Los Angeles, Aug 1 (TIWN) Actress Nichelle Nichols, who portrayed communications officer Uhura on the original 'Star Trek' series passed away aged 89.

That moment, with her co-star William Shatner, was a courageous move on the her part, 'Star Trek' creator Gene Roddenberry and NBC considering the climate at the time, but the episode 'Plato's Stepchildren', which aired in 1968, was written to give all involved an out: Uhura and Captain Kirk did not choose to kiss but were instead made to do so involuntarily by aliens with the ability to control the movements of humans. Nevertheless, it was a landmark moment.

There had been a couple of interracial kisses on American television before. A year earlier on 'Movin' With Nancy', Sammy Davis Jr. kissed Nancy Sinatra on the cheek in what appeared to be a spontaneous gesture but was in fact carefully planned.

The Uhura-Kirk kiss was likely the first televised white/African American lip-to-lip kiss.