disease (PKD).
PKD is a genetic disorder that causes the development of multiple fluid-filled cysts typically in both kidneys. Tucker had watched her sister and mother die of the same condition.
A transplant was risky but the only real option for survival for Tucker, as dialysis was not yet widely available. The donor kidney was removed from a patient who had died of cirrhosis of the liver.
“Not the most ideal patient, but the best we could find,” said Dr. Lawler after the surgery. The transplant surgery was quick, and 45 minutes after removal of the kidney from the donor the operation was complete. Tucker was released from the hospital a month later.
The kidney functioned for at least 53 days, but it was removed 10 months after the surgery as it had been rejected. This transplant was conducted well before the development of immunosuppressant drugs and tissue typing which would have helped prevent organ rejection.
Ruth Tucker had PKD in both of her kidneys, leaving one non-functioning and the other functioning at 10%. The donor kidney gave her body the chance to resume normal kidney function, therefore when the donor kidney was removed, Ruth was able to live another 5 years with her one remaining kidney. She died in 1955 from coronary artery disease which was unrelated to PKD and her organ transplant. Dr. Richard Lawler never performed another transplant, saying that he “just wanted to get it started”.
Source: stressmarq.com
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