Way back when: Today in history
BY GENE CURTIS
Monday, March 26, 2012
3/26/12 at 2:34 AM
1953 - Polio vaccine lauded
The development of a new polio vaccine that had been tested on 90 children and adults "with flying colors," was announced by Dr. Jonas E. Salk, a virus researcher at the University of Pittsburgh. Dr. Salk, speaking at a dinner of the National Foundation for Infantile Paralysis, said 90 was too small a number to say that the vaccine would work on everyone and the vaccine would not be ready that summer. The vaccine was made of all three types of polio virus grown in test-tube farms and then killed or inactivated with formaldehyde.
1979 - Treaty signed
A peace treaty was signed in Washington by Egyptian President Anwar Sadat and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin, neighbors but enemies for a generation. "Peace has come," President Jimmy Carter beamed. Sadat and Begin, who shared the 1978 Nobel Peace Prize, praised Carter and proposed at a White House dinner that Carter should receive the 1979 award for his efforts. After Sadat and Begin signed the treaty, Carter added his signature as a witness.
1981 - TU team welcomed
An estimated 10,000 basketball fans crowded into Bartlett Square in downtown Tulsa to welcome home and show their pride for the University of Tulsa basketball team. The Golden Hurricane was fresh from an 86-84 overtime win over Syracuse in the National Invitation Tournament in New York City, capping TU's finest season up to then. It was the first season for TU Coach Nolan Richardson, who was credited by all the players for their success. TU had been to only four post-season tournaments previously and had won only one post-season game.
2002 - Anderson CEO quits
Arthur Andersen chief executive Joseph Berardino resigned, bowing to mounting pressure as a result of the accounting firm's role in the Enron scandal. His announcement came four days after former Federal Reserve Chairman Paul Volcker urged top management to step aside, clearing the way for him to install and head an independent board in a last-ditch plan to save the company. "I felt I had to take this step to put an exclamation point behind the voices of our people to say that we are serious and we're a serious firm that deserves to continue here in the United States," Berardino said.
Associated Images:
Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (left), President Jimmy Carter and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin after signing a peace treaty on the north lawn of the White House in Washington. AP Photo
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