TIM MAGUIRE

America’s Great Depression began with the crash of the Wall Street stock
market on this day in 1929.

On this day in 2004, Osama bin Laden (above) addressed the people of the
United States on Al-Jazeera television, excepting responsibility for the
September 11 attacks. Al-Jazeera did not say how it had obtained the tape.

Israel invaded Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula during the Suez Canal Crisis on this
day in 1956.

Leon Czolgosz (above) the assassin of U.S. President McKinley, was
electrocuted on this day in 1901.

A rendering of President William McKinley (white shirt) being shot by 
anarchist Leon Czolgosz during the Pan-American Exposition in
Buffalo, New York on September 21, 1901.

On this day in 1998, the space shuttle Discovery blasted off with John Glenn
on board. Glenn was 77 years old. In 1962 he became the first American to
orbit the Earth.

TIM MAGUIRE

The Statue of Liberty was dedicated in New York Harbor on this day in1886 by
U.S. President Cleveland. The statue weighs 225 tons and is 152 feet tall. It was originally known as "Liberty Enlightening the World."

Benito Mussolini took control of the Italian government and introduced fascism
to Italy on this day in 1922.

On this day in 1962, Soviet leader Nikita Khrushchev informed the U.S. that he
had ordered the dismantling of Soviet missile bases in Cuba.

Microsoft co-founder William Henry Gates III is 62 years old today.

Bill Gates has helped Microsoft become one of the most successful companies in
history. Forbes ranked him the wealthiest person in the world from 1995 to 2009.

He reportedly hacked into his high school’s computer system to make sure there
would be more girls in his classes than boys.

Julia Fiona Roberts is 50 years young today.

Julie Roberts rose to fame as the star of Pretty Woman (1990) 
and won an Oscar for her role in Erin Brockovich in 2000. She
wanted to be a veterinarian, but she ended up signing with Click
Modeling Agency in New York. 

Walt Disney Productions (later The Walt Disney Company) has produced an
anthology television series under several different titles since 1954.

The original version of the series premiered on ABC on Wednesday, October
27, 1954. The show was broadcast weekly on one of the Big Three television
networks until 1990, a 36-year span with only a two-year hiatus from 1984 until
1985. The series was broadcast on Sunday for 25 of those years. From 1991
until 1997, the series aired infrequently and had only two hosts, Walt Disney
and Disney Chairman Michael Eisner. It is the second longest running prime-
time program on American television, behind rival film anthology, the Hallmark
Hall of Fame.

Film trade headline for January 11, 1954.

Walt Disney behind the camera.

ROSS SIMPSON

The first of the Federalist Papers were published in the New York Independent
on this day in 1787. The series of 85 essays, written by Alexander Hamilton,
James Madison and John Jay, were published under the pen name "Publius."

Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919)

On this day in 1978, Egyptian President Anwar Sadat (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Menachem Begin (left) were named winners of the Nobel Peace Prize
for their progress toward achieving a Middle East accord.     

It was on this day in 2004.

John Marwood Cleese 78 years old today.

Monty Python comic actor and writer John Cleese played a role in A Fish
Called Wanda (1988). His most timeless works include Monty Python and
the Holy Grail (1975), The Meaning of Life (1983), and Life of Brian (1979).