SANDY KOZEL

Charles A. Lindberg completed the first solo nonstop airplane flight across the Atlantic Ocean on this day in 1927. The trip began May 20.

The American branch of the Red Cross was founded by Clara Barton
on this day in 1881.

Clarissa "Clara" Harlowe Barton (December 25, 1821 – April 12, 1912)

Fourteen-year-old Bobby Franks (above) was murdered in a
"thrill killing" committed by Nathan Leopold Jr. and Richard
Loeb (below) on this day in 1924. The killers were students
at the University of Chicago.

On this day in 1959, the musical "Gypsy" opened on Broadway
and played 702 performances, closing on March 25, 1961 at the
Imperial Theatre.

From left: Sandra Church as Louise, Ethel Merman starred as
Rose, and Jack Klugman as Herbie.

CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1927, Charles Lindbergh (below) took off from New
York to cross the Atlantic for Paris aboard his airplane the "Spirit
of St. Louis." The flight took 33 1/2 hours.

On this day in 1932, Amelia Earhart took off to fly solo across the
Atlantic Ocean. She became the first woman to achieve the feat.

The Lockheed Vega 5B flown by Amelia Earhart as seen on display
at the National Air and Space Museum.

In Spain on this day in 1506, explorer Christopher Columbus died in
poverty at age 54. He had been in poor health and bedridden for
some time.

Gilda Susan Radner (June 28, 1946 – May 20, 1989)

Gilda Radner was a comedian, writer, actress, and one of seven original
cast members of the NBC sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. Her
SNL work established her as an iconic figure in the history of American
comedy. 

Radner was admitted to Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles on
May 17, 1989, to undergo a CT scan. She was given a sedative and went
into a coma during the scan. She did not regain consciousness and died
three days later, from ovarian cancer and complications due to intestinal perforation on May 20, 1989; husband Gene Wilder was at her side.

Gene Wilder and Gilda Radner, January 30, 1989.

DAVID MELENDY

Rodney King was severely beaten by Los Angeles police officers on
this day in1991. The scene was captured on amateur video.

The deadly L.A. rioting began almost immediately after jurors set the above officers, involved in the Rodney King beating, free on April 29,
1992.

Alexander Graham Bell (March 3, 1847 – August 2, 1922)

Alexander Graham Bell was a Scottish-born scientist, inventor, engineer,
and innovator who is credited with patenting the first practical telephone
and founding the American Telephone and Telegraph Company (AT&T)
in 1885.

Alexander Graham Bell places the first New York to Chicago call in
1892.

The "Star Spangled Banner," written by Francis Scott Key, was
adopted as the American national anthem on this day in 1931. The
song was originally a poem known as "Defense of Fort McHenry."

The first issue of Time magazine was published on this day in
1923 and featured Speaker Joseph G. Cannon on the cover. The
magazine was founded and originally run by Henry Luce (below).

Henry Robinson Luce
(April 3, 1898 – February 28, 1967)

Steve Fossett Completed his solo Around The World Flight without
refueling on this day in 2005.

James Stephen “Steve” Fossett
(April 22, 1944 – c. September 3, 2007)

TIM MAGUIRE

On this day in 1965, Malcolm X was assassinated in New York City at
the age of 39 by assassins identified as Black Muslims.

It was on this day in 1972.

President and Mrs. Nixon visit the Great Wall of China.

In Baton Rouge, LA, on this day in 1988, TV evangelist Jimmy
Swaggart confessed to his congregation that he was guilty
of unspecified sin. He announced that he was leaving the
pulpit temporarily. Swaggart had been linked to an admitted
prostitute.        

Jimmy Lee Swaggart will be 82 years old on March 15.

Chicago stockbroker Steve Fossett became the first person to fly
solo across the Pacific Ocean in a balloon on this day in 1995. He
landed in Leader, Saskatchewan, Canada.

James Stephen "Steve" Fossett
(April 22, 1944 – c. September 3, 2007)

Fossett disappeared on September 3, 2007, while flying a light aircraft
(below) over the Great Basin Desert, between Nevada and California.

1980 Bellanca 8KCAB-180 SUPER DECATHLON.

BRIAN THOMAS

During World War II on this day in 1945, U.S. President Franklin Roosevelt, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill and Soviet
leader Josef Stalin began a conference at Yalta to outline plans
for Germany’s defeat.

On this day in 1997, a civil jury in California found O.J. Simpson liable 
in the death of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and Ron Goldman. Goldman’s parents were awarded $8.5 million in compensatory
damages.

Ron Goldman’s father Fred, sister Kim, and stepmother Patty are pictured during OJ’s trial.

Patricia (Patty) Hearst was kidnapped in Berkeley, CA, by the Symbionese Liberation Army on this day in 1974.

Patty Hearst (right) and Donald DeFreeze rob a San Francisco bank
on April 15, 1974.

On December 11, 2003, the Massachusetts Senate put forward legislative
language creating civil unions for same-sex couples to the SJC, asking if
it satisfied the court’s requirements. On February 4, 2004, the court replied
that it was unacceptable to allow different-sex couples marriages but same-
sex couples only civil unions, that the distinction between marriage and civil
unions constituted unconstitutional discrimination, even if the rights and obligations attached to each were identical. It called the difference between
the terms marriage and civil union "a considered choice of language that
reflects a demonstrable assigning of same-sex, largely homosexual, couples
to second-class status."

On May 17, 2004, Massachusetts became the first state to legalize gay marriage.

A 7.4 earthquake in Guatemala and Honduras on this day in 1976 
killed more than 22,000 people.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

The Congressional Gold Medal presented August 15, 1930, to Charles Lindbergh by President Herbert Hoover.