Henry Alfred Kissinger  (May 27, 1923 – November 29, 2023)

Henry Kissinger, the influential former U.S. Secretary of State
who earned a reputation as a sagacious diplomat but drew
international condemnation and accusations of war crimes
for his key role in widening the American presence in Vietnam
and the U.S. bombing of Cambodia, died Wednesday.

He served as Secretary of State and national security adviser
under two Republican presidents, Richard Nixon and Gerald
Ford, and advised powerful leaders in both American political
parties for decades.

Henry Kissinger President Richard Nixon.

Kissinger and President Gerald Ford.

Miracle on 34th Street (1947)

Natalie Wood (July 20, 1938 – November 29, 1981)

Natalie was a actress who began her career in film
as a child and successfully transitioned to young
adult roles.

As a teenager, she was nominated for an Academy
Award for Best Supporting Actress for her role in
Rebel Without a Cause (1955), followed by a part
in John Ford‘s The Searchers (1956).

At the age of only 43, Wood drowned in the Pacific
Ocean near Santa Catalina Island during a break
from production of her would-be comeback film
Brainstorm (1983).

Natalie Wood in WEST SIDE STORY (1961)

On November 29, 1942, coffee joined the list of items rationed
in the United States. Despite record coffee production in Latin
American countries, the growing demand for the bean from
both military and civilian sources, and the demands placed
on shipping, which was needed for other purposes, required
the limiting of its availability.

Scarcity or shortages were rarely the reason for rationing
during the war. Rationing was generally employed for two
reasons: (1) to guarantee a fair distribution of resources
and foodstuffs to all citizens; and (2) to give priority to
military use for certain raw materials, given the present
emergency.

George Dewey Hay (November 9, 1895 – May 8, 1968) was 
an American radio personality, announcer and newspaper 
reporter. He was the founder of the original Grand Ole
Opry radio program.

The Grand Ole Opry, one of the longest-lived and most popular showcases for western music, began broadcasting live from
Nashville, Tennessee on November 28, 1925. The showcase
was originally named the Barn Dance, after a Chicago radio
program called the National Barn Dance that had begun
broadcasting the previous year.

Impressed by the popularity of the Chicago-based National
Barn Dance, producers at WSM radio in Nashville decided
to create their own version of the show to cater to southern
audiences who could not receive the Chicago signal. Both
the Grand Ole Opry and the National Barn Dance aired on
Saturday nights and featured folk music, fiddling, and the
relatively new genre of country-western music.

The home of country music and original broadcasting site
of the Grand Ole Opry, the Ryman is one of the most
historic and widely visited tours in Tennessee.

Minnie Pearl (Sarah Ophelia Colley Cannon)
(October 25, 1912 – March 4, 1996)

Guitar legend Jimi Hendrix was born in Seattle. Hendrix grew up
playing guitar, imitating blues greats like Muddy Waters as well
as early rockers.

In 1964, he moved to New York and played in coffeehouses, where bassist Chas Chandler of the British group the Animals heard
him. Chandler arranged to manage Hendrix and brought him to
London in 1966, where they created the Jimi Hendrix Experience
with bassist Noel Redding and drummer Mitch Mitchell.

The band’s first single, “Hey Joe,” hit No. 6 on the British pop

In 1967, the Jimi Hendrix Experience made its first U.S. appearance,
at the Monterey Pop Festival.

Hendrix in the Army in 1961