On this day in 1997, U.S. Air Force officials released a 231-page report
dismissing long-standing claims of an alien spacecraft crash in Roswell,
New Mexico, almost exactly 50 years earlier.

Public interest in Unidentified Flying Objects, or UFOs, began to flourish
in the 1940s, when developments in space travel and the dawn of the
atomic age caused many Americans to turn their attention to the skies.

The town of Roswell, located near the Pecos River in southeastern New
Mexico, became a magnet for UFO believers due to the strange events
of early July 1947, when ranch foreman W.W. Brazel found a strange,
shiny material scattered over some of his land. He turned the material
over to the sheriff, who passed it on to authorities at the nearby Air Force
base.

On July 8, Air Force officials announced they had recovered the wreckage
of a “flying disk.” A local newspaper (below) put the story on its front page,
launching Roswell into the spotlight of the public’s UFO fascination.

CARLATA BRADLEY

The Soviet Union began the Berlin Blockade on this day in 1948.

William Harrison "Jack" Dempsey
(June 24, 1895 – May 31, 1983)

Professional boxer and cultural icon of the 1920s, Jack
Dempsey competed from 1914 to 1927, and reigned as
the world heavyweight champion from 1919 to 1926.

Nicknamed "Kid Blackie" and "The Manassa Mauler".

It was on this day in 1987.

John Herbert Gleason (February 26, 1916 – June 24, 1987)

In 1986, doctors determined that Jackie Gleason was suffering from terminal
colon cancer, which had metastasized to his liver. Gleason was also suffering
from diabetes. He kept his medical problems private, although it had been
rumored that he was seriously ill.  A year later, on June 24, 1987, Gleason
died at his Florida home at age 71.

Jackie Gleason with fellow cast members Art Carney
and Audrey Meadows in The Honeymooners.