Sunday, October 30, 2011

The boy in the bubble and the baby with the baboon heart

October 26th
On this day in 1881 there was a shootout at the OK Corral! Representing the side of the law were the Earp brothers, Wyatt, Virgil, and Morgan, along with the infamous Doc Holliday. Representing the less than lawful in the fight were members of the Clanton/McLaury gang. Now in there defense, the "cowboys" as they were known, moved to Tombstone to escape the confines of city life. Anyone who wanted law and order should have just stayed where they came from. Everyone in that town knew what they were getting into. But the fight was about more than suppressing local vagrants. It was about pride! The gang and the Earps tangled the day before and when 5 members were spotted at the edge of town, the fight broke out. Two of the McLaury brothers and one Clanton died, the Earps and Holliday were wounded, but survived. It lasted only 30 seconds, but has lasted in the imaginations of millions, largely due to the movies made about it.

On this day in 1986 the curse of Babe Ruth raised it's head once again with a baseball going between the legs of one Bill Buckner. The Boston Red Sox were on the verge of winning game 6 of the World Series against the New York Mets, and thus winning their first world championship since 1918. But with two outs in the 10th inning, Mookie Wilson hit a ground ball toward Buckner who reached down to field it. Ole! It went under his glove and the Ray Knight scored the winning run from third base. Oops!

On this day in 1984 a 14 day old baby known as Fae received a heart transplant after doctors found out she was missing the left side of her heart. But what stands out about this transplant was that Fae received a baboon's heart. She lived for another twenty days but ultimately her body rejected the heart and she died. But it was an advance in science that paved the way for other infant heart transplants and surgeries.

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