Subscribe | UPI Odd Newsletter Subscribe Today is Dec. 2. The Atomic Age was born on this date in 1942, when Dr. Enrico Fermi and his fellow scientists demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction. It happened in an unusual location -- a laboratory located beneath the stands of Stagg Stadium at the University of Chicago. Their breakthrough led to development of the atomic bomb three years later, in 1945. Advertisement It was on this date in 1961 that Fidel Castro disclosed that he was a communist. The former rebel -- now leader of Cuba -- acknowledged he'd concealed the fact until he solidified his hold on his Caribbean island nation. Napoleon formally became emperor of France on this date in 1804. Just as the pope was about to place the crown on the emperor's head, Napoleon grabbed it and crowned himself -- with an audible "thunk." He then crowned his empress, Josephine, during ceremonies at the Cathedral of Notre Dame in Paris. Remember the song "John Brown's body lies amolderin' in the grave...?" It was on this day in 1859 that abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, W.Va. Harper's Ferry -- at the juncture of the Shenandoah and Potomac Rivers -- would be a strategic railroad junction during the Civil War that was to follow. Advertisement A 62-year-old retired dentist named Barney Clark made medical history on this date in 1982 when he became the first person to get a permanent artificial heart. Clark survived with his Jarvik-7 implant for 112 days. And it was on this date in 1927 that the Model A Ford was introduced as the successor to the Model T. The price of a Model A roadster was $395. We now return you to the present, already in progress.
