On This Day: Napoleon crowns himself emperor

Dec. 2 (UPI) -- On this date in history:

In 1804, Napoleon crowned himself emperor of France.

In 1823, during his annual address to the U.S. Congress, President James Monroe proclaimed a new U.S. foreign policy initiative that became known as the "Monroe Doctrine."

In 1859, abolitionist John Brown was hanged for his raid on the federal arsenal at Harper's Ferry, W.Va.

In 1927, the Model A Ford was introduced as the successor to the Model T. The price of a Model A roadster was $395.

In 1942, the Atomic Age was born when scientists demonstrated the first self-sustaining nuclear chain reaction at a laboratory below the stands at the University of Chicago football stadium.

In 1961, Fidel Castro disclosed he was a communist, acknowledging he concealed the fact until he solidified his hold on Cuba.

UPI File Photo

In 1970, the Environmental Protection Agency was formed with Indianapolis lawyer William Ruckelshaus as its administrator.

In 1980, President Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, establishing, among other things, the Gates of the Arctic National Park and Preserve, Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve, the Katmai National Park and Preserve, Kenai Fjords National Park, Kobuk Valley National Park, Lake Clark National Park and Preserve, and Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and Preserve.

In 1982, retired dentist Barney Clark, 62, became the first person to receive a permanent artificial heart. He survived 112 days.

In 1993, Colombian drug trafficker Pablo Escobar was killed in a shootout with police and soldiers in the Colombian city of Medellin.

In 2001, U.S. forces in Afghanistan captured John Walker Lindh, 20, a U.S. citizen from San Anselmo, Calif., found fighting with the Taliban.

In 2001, energy company Enron filed for bankruptcy, sparking one of the biggest corporate scandals in U.S. history. The Houston-based company was found to have fraudulent accounting practices.

Former Enron CEO Ken Lay listens to a Senate Committee hearing on the down fall of the Enron energy company on February 12, 2002. File Photo by Michael Kleinfeld/UPI

In 2015, Syed Farook and his wife Tashfeen Malik, attacked a social services facility in Southern California killing 14 before leading police in a running gun battle in which they were killed.

In 2016, a fire broke out an Oakland, Calif., warehouse killing 36 people. The Ghost Ship warehouse, which was being used for artist studios and dwellings, was hosting a concert at the time of the fire.

In 2020, Britain became the first Western nation to approve a COVID-19 vaccine, one developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

File Photo by Andy Rain/EPA-EFE