The body of aviation hero Charles Lindbergh’s baby is found on May 12,
1932, more than two months after he was kidnapped from his family’s
Hopewell, New Jersey, mansion.

Lindbergh, who became the first worldwide celebrity five years earlier
when he flew The Spirit of St. Louis across the Atlantic, and his wife
Anne discovered a ransom note in their 20-month-old child’s empty
room on March 1. The kidnapper had used a ladder to climb up to the
open second-floor window and had left muddy footprints in the room
and in barely legible English, the ransom note demanded $50,000.

The crime captured the attention of the entire nation. The Lindbergh
family was inundated by offers of assistance and false clues. Even
Al Capone offered his help from prison, though it of course was
conditioned on his release. For three days, investigators had
found nothing and there was no further word from the kidnappers.

Then, a new letter showed up, this time demanding $70,000.

Charles Augustus Lindbergh
(February 4, 1902 – August 26, 1974)

No Tags

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1968, U.S.troops in Vietnam destroyed a village
consisting mostly of women and children. The event is known
as the My-Lai massacre.

Over 500 babies, children, women and men were slaughtered by American
soldiers. Many Vietnamese women and girls had been raped. Huts were
burned, livestock was killed, food supplies destroyed.

Twenty-six soldiers were charged with criminal offenses, but only one
Lieutenant William Calley Jr., a platoon leader in C Company, was
convicted. Found guilty of killing 22 villagers, he was originally given
a life sentence, but served only three and a half years under house
arrest.

William Laws Calley Jr. will be 76 on June 8.

This U.S. Army photo shows the aftermath of the Mỹ Lai Massacre 
with mostly women and children lying dead on a road.

The My Lai Massacre memorial site.

The Apr. 12, 1971, cover of TIME.

No Tags

ED DANAHUE

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave his "I Have a Dream" speech at a
civil rights rally in Washington, DC. on this day in 1963. Over 200,000
people attended.

It was on this day in 1968.

It was on this day in 1955.

J. W. Milam, 36, and half-brother Roy Bryant, 24, confer with one of
their lawyers J.W. Kellum, right, just before pleading innocent, Sept.
6, 1955 at Sumner, MS. They were charged with kidnapping Emmett
Till, a 14-year-old black youth who they claim “made some remarks”
and whistled at Bryant’s wife.

A divorce decree was issued for Britain’s Charles and Princess Diana
on this day in 1996. This was the official end to the 15-year marriage.

No Tags

ROSS SIMPSON

On this day in 1968, U.S. troops in Vietnam destroyed a village
consisting mostly of women and children. The event is known
as the My-Lai massacre.

William Laws Calley Jr. will be 75 in June.

Terry Anderson, an Associated Press newsman, was taken hostage
in Beirut on this day in 1985. He was released on December 4,1991.

Physicist Robert H. Goddard launched the first liquid-fuel rocket on
this day in 1926. Goddard is known as the father of modern rocketry.

Robert Hutchings Goddard
(October 5, 1882 – August 10, 1945)

Jerry Lewis (Joseph Levitch)  (March 16, 1926 – August 20, 2017)

Comedian, actor, and muscular dystrophy telethon host Jerry Lewis 
formed one of history’s greatest comedy teams with Dean Martin. He
received Lifetime Achievement Awards from the Los Angeles Film
Critics Association, The American Comedy Awards, and the Venice
Film Festival.

From left: Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis.

No Tags

Diane Kepley

On this day in 1991, Associated Press correspondent Terry Anderson was released after nearly seven years in captivity in Lebanon.

President George H.W. Bush ordered American troops to lead a
mercy mission to Somalia on this day in 1992.

Gen. George Washington said farewell to his officers at Fraunces
Tavern in New York on this day in 1783.

Zappa is considered one of the most innovative and stylistically diverse rock
musicians of his era. He worked as an independent artist for most of his career
and remains a major influence on musicians and composers. His honors include
an induction into the 1995 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and the 1997 Grammy
Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2000, he was ranked number 36 on VH1‘s 100
Greatest Artists of Hard Rock. In 2004, Rolling Stone magazine ranked him at
number 71 on its list of the "100 Greatest Artists of All Time", and in 2011 at
number 22 on its list of the "100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time".

No Tags