The Boston Tea Party took place on this date in 1773. Years of resistance against British colonial rule came to a head over an Act of Parliament from earlier in the year that was passed to force the colonies to purchase tea from the British East India Tea Company, which had a surplus of tea and was struggling.

The American colonists saw the point behind the Tea Act: Behave yourselves, Parliament appeared to be telling the them, and act like a part of the Empire.
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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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