Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833 – March 13, 1901)

President Harrison, In office from March 4, 1889 to March 4, 1893, was
born in North Bend, Ohio, and moved to Indianapolis, Indiana where he
eventually became a prominent politician. Harrison served as a Brigadier
General during the Civil War. After the war he unsuccessfully ran for
governor of Indiana, and was later appointed to the U.S. Senate. Harrison,
a Republican, was elected to the presidency in 1888, defeating Democratic
incumbent Grover Cleveland. 

Grave of President Harrison and his two wives in Indianapolis, Indiana.

The Voyager 2 spacecraft is a 1,592 lb. space probe launched by NASA on August
20, 1977 to study the outer Solar System and eventually interstellar space. Operating
for 33 years, 11 months and 31 days as of today (20 August 2011), the spacecraft receives routine commands and transmits data back to the Deep Space Network.

Each Voyager space probe carries a gold-plated audio-visual disc (shown below) in
the event that either spacecraft is ever found by intelligent life-forms from other
planetary systems. The discs carry photos of the Earth and its life forms, a range
of scientific information, spoken greetings from the people (e.g. the Secretary-
General of the United Nations and the President of the United States, and the
children of the Planet Earth) and a medley, "Sounds of Earth", that includes the
sounds of whales, a baby crying, waves breaking on a shore, and a variety
of music.

Voyager’s 12 inch gold plated disc

Diagram of the main components of the Voyager spacecraft. (click to enlarge)

President Johnson signing the Poverty Bill (Economic Opportunity Act).

In his January 1964 State of the Union address, President Lyndon B. Johnson announced a “War on Poverty” and pledged to correct the problem. His first
anti-poverty bill, passed through Congress as part of president Kennedy’s
legacy, and was signed into law on this day in 1964. The nearly $1 billion bill
provided money for job training centers, loans for students and farmers,
as well as other anti-poverty programs.

  

                          Eugene Wesley "Gene" Roddenberry     
                           (August 19, 1921 – October 24, 1991)

Gene Roddenberry was a television screenwriter, producer , best known for
creating the science fiction series Star Trek. He was born in El Paso Texas
and grew up in Los Angeles, California. Roddenberry flew 89 combat missions
in the U.S. Army Air Forces during World War ll, and flew as a commercial airline
pilot after the war. He later followed in his father’s footsteps by joining the Los  
Angeles Police Department and soon began to focus on writing scripts for TV. 

As a freelance writer, Roddenberry wrote scripts for the syndicated TV series
Highway Patrol from 1955 to 1959, Have Gun, Will Travel on CBS from 1957 to
1963 and others, before creating and producing his own TV series on NBC, The Lieutenant from 1963 to 1964. It was in 1964 that Roddenberry created Star Trek, 
premiering in 1966, it ran for three seasons before cancellation.

Gene Roddenberry was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame and the
Academy of Television Arts & Sciences Hall of Fame. His creation of Star Trek 
has spanned over four decades, produced six television series, 715 episodes 
and eleven films. A twelfth film is currently in development and is scheduled 
to be release in 2012.

Pictured is 1st lieutenant Roddenberry (2nd from left) and crew in front
of their Boeing B-17 Flying Fortress in 1943.

Gene Roddenberry (third from right) and original Star Trek cast members are  
seen with NASA’s real-live Enterprise in 1976.