General Edmund Kirby Smith (5-16-1824 – 3-28-1893)
In an event that is generally regarded as marking the end of the Civil War on this day in 1865, Confederate General Edmund Kirby Smith (above), commander of Confederate forces west of the Mississippi, signed the surrender terms offered by Union negotiators and Major General Canby. With Smith’s surrender, the last Confederate army ceased to exist, bringing a formal end to the bloodiest four years in U.S. history. The war began on April 12, 1861.
Marilyn Monroe (born Norma Jeane Mortenson) (June 1, 1926 – August 4, 1962)
Actress, model, and singer Marilyn Monroe was famous for playing comic "blonde bombshell" characters. She became one of the most popular sex symbols of the 1950s and early 1960s. Although she was a top-billed actress for only one decade, her films grossed $200 million (equivalent to $2 billion in 2018) by the time of her unexpected death in 1962. More than half a century later, she continues to be a major popular culture icon.
Marilyn Monroe poses over the updraft of a New York subway grate while filming "The Seven Year Itch" in New York in 1954. (AP)