MIKE GRACIA
On this day in 1981, the 52 Americans held hostage by Iran for 444
days arrived in the United States and were reunited with their
families.
On this day in 1959, American Airlines had the first scheduled transcontinental flight of a Boeing 707.
American Airlines’ inaugural flight crew with Boeing 707 Flagship California.
ROSS SIMPSON
On this day in 1848, James Wilson Marshall
(October 8, 1810 – August 10, 1885) found
a gold nugget at Sutter’s Mill in northern
California. The discovery led to the gold
rush of ’49’.
The spot where Marshall first discovered the gold that started the California Gold Rush.
John Sutter’s sawmill in 1850. The historians at Marshall Gold State Historic Park concluded the person seen in the above photo was
the photographer’s assistant who was used to show scale.
James Marshall’s cabin in Coloma, California.
James Marshall Monument
SANDY KOZEL
On this day in 1968, North Korea seized the U.S. Navy ship Pueblo, charging it had intruded into the nation’s territorial waters on a
spying mission. The crew was released 11 months later.
The Pueblo’s mission began in early January, 1968, when the crew
set off from the U.S. Navy base on Yokosuka, Japan with orders to conduct surveillance on Soviet Navy and North Korean signal and electronic intelligence activity.
Pueblo, is still being held by North Korea today, officially remains
a commissioned vessel of the United States Navy. Since early 2013,
the ship has been moored along the Potong River in Pyongyang, and
used there as a museum ship at the Pyongyang Victorious War
Museum.
The captured crew (above) were beaten and nearly starved in the
incident that almost led to another war.
Pueblo on display in North Korea, 2012.
North Koreans raise their fists during a rally in 2010 in front of the
U.S. Navy spy ship Pueblo.
On this day in 1977, the TV mini-series "Roots," began airing on ABC. The show was based on the Alex Haley novel. Roots received 37 Primetime Emmy Award nominations and won nine. It also won a
Golden Globe and a Peabody Award. It received unprecedented
Nielsen ratings for the finale, which still holds a record as the third-highest-rated episode for any type of television series, and the
second-most watched overall series finale in U.S. television
history.
LeVar Burton as Kunta Kinte, a warrior of the Mandinka people
in Gambia who is captured by slavers and taken to Annapolis,
Md.
John William Carson (October 23, 1925 – January 23, 2005)
Television host, comedian, writer, and producer Johnny Carson was
best known as the host of The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson
(1962–1992) on NBC. Carson received six Emmy Awards, the Television
Academy‘s 1980 Governor’s Award, and a 1985 Peabody Award. He was
inducted into the Television Academy Hall of Fame in 1987 awarded the
Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1992 and received a Kennedy Center
Honor in 1993.
SANDY KOZEL
On this day in 1973, the U.S. Supreme Court struck down state laws
that had been restricting abortions during the first six months of pregnancy. The case (Roe vs. Wade) legalized abortion.
On this day in 1968, "Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In", debuted on NBC
television and aired until March 12, 1973. The program was ranked
number 42 on TV Guide’s 50 Greatest TV Shows of All Time.
Gary Owens, was the famous voice of “Laugh-In”.
The radio cast of The Jack Benny Program, from left: Eddie Anderson,
Dennis Day, Phil Harris, Mary Livingstone, Jack Benny, Don Wilson,
and Mel Blanc. (1932-1955)
Jack Benny and Fred Allen, 1936.
