Will Rogers and Wiley Post were killed in a plane crash near Point
Barrow, AK.on this day in 1935.  Post and American humorist Will
Rogers perished when the aircraft Post was piloting crashed on
takeoff from a lagoon near Point Barrow in the Territory of Alaska.

Will Rogers (left) and Wiley Post before taking off for Alaska.

   
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
    
 
CAMILLE BOHANNON

On this day in 1945, the Allies proclaimed V-J Day, victory over
Japan, a day after Japan agreed to surrender unconditionally.

Woodstock began on this day in 1969 at Max Yasqur’s
dairy farm in upstate New York.

Napoléon Bonaparte (August 15, 1769 – May 5, 1821)

Napoleon was the Emperor of France who rose to power in the aftermath of
the French Revolution in 1799 and waged war with every major European
power in a series of wars known as the Napoleonic Wars. After a series
of military failures he was finally defeated at the Battle of Waterloo in
1815 and spent the last 6 years of his life in exile on the island of St.
Helena. 

On this day in 1947, India became independent from Britain and was divided into the countries of India and Pakistan. India had been
under British rule for about 200 years.

The Omagh bombing was a car bombing that took place on this day
in 1998 in Omagh, County Tyrone, Northern Ireland. It was carried
out by a group calling themselves the Real Irish Republican Army,
a Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) splinter group who
opposed the IRA’s ceasefire and the Good Friday Agreement.

An aerial view of the devastation caused in Omagh after the bombing.

The Panama Canal was officially opened to commercial traffic on
this day in 1914, as an American ship sailed from the Atlantic to
the Pacific Ocean. The first vessel to pass through the canal was
the American cargo and passenger ship SS Ancon.

A newly expanded Panama Canal in 1016.

"The Wizard of Oz" premiered in Hollywood, CA. on this day
in 1939. Judy Garland became famous for the movie’s song
"Somewhere Over the Rainbow."

Judy Garland (Frances Ethel Gumm) (June 10, 1922 – June 22, 1969)

CAMILLE BOHANNON

It was announced by President Truman on this day in 1945, Japan
had surrendered unconditionally. The surrender ended World War II.

Japanese foreign affairs minister Mamoru Shigemitsu signs the 
their  Instrument of Surrender on board USS Missouri as General
Richard K. Sutherland watches, September 2, 1945.

It was on this day in 2003.

President Franklin D. Roosevelt signed the Social Security Act into
law on this day in 1935. The act created unemployment insurance
and pension plans for the elderly.

On this day in 1969, British troops arrived in Northern Ireland to
intervene in sectarian violence between Protestants and Roman
Catholics.

Lech Walesa

Stephen Glenn Martin is 73 years old today. Born in Waco, Texas.

Comedian, actor and musician Steve Martin is best known films include 
The Jerk (1979), Father of the Bride (1991), Roxanne (1987), Three Amigos
(1986), Dirty Rotten Scoundrels (1988) and Planes, Trains, and Automobiles 
(1987). He hosted the Academy Awards in 2001, 2003 and 2010 and he has
hosted NBC’s Saturday Night Live on a number of occasions. 

While he has played banjo since an early age, and included music in his
comedy routines from the beginning of his professional career, he has
increasingly dedicated his career to music since the 2000s, acting less
and spending much of his professional life playing banjo, recording,
and touring with various bluegrass acts, including Earl Scruggs.

SANDY KOZEL

Berlin was once divided by a barbed wire fence to halt the flight of refugees. Two days later on this day in 1961, work on the Berlin Wall began.

Fidel Alejandro Castro Ruz (August 13, 1926 – November 25, 2016)

Infamous Cuban dictator and revolutionary Fidel Castro came to power in
1959 and served as his country’s Prime Minister until 1976 and President
from 1976 to 2008.

Present day Mexico City was captured by Spanish conqueror Hernando Cortez from the Aztec Indians on this day in 1521.

Sir Alfred Joseph Hitchcock
(August 13, 1899 – April 29, 1980)  

Iconic director Alfred Hitchcock is known as The
Master of Suspense for his classic films such as 
Psycho (1960), Rear Window (1954), Dial M for
Murder (1954), and The Birds (1963). One of the
most influential filmmakers of all time, he directed
over 50 feature films, and his work continues to
circulate through film circles and classic movie
channels.
 

It was on this day in 1995.

Mickey Charles Mantle
(October 20, 1931 – August 13, 1995)

Mantle played his entire Major League Baseball career with the New
York Yankees as a center fielder and first baseman, from 1951
through 1968. He was nicknamed The Commerce Comet and The
Mick.

Actor George Stevens Hamilton, born in Memphis, Tennessee.

Hamilton won a Golden Globe Award and was nominated for a BAFTA
Award. He has received one additional BAFTA nomination and two
additional Golden Globe nominations. George Hamilton began his film
career in 1952.