"Subway" is the seventh episode of the sixth season of the American police television drama Homicide: Life on the Street, and the 84th episode overall. It first aired on NBC in the United States on December 5, 1997. In the episode, John Lange (Vincent D'Onofrio) becomes pinned between a subway train and the station platform. The Baltimore homicide department is informed that Lange will be dead within an hour, and Pembleton tries to determine if the case is a homicide while comforting Lange in his final minutes. "Subway" received overwhelmingly positive reviews but ranked number three in its time-slot during its original broadcast, capturing 10.3 million viewers but falling behind ABC's 20/20 and CBS's Nash Bridges. The episode won a Peabody Award for excellence in television broadcasting and was nominated for two Emmy Awards, one for Yoshimura's script and one for D'Onofrio's guest performance. Vince Gilligan, an X-Files screenwriter, said that "Subway" directly influenced an episode he wrote that featured Bryan Cranston, and Cranston's performance led to his casting in Gilligan's series Breaking Bad.

Read more: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subway_(Homicide:_Life_on_the_Street)

_______________________________ Today's selected anniversaries:

1260:

Qutuz, Mamluk sultan of Egypt, was assassinated by a fellow Mamluk leader, Baibars, who then seized power for himself. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Baibars

1795:

As a result of the Third Partition of Poland, the Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth ceased to exist as an independent state as its territory was divided between Austria, Prussia, and Russia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polish%E2%80%93Lithuanian_Commonwealth

1912:

First Balkan War: Serbian forces defeated the Ottoman army at the Battle of Kumanovo in Vardar Macedonia. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Kumanovo

1949:

The cornerstone of the United Nations Headquarters building in New York City was laid. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Headquarters_of_the_United_Nations

2007:

Chang'e 1, the first satellite in the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program, was launched from Xichang Satellite Launch Center. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chang%27e_1

_____________________________ Wiktionary's word of the day:

batman: (historical) A unit of mass used in the Ottoman Empire and among Turkic peoples of the Russian Empire, the value of which varied from place to place throughout history. In the Ottoman Empire in the 19th century it was equal to six okas (16 pounds 8 ounces avoirdupois; 7.484 kilograms), and when the Turkish system of weights and measures was metricated in 1931 the oka was fixed at 1 kilogram and the batman at 10 okas (10 kilograms). https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/batman

___________________________ Wikiquote quote of the day:

To serve the people, one must write for the ideal reader. Only for the ideal reader. And who or what is that ideal reader? God. One must imagine, One must deeply imagine that great Attention Only so, In lonely dialog, can one reach the people.   --Denise Levertov https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Denise_Levertov