The Governor Malcolm Wilson Tappan Zee Bridge, which most people simply call the Tappan Zee Bridge, opened on this date in 1955.

At 16,000 feet long, it is the longest bridge in New York State, and it spans the Hudson River’s second-widest point for reasons of bureaucratic disagreements.

As one can see in the photo at top, the bridge offers a dramatic swoop of a structure across the river; a long approach over the water carries a driver gradually to a classic suspension bridge in the center of the river and a similar length ramp brings one to the other side.
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Apollo 17 astronauts Harrison Schmitt and Eugene Cernan blasted off from the surface of the Moon on this date in 1972 after spending three days exploring it. (Photo at top.)

The two explorers left behind a plaque which read in part, “Here man completed his first explorations of the Moon, December 1972. May the spirit of peace in which we came be reflected in the lives of all mankind.”

Gene Cernan remains the last human to stand on the Moon. A documentary about him, titled The Last Man on the Moon, was released to acclaim in 2015.
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James Dean made his television—and professional acting—debut on this date in 1950. He was 19 years old, and he was one of several young people seen in a live, minute-long TV ad for Pepsi-Cola.

The young people are at a party, and Dean puts money in the player piano, as seen in the photo at top. The piano doesn’t work and Dean “fixes” it.

The ad (after the jump);
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